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Comment by spurgu | Hacker News Reader

Are there any decent alternatives to Paypal btw?

Depending on your needs, a traditional merchant account or another 3rd party processor like Amazon Payments, Google Checkout, Stripe, 2Checkout, etc. may serve as an alternative.

But there is no equivalent substitute for PayPal. There is no no-monthly-fee, no-credit-check, no-application 3rd party processor that lets you accept all major credit cards, eChecks, bank transfers, and includes all 190 countries and regions PayPal supports, including those where credit cards are uncommon and Google/Amazon/etc do not offer accounts.

In addition, of the fee-free services, Paypal may be the only one that does not require end customers to make accounts to use it. This is, for me, by far the biggest disadvantage to the otherwise competent Google Checkout product.

I think you have to be more specific with your question. If you are you dealing with international funds, or you are outside the US, I don't think there is. Maybe Google checkout?

But I know the answer to the question "Is there anyone else who can match PayPal feature for feature?" The answer is a clear and resounding no.

But Sweet Moses, I wish there was!

No, the regulatory hurdles are too high. We're working on it.

http://www.plainsite.org/flashlight/case.html?id=716056

Bitcoin is the final solution to all your payment problems. It just takes some 10-20 years to develop the necessary services etc. around it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com