Credit cards without privacy concerns
Once in a blue moon, a marketing slogan makes me smile from ear to ear. It says precisely what the product or service offers the customer - no double talk, small print, or slick gimmicks.
Paypal gets my thumbs up for capturing exactly why its service is so compelling: “Shop without sharing your financial information.”
From a marketing perspective, Paypal is stating the obvious benefit - except that the benefit is not all that obvious at all.
Over a year’s time, would you rather your credit card number be stored on dozens of merchant computers (and maybe even paper receipts) all across the country? Or, would you prefer that only Paypal have your credit card number to make payments on your behalf? Whether you’re a web wizard or still nervous about shopping on the web, it’s hard to pass up this privacy and security benefit.
I’m certainly not saying that Paypal is unique in this offering. Google Checkout, Amazon Marketplace, and Yahoo Shopping also provide you with a convenient shopping cart and payment processing service - so that you can shop at many places while only storing your credit card information once. And, there are alternatives such as BillMeLater than mitigate or eliminate financial and privacy risk.
My hunch is that over time, this type of service will become more popular because, if it is cost effective, it benefits everyone not to have credit card numbers flying all over the place. (When shopping at brick and mortar stores, you will still need to deal with the risk of someone else handling your credit card… for now.)
If you’re a small business who is debating accepting credit cards, you may want to consider at least comparing Paypal to other possible solutions - if you want to spend more time running your business and less time tracking down and securing credit card numbers. Here’s a link to setup a PayPal merchant account:
All is well.
