UK Government To Use PayPal For Identity Assurance 74
judgecorp writes "A UK government contract has confirmed earlier reports that British citizens will have the option to use PayPal to accredit themselves for public services such as the new Universal Credit benefit system. Using PayPal might be a public relations goof, as PayPal's parent eBay is notoriously clever at avoiding UK taxes, recently paying only £1.2 million on profit of £789 million (around 0.15 percent)."
Joy! I don't exist (Score:5, Interesting)
Paypal have me blacklisted and refuse to take payments from me.
Tried buying something last week, seller's website said "VISA/Mastercard" so I used my credit card. Refused. Used my other credit card. Refused. Checked with both card companies: Neither had been asked to authorise payment.
Got a friend to buy on my behalf. He paid with credit card; got a bill from PayPal.
It all goes back to the first time I tried using my card to buy something online from a seller that used Paypal for their card payments. I entered my details, was told payment had been taken, then got an email asking me to provide details for my Paypal account.
I said no. Then I found out that Paypal had already debited my card, but were holding onto the cash instead of sending it through to the seller.
So I wrote to them telling them to send the money through. They refused. So I wrote to them telling them to give my money back. They refused. So I contacted VISA, the OFT and my card supplier stating fraudulent activity.
I got my money back. Paypal blacklisted me. Not a major problem really, except for idiots that use them as their sole card payment solution.
I need to hit them with a SAR, find out what their system says about me. But using them to ID myself to the Government? Not a fucking hope. Which is frankly a good thing.