Bank Account Or Credit Card

If you sell things on the auction web site eBay, Paypal is an essential component of your auctions. Buyers can easily pay for their winning bids in a quick and easy way. And as a seller, you're guaranteed that the money you receive isn't part of some complicated online scam.

But there disadvantages to Paypal. Particularly if you're opening up a new account.

Paypal advertises that you can open a new account without a checking account or credit card. Technically, that is the case. But you will very quickly run into some serious limitations when it's time to withdraw your money.

There are several ways to withdraw money from Paypal. You can request the company mail you a check (which takes as long as two weeks to arrive). You can transfer money into a checking account. Or apply for a Mastercard debit card which is tied to your Paypal account.

If you don't provide valid checking account info, you're limited to withdrawing your money with a check. Even more inconvenient, unless you tie your Paypal account to a credit or debit card, you are limited to withdrawing and/or spending $500 per month.

There are a few reasons why you might not want to give Paypal checking account or credit card information. You might be one of the 20 percent or so of Americans who don't have a checking account. Perhaps you just worry about your privacy. Or you might have heard those horror stories from people who had a dispute with Paypal after the company unexpectedly withdrew money from their checking account.

But regardless of your reason, if you're looking for another option, I have a couple of suggestions.

The easiest way around Paypal's restrictions is to sign up for a pre-paid debit card that offers an option for you to make direct deposit payments into the account. Cards that offer that option include a bank name, routing and checking account number as part of their service. Even though it's not truly a checking account, it is enough info to keep Paypal happy. Even more convenient, you're are then able to transfer money directly from Paypal to your debit card. You can also use the new debit card number to satisfy Paypal's credit or debit card requirement. That will give you nearly unlimited access to your Paypal earnings.

There are a number of prepaid debit cards that would work for you. I am most familiar with CashPass and Mango. Both offer the routing and checking account info. And I have used both in the past with absolutely no problems.

One caveat is that both services do charge a fee. You have a couple of choices (a monthly fee vs a percentage of the transaction). But for most users, the charge is minimal and it's worth it to have easy access to your Paypal funds