Is PayPal Safe? Should You Use It To Make Payments?

PayPal is immensely popular in some parts of the world, and quite a few websites accept payments from PayPal worldwide. While having a PayPal account and using it to transfer money online seems convenient, many users refrain from doing so. Likewise, you might have doubts about the platform like everything else, so we’ll address your query — is PayPal safe?

As any service that deals with money should, PayPal houses credible security systems that include encryption and purchase protection. If you shop online or in-store often, you might have experienced payments once in your life. Hence, the payments platform has measures to protect users from those and quickly resolve their issues.

Is PayPal secure?

Short answer: mostly.

Many users doubt the platform due to its so-called fiasco in 2020. The Federal Trade Commission received certain reports in 2020 highlighting that PayPal payments made for 16.7% of the total fraud reports. Hence, it’s only natural to be sure about the platform you use to send money.

Moreover, PayPal has many security measures implemented on its backend to make it safe. For instance, you can set a security key on top of a traditional password. It also gives you an email confirmation every time you purchase so that you can track unauthorized purchases quickly.

Also read: How To Change Your Name Or Correct Typos On PayPal?

All payments on PayPal are backed by end-to-end encryption to prevent anyone from looking in. These features make PayPal more secure than traditional debit or credit card transactions. PayPal’s “fraud protection” feature monitors your transactions to alert you in case of any suspicious activity it detects.

Is it risky to use PayPal?

With all its security features, it’s unlikely that someone can make an unauthorized transaction from your account. Although, the primary risk arises because PayPal stores your bank details on secure servers so that you could lose them in a phishing attack.

We suggest adding your credit cards to the platform instead of debit cards and bank accounts to avoid fraudulent transactions. This adds layer of security to your transactions, and you won’t have to give up your bank details. Likewise, you can dispute a transaction with your credit card company and PayPal itself. Using credit cards means scammers can’t use the platform’s auto-withdrawal feature to take your money.

Bottom line

All in all, PayPal is safe, and you can use it to make payments using your cards and bank accounts. You won’t be at risk if you use it with caution and have common sense. To prevent fraudulent transactions, use a strong password, enable two-factor authentication, and only make payments to verified sellers (and not click on spam emails and messages).