Considering PayPal's numerous issues, I don't think that using it as a credit card substitute for online purchases is that great of an idea.

...or Amazon. I have problems with PayPal, but I still trust Amazon to transfer money to vendors. In any event, even if you do trust a company, they may not trust you.

Bed Bath and Beyond had done everything right to capture my purchase: They hosted the wedding registry, took care of the couple's address, and by not allowing me to select "I'm buying this somewhere else" kept me from leaving to where I could possibly get the item cheaper.

But BB&B requires Verified By Visa, and I require my credit card provider to not be stupid about security, so my card was declined. I turned right around and bought the item on Amazon.

Why would anyone trust PayPal? They still owe me $900 from 2005 when I was the victim of a reverse scam. (Buyer claimed i scammed and never sent it; they refused to investigate or accept my tracking info as proof)

I don’t actually care. The cardmembers are never liable for fraud.

I don’t use my debit card for online purchases at all however. If someone steals that and uses it, I’m out of pocket until the bank resolves it, which can take days.

With credit cards, and Amex especially, they’ll simply reverse the fraudulent transactions and overnight you a new card.

Someone skimmed my Amex when I was on a vacation in Japan, charged about ¥700k on it. One call to them, they froze the transactions and in roughly 16 hours I collected a new card in the hotel lobby.

Except who trusts PayPal? They can lock you out for no apparent reason with little recourse. I refuse to buy from sites that use PayPal exclusively.

And modern banks that offer their customers "one time use" credit card numbers that you load up with an exact amount, and expire after a few hours if not collected on by a third party.

And now you have two problems.

But at least the worst is better than most everything else.

You haven’t heard about all of the issues with PayPal for over decade?