This was on the web site, as well as the information regarding the change. This is a copy of the email.
Dear [Firstname],
This email is a reminder to confirm the bank account that you've already registered with X.com's PayPal service. As soon as you do, you'll automatically be entered in our $10,000 sweepstakes for the month of August. Don't miss out on this opportunity. Michael Milosevich from Irving, Texas, didn't - he is the lucky $10,000 winner of July's sweepstakes.
X.com asks you to confirm a bank account solely for identification reasons. This is an easy and secure way for X.com to gain additional proof of your identity without requiring you to give us more personal information. When you prove your identity it lowers our risk and increases the safety of our payments network.
The Benefits of a Verified Account
In addition to being entered into our $10,000 sweepstakes, having a Verified account also gives you these benefits:
Your $500 spending limit will be lifted.
If you haven't earned a $5 new user bonus, you'll immediately receive it.
You can easily add funds to your PayPal account from your bank account.
You can transfer funds between accounts at different financial institutions by using PayPal as your financial hub.
How to Confirm Your Bank Account
When you registered your bank account with PayPal, we deposited two random amounts between $0.01-$0.99 into your bank account at our expense. You can learn the amounts of the random deposits by viewing your bank statement online or contacting your bank's customer service department. Once you have done this, simply login to www.x.com and enter the amounts of the deposits. This confirms that you're the owner of the bank account since you were able to tell us the amounts of our deposits.
Keeping Your Money Safe
You may be concerned about security. So are we. It goes without saying that X.com will never transfer money from your bank account without your explicit permission. In fact, X.com automatically gives you $100,000 of free account insurance from Traverlers SafeWeb ® Insurance to protect you against unauthorized transactions. And since our strong encryption is the safest on the Web, your financial information is completely secure with X.com.
* * * * * * * * * *
We hope that you'll take advantage of the benefits that come from a fully Verified PayPal account by completing X.com's bank account confirmation process today. And thank you for using X.com's PayPal service, the fastest and safest way to send and receive money online.
Sincerely,
The X.com Team
www.x.com
P.S. Please be sure to encourage all of the users you refer to PayPal to become Verified, too. As of August 23, 2000, new users will generate $5 referral bonuses for the person who referred them only when they become Verified.
posted on September 26, 2000 11:27:50 AM new
Hi Damon,
Here's another tip to pass on to marketing -- don't bury the lead!
That p.s. should have been sent to existing members as a separate e-mail. This is a major change in the bonus structure. It's a headline, not a postscript.
I'll bet most people who received that e-mail didn't even make it to the p.s.
posted on September 26, 2000 11:34:28 AM new
Damon:
That's an email sent to folks who verified their accounts. Where is the email notification sent to all of us users who used to get $5 referrals, but don't any longer?
You said earlier that you'd look for the notification. This was a significant change in terms of service, and I believe that PayPal did not notify their users via email, for obvious reasons. And I think that to this day, most users that are blithely promoting PayPal and the $5 bonus in their auction listings, are not aware of this change.
posted on September 26, 2000 11:38:44 AM new
HI magazine_guy,
That was emailed to our user base. Referrals are still awarded provided that the user verifies their bank account/email address and that they specify you as the referring party.
The only difference in the referral qualification was that the credit card was not sufficient and it changed to the bank account.
If you have pending referrals, the party has not registered the information and did not meet the criteria that has been specified on the web site.
posted on September 26, 2000 08:13:28 PM newThe only difference in the referral qualification was that the credit card was not sufficient and it changed to the bank account.
posted on September 26, 2000 09:26:03 PM new
Has anyone tried Exchangepath they are free and pay $5 referral and the person does not have to give bank account info just needs to complete one transaction and they recieve $10 for trying it.
posted on September 26, 2000 10:35:12 PM new
PayPalDamon
Let's be honest here, users were not notified of this change. I save all e-mails from PayPal and see no such e-mail. I have an e-mail dated July 22 about verification and there is no PS about the need to remind people to verify to receive the $5 referral. When were these e-mails sent out?????? I want to know and if I received it, I will definitely come back here and post it!
This is just another example of PayPal's dishonesty. An early post is right on that most people do not realize this even if they did receive this supposed e-mail - why could PayPal not have the integrity to post this major change on its home page CLICK HERE FOR OUR NEW REFERRAL BONUS RULES!!!!! - because PayPal is an extremely dishonest company. Why don't you bring that suggestion back to your superiors Damon. I bet they would not do it because Mr. Musk has obviously decided he still needs to use people to attract more users so he can make hundreds of millions of dollars when he takes this company public.
Again, this is not about the fees, its about a decitful company that has lied to all its users. I for one will gladly pay a little extra to deal with a company that is honest and forthcoming. I also cannot wait until October 1 when Billpoint's fees go down!
posted on September 26, 2000 10:57:09 PM new
I didn't receive this email, either. When was is sent, Damon? Did anyone get an email notice from PayPal about their change in the referral policy?
I did have two referrals just prior to the alleged August 23 cutoff (mentioned above in the phantom email) who paid by credit card- just like all my prior referrals. But no referral $$ on them- they still show "pending." How come?
Bottom line, I guess, is PayPal can do what it wants. Look what they've added to their User Agreement:
"This Agreement is subject to change at any time without notice, and you agree to review the current terms of use prior to initiating a transaction."
It's our fault. We didn't review the current terms prior to each transaction.
posted on September 26, 2000 11:50:42 PM new
PayPalDamon,
I really want the dates those e-mails were sent out. I just reviewed with a friend who is not verified all of the e-mails from PayPal that were received by their account which again is unverified. There was an e-mail encouraging verification sent August 20 and their was no PS about the referral bonus.
Shoot straight with us Damon, this was a well-though out decision by your company to screw users out of their referral fees. The statement on added security is bogus. There are already federal laws which govern credit card fraud and theft which protect all consumers!!!! If your company had an ounce of integrity they would post this change on the home page or at least say CLICK HERE FOR CHANGES TO OUR REFERRAL BONUS PROGRAM! But your company does not!!!
posted on September 26, 2000 11:58:54 PM new
Also I am a little surprised at a few of the posts on this thread supporting PayPal. As a former bank examiner for the federal government I highly doubt that PayPal is taking large losses. They are not the card issuer or merchant!!!!
And remember as I previously stated there are laws that already protect consumers from credit card fraud and theft; $50 maximum, most card issuers make it $0 because they value you as a customer unlike PayPal which seems to no longer value the loyalty of its customers!!!
posted on September 27, 2000 05:07:27 AM new
Hi All,
I received that email. This is the Heading and Date.
X.com's New Fraud Protection Policies
From: "PayPal Trust Department" <[email protected]>
posted on September 27, 2000 06:10:43 AM new
I also received the above email on August 20th.
On May 16 I received an email from PayPal stating that fees would eventually be charged to businesses. I consider that a more than generous advance notice - so, wasn't surprized when it was implemented.
When I look at the broad picture of my cost of doing business, I consider PayPal to be well worth the expense. Especially considering that my referral $$ have more than covered any fees they've charged me.
posted on September 27, 2000 06:47:35 AM new
I received a notice about the change in the referral. BTW, the title of this topic is laughable, from the dialog it sounds like some are going to scream bloody murder when PayPal discontinues the referral bonuses.
posted on September 27, 2000 09:09:00 AM new
For all of you who got the notice...i don't know when you got it but I got it after the policy was implemented.
posted on September 27, 2000 09:20:17 AM new
I have been using paypal for about six months now. At first I loved it. I thought, what a great idea, forget billpoint, I'll use paypal, until......x.com came in. I refuse to register a bank account w/them, credit card is enough, but now I am "UNVERIFIED", bad, bad girl. Is this suppose to make me feel compelled to give them my acct #? Who cares. Read the feedback of people, if they have pos. regarding paying/receiving, why does it matter what paypal wants. I am currently considering closing my account. WHY??? For one, access or lack there of. Half the time I cannot access my account. Yes I notified pp, they said it was a temporary glitch, temp. for a month!! Second, I tried sending a fair amount of money to a friend via e-mail. He was not a member of pp, but the tag says "SEND ANYONE WITH AN E-MAIL ADDRESS MONEY" WRONG. Two weeks after having "sent" my bud money, he still couldn't get it. Yes he signed up, four or five time, but he could never get past the first screen, apparently the only way he could proceed to collect the money was if he gave his bank account #, which he refused to do, so the money stayed in suspenspended animation. I finally went back and cancelled the transaction. What has happened to the simple paypal?? Think I'll check out that new one listed above...Wonder if I can transfer funds to them????
posted on September 27, 2000 09:56:15 AM new
Blazer1951 are you sure that the PS at the end of Damon's post about the changes to the referral program are in your August 17th e-mail???? I don't understand why they are not in the August 20th letter to an unverified account then. Please let me know if the PS portion of the letter regarding the referral bonus changes is there.
And for those of you who are supposedly disinterested in these PayPal topics, why do you keep on reading and posting?
Maybe its "laughable" that some of you can't see that most people don't have a problem with a company changing their rules of service, it's about how this company, a very dishonest and deceitful company, went about it which has really upset some people. Even if you disagree with some of these posts, you should at least respect them and consider trying to add value to these discussions rather than calling these topics "laughable".
posted on September 27, 2000 10:10:08 AM new"Maybe its "laughable" that some of you can't see that most people don't have a problem with a company changing their rules of service"
Let me put it another way, would an announcement like "Denny's screwing it's customers by limiting the selection on the free birthday meals!!!!" be a similar analogy to the thread title?
posted on September 27, 2000 10:25:22 AM new
Hi topprospects
This is the email I am referring to.
It does not have a PS.
The info is under Seller Protection Guarantee.
Dear PayPal customer,
Online auction sellers who use X.com's PayPal service have asked us
to clarify our new fraud protections. These safeguards were
introduced last week to increase the confidence of both buyers and
sellers in our payments network. We'd like to take a moment to
describe these protections.
Buyer Protection Guarantee
For online auctions to thrive, buyers must feel safe and secure
purchasing from sellers they don't know. X.com's new Buyer
Protection Guarantee protects buyers who pay for goods that were
never shipped. In such cases, sellers are required by law to refund
the purchase. However, if the seller turns out to be fraudulent,
there is often no remedy. Recent cases on eBay have demonstrated
this unfortunate problem.
X.com's new Buyer Protection Guarantee is simple: if a buyer pays a
seller who has been Verified by X.com, then we will guarantee the
buyer's money back in case the seller turns out to be fraudulent.
This Guarantee is like free insurance for buyers, and will make it
much more attractive for buyers to pay Verified sellers with PayPal.
The verification status of any seller appears on the confirmation
page before the buyer completes payment. So if you have not yet
verified your account, please read how below. "Verified by X.com"
is an online seal of approval that will help your business.
Seller Protection Guarantee
X.com also wants to protect our sellers against fraud. As you know,
we have never imposed charge backs due to fraud on sellers. This is
our Seller Protection Guarantee. We plan to continue this policy.
However, in order for us to absorb this major source of risk and
expense, we need our sellers to play by a few simple rules. Here
they are:
- First, starting on August 23, 2000, sellers must be Verified in
order to qualify for the Seller Protection Guarantee. There is
no other way for us to protect ourselves, buyers, and other
PayPal users if we cannot verify the identity of sellers. This is
fundamental to the integrity of our payments system. Please see
below for details on how to verify your account and why we
consider this process necessary.
- Second, please retain reasonable proof-of-shipping. Preferably,
this proof would come from a shipping service that includes date
of shipment, description of merchandise, and shipping address.
- Third, please accept payment from only one PayPal account per
purchase - do not accept multiple payments for a single item.
(Payments to Business and Premier Accounts do not count against a
buyer's $2,000 credit card limit, so you should always be able to
sell high-dollar goods while accepting payment from one account.)
- Fourth, please do not ship to countries that have a statistically
high rate of fraud. For now these countries are Indonesia and
Kazakhstan. We will notify you if other countries are added to
the list.
In addition, we are working on Seller Protection Tools that will
tell sellers whether buyers are Verified and whether the buyers'
requested shipping address matches their credit card billing
address. Once these tools are launched (in about a month), we will
be adding a fifth rule:
- Only ship Unverified buyers' purchases to their credit card
billing address. If the buyer is Verified, you may ship to any
address. We will notify you before this rule goes into effect.
As long as you abide by these rules, X.com guarantees that you will
always be protected against charge backs due to fraud.
How to Become "Verified"
To verify your PayPal account, simply register and confirm a bank
account. Just log in to www.X.com, and look for the "Add Bank
Account" link in the How to Activate Your Account box. You will be
able to confirm your bank account by completing a simple online
process. The instructions are on the website.
Why do we ask users to confirm ownership of a bank account? Because
banks and other financial institutions are required by law to screen
account holders. By proving ownership of a bank account, you
demonstrate that you have passed this screening process and have
verified your identity. In turn, this lowers our company's
financial risk and allows us to guarantee you.
Please be sure to encourage all of the users you refer to PayPal to
become Verified, too. As of August 23, 2000, new users will
generate $5 referral bonuses for the person who referred them only
when they become Verified.
Keeping Your Money Safe
Whenever your bank account is involved, you may be concerned about
safety and security. So are we. Please rest assured that X.com
will never, ever transfer money from your bank account without your
permission. Regardless of any charge back decision, X.com will
never transfer money out of your bank account without your explicit
consent.
In addition, X.com protects every account with up to $100,000 of
free insurance against unauthorized transactions. And since our
encryption is the safest on the Web, your financial information is
completely secure. Your bank account will always remain 100%
protected with X.com.
* * * * * * * * * *
X.com is committed to making online payments safe for both buyers
and sellers, and we think that our new fraud protections help to
accomplish this goal. This should encourage the growth of both the
X.com payments network and your online business.
Thank you for using X.com's PayPal service, the fastest and safest
way to send and receive money online.
This email is an account status notification regarding your account
with X.com's PayPal service. As a financial services company, it is
occasionally necessary for X.com to email our users regarding their
account status or changes in our policies. However, promotional
materials from X.com will only be sent to you if you have checked
the "Promotional Notifications" box on the "Preferences" page in
your online user profile.
posted on September 27, 2000 10:33:04 AM new
I received this Newletter e-mail from paypal august 20th. At that time is when I became verified.
Please note at the bottom of the letter is the statement below.
If you did not sign up for the "promotional notification" may explain why some of you didn't get the letter.
This email is an account status notification regarding your account with X.com's PayPal service. As a financial services company, it is occasionally necessary for X.com to email our users regarding their account status or changes in our policies. However, promotional materials from X.com will only be sent to you if you have checked the "Promotional Notifications" box on the "Preferences" page in your online user profile.
edited for packer by packer!!
.
Having a BAD hair Day! ...
posted on September 27, 2000 10:36:00 AM new
Hi magazine_guy,
I would need to see the accounts in question in order to check on the reason why a referral wasn't awarded. Feel free to send me the information to [email protected] and I will look at it.
posted on September 27, 2000 10:39:15 AM new
Hi packer,
Thank you. That is correct, as users that opt-out of receiving emails from us advising of changes would not have been notified. This feature is there because users feel like we are spamming when we advise of product/policy changes.
posted on September 27, 2000 10:46:29 AM new
I happen to believe that Paypal has the right to put whatever restrictions that it wants on the bonuses. They never told us that the bonuses would last forever or that the rules would never change.
Not notifiying users is another story. I've been aware of the change since before it was instituted, but I believe that I found out about it here, not in any email.
I also think they are not really being up front about the purpose of "verification."
If Paypal only wanted to deposit money into your account, there would really be little need for verification. It might be necessary to prevent errors, but I agree that scammers would have no reason to deposit money into an account to which they do not have access.
I think the real reason for "Verification" is so that users can utilize the "Pay from your bank account" option. Note that if you are verified, this is now the default payment option. And when you use this, Paypal does not have to pay credit card fees. I really like this option and use it all the time, especially with the 1% back bonus.
But, again, I think Paypal could have avoided lots of problems if they would have just been honest about all of this from the beginning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
All rights reserved. All wrongs reversed.
posted on September 27, 2000 10:53:41 AM new
My apologies "top". I thought this message board was for a persons thoughts, ideas and opinions. In the future, I promise to uphold the parameters you have set forth as I'm sure , will everyone else.
Memebers of the message board. I humbly beg your forgiveness for my indiscretions, I promise to be a good girl and follow the rules. Hope your day is OVER THE TOP.
posted on September 27, 2000 10:53:50 AM new
PayPal is just trying to make some money. If they don't derive good revenue from their excellent service, they'll be dead in a couple of years. Personally, I'm willing to pay 2-3% per transaction if that means I can still use them.
posted on September 27, 2000 03:19:25 PM new
>>"P.S. Please be sure to encourage all of the users you refer to PayPal to become Verified, too. As of August 23, 2000, new users will generate $5 referral bonuses for the person who referred them only when they become Verified."<<
Hmmmm. I wonder if PayPal expects us to check our accounts and see which users we have referred and then email them and ask them to please verify their bank accounts so we can get our $5? Put into other words - "Come on sellers! Put pressure on your buyers to do something they don't want to do...If you want your $5 reward you will have to."
I wonder how many buyers actually verify? Maybe 10%? We have several pending referrals but not one rewarded bonus since "verification". They now can safely offer the $5 bonus without having to actually reward it (in most cases).