This document discusses PayPal, an online payment method that allows users to pay or receive payments securely without sharing financial information. It describes key aspects of PayPal such as its security, ease of use, integration capabilities and fee structure. Finally, it proposes some ideas for how an organization could implement PayPal, including for event entries, donations and recurring payments, and outlines next steps to set up and trial PayPal.

1. An introduction to
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What is PayPal?

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“PayPal is a secure online payment method,
which allows you to pay or get paid quickly and
easily without sharing any of your financial
information.”
PayPal Inc. (2010). What is PayPal?. Available: https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/whatis/index.htm. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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PayPal: Advantages

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PayPal is secure - customers only share financial
details with PayPal and not merchants. All
transactions take place on PayPal’s secure pages.
PayPal Inc. (2010). Safety Advice for PayPal. Available: https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/safetyadvice/index.htm. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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PayPal is easy to use - you don’t need a PayPal
account to pay by PayPal. All major debit and
credit cards are accepted and users with a
PayPal account can make payments direct from
their bank account via DirectDebit.
PayPal Inc. (2010). What is PayPal?. Available: https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/whatis/index.htm. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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PayPal is easy to integrate - many off-the-shelf
solutions exist for integrating PayPal into
websites to allow automatic payments without
human intervention. Many of these solutions are
free to use.
PayPal Inc. (2010). What is PayPal?. Available: https://www.paypal-marketing.co.uk/whatis/index.htm. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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PayPal: Disadvantages

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PayPal charges fees - the end cost to the
customer remains the same but PayPal subtract
a fee from all Payments received.
PayPal Inc. (2010). PayPal Fee Structure. Available: https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside&nav=1.0.4. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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Account Type Premier Business Charity
Fixed Fee £0.20 £0.20 £0.20
Percentage Fee 3.4% 3.4% 1.4%
Fee Charged on £10 £0.54 £0.54 £0.34
PayPal Inc. (2010). PayPal Fee Structure. Available: https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside&nav=1.0.4. Last accessed 11 June 2010.

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Implementation Ideas

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Online competition entry - competitors
complete all festival entry paperwork online.
Entry fees are automatically calculated and a
payment made instantly.

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One-off donations - a visitor to the website can
research the Association and make an instant
donation. Online donations by credit/debit card
remove the barrier of sending a cheque by post.

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Recurring donations/payments - customers with
PayPay accounts can create a subscriptions to
send a payment/donation every year. Ideal for
Association membership renewal.

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Next Steps

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Identify trial opportunities - understand where
PayPal payments would be best used.

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Set up PayPal account - PayPal accounts are
free and secure. Email address and “real-world”
banking details required.

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Identify appropriate technology - decide on
technology to manage and account for PayPal
payments.

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Implementation and evaluation - try using
PayPal and consult with internal and external
stakeholders to evaluate the payment scheme.