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by cenourinhapt 1608 days ago
Stop using Paypal.
2 comments

I don't know what the requirements are, maybe you need to be open source non profit something, but by far the easiest-to-use alternative I've seen is

https://liberapay.com/ (imagine your bank or paypal were open source: https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com )

I am not affiliated in any way, but I funded K9 mail through this, F-Droid, Matrixdotorg, and presumably more projects in the future. It's so pain-free, just put in any amount, your details (IBAN, address), check the box to authorize the direct debit, done. No account needed, but you can check your history by "logging in" which just emails you a one-time login link.

It's also transparent about how much the beneficiary is already receiving, so it doesn't feel like you're all dumping money into a black hole with no idea if it's way too little or already a decent amount (and you can fund other things instead). I just wish more projects used it.

LiberaPay uses paypal and stripe: "What payment methods are available? The available payment methods depend on which payment processors are supported by the recipient. If a payment is processed by Stripe, then most credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) are accepted, as well as SEPA Direct Debits (for Euro donations only). If a payment is through PayPal, then it's possible to pay in various ways, however the donor needs to have or create a PayPal account."
Ah, then I guess I'm the fortunate European here. Too bad they don't have an equivalently great option for non-Eurozone.
Almost all their competitors are equally scummy.

Cash App just terminated my account because I quibbled their support.

I used their card to buy something in Sep 2021. It was shipped weeks late in Nov, but FedEx never attempted delivery and returned it to the merchant. Merchant never responded to my emails (they have 732 complaints and no positives on BBB). I had already asked Cash for a chargeback in Oct. In Jan (!) Cash finally responded and asked for all documents. I sent them. They said they can't do a chargeback as the package was delivered. They only do chargebacks for nondelivery. I said "it was delivered to the merchant". They said "we understand that, but it was delivered". This went around and around.

I then got the cell # for one of the managers at Cash and texted him. He responded and escalated. Same response from their executive team. Then they terminated my account for contacting their employees outside the online support channel LOL. I've eventually managed to get my balance out at least.

[funny side note: you can't transfer from Cash to Square Checking (their parent company) because Cash says Square's fees are too high and it blocks it]

p.s. Cash App has a decent exploit in it that lets you convert last 4 digits of a SSN + Name into a full SSN, so be careful.

Details RE p.s.?
There was a page I found inside the app.. all I needed to do was put in 4 digit SSN and my name and when I opened the page it gave me my full SSN. Which was a huge bonus as I couldn't remember my SSN and I needed it for the IRS.