So, PayPal is "temporarily freezing" their activity?

It annoys me when companies "consider" pulling out. It's like trying to get the credit for being decent but not actually doing it. I consider it the worst of both worlds.

Back in my day, we never had any fancy forms of birth control, like pulling out.

I know everyone has horror stories about PayPal, but I don't see them as having any more or fewer problems than a lot of credit card companies or banks.

Not to mention they helped bring about mobile payment systems for small merchants (i.e. having a tablet to run a booth at a convention) vs. having to have a business bank account, leasing a credit card machine, and paying for a phone like or cell service to operate said machine, all of which would make most small vendors cash-only or not exist in the first place.

It always seemed to me that the issue was people who'd never been merchants before, and don't realize that you have to give refunds if asked, whether you like it or not. Unless the client is flagrantly in the wrong, a credit card issuer is going to side with them. And even then they might still.

Also, if your livelihood depends on Paypal processing your transactions and not freezing your account for some reason, make sure you have multiple active accounts. And for God's sake don't leave the cash in a Paypal account for a day longer than it has to be there.

A lot of the problem with them stem from them being staunchly anti-porn, and how uncommunicative they could be when they decide you're selling what they consider porn and they will therefore be keeping your money.

“As a company that is committed to the principle that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination simply for being who they are, becoming an employer in North Carolina, where members of our teams will not have equal rights under the law, is simply untenable. However, our principles are situational, flexible, or nonexistent, and we're happy to partner with Network International for our offices in Dubai, where gay members of our teams may be executed by the state.”

Not to dismiss the oppressive human rights situation in countries like UAE, or Malaysia (where PayPal apparently also maintains offices), but simply having offices in these places is not necessarily an endorsement of their policies, nor are they likely to have any effect on those policies by closing their offices. The NC facility on the other hand, was to be a major global hub and would have an actual impact on their economy. This is a situation where their decision could send a clear statement and have an actual impact. So save your talking points on PayPal's alleged hypocrisy. If you want to go ahead and defend the NC law though, be my guest.