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== Abuse ==
== Abuse ==
In 2012 paysafecard reported the use of their services was being taken advantage of by the spread of malware categorized as [[ransomware (malware)|ransomware]], stating "The BKA/GEMA computer virus demands the users of affected computers pay a "fine" and threatens to erase their hard drives". paysafecard suggests to remove related viruses and trojans by following instructions provided by Botcrawl.com and other websites.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paysafecard.com/en-us/security/|title=BKA/GEMA computer virus - demands the payment of a "fine" by paysafecard|publisher=|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref>
In 2012 paysafecard reported the use of their services was being taken advantage of by the spread of malware categorized as [[ransomware (malware)|ransomware]], stating "The BKA/GEMA computer virus demands the users of affected computers pay a "fine" and threatens to erase their hard drives". paysafecard suggests to remove related viruses and trojans by following instructions provided by Botcrawl.com and other websites.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paysafecard.com/en-us/security/|title=BKA/GEMA computer virus - demands the payment of a "fine" by paysafecard|publisher=|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref>

==Disputes==
The paysafecard service has received largely negative reviews online. The majority of complaints from customers state that their paysafecard credit has been frozen without warning upon the first attempt to use it and that paysafecard customer service will only refund the credit upon being supplied with photographic identification, full home address and bank account details, contrary to the implied objective of guaranteed anonymity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/review/www.paysafecard.com|title=Paysafecard reviews|work=Trustpilot|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews244501.html|title=Pay Safe Card /uk Reviews - www.paysafecard.com|work=Review Centre|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://whatconsumer.co.uk/forum/consumer-reviews/23890-paysafecard-stole-my-money.html|title=Paysafecard stole my money - Consumer Forum|publisher=|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tehparadox.com/forum/f28/review-paysafecard-5432885/|title=REVIEW ON PAYSAFECARD|publisher=|accessdate=13 October 2014}}</ref>

Other disputes between paysafecard and their customers have arisen due to credit which is alleged to have disappeared from a paysafecard PIN number immediately after purchase, arising the possibility that duplicate PIN numbers can be allotted to multiple customers simultaneously. As of August 2014, paysafecard has a "very low" [[Trustpilot]] rating of 2.9/10 and a [[Review_Centre]] rating of 1.4/5.


== Awards ==
== Awards ==

Revision as of 14:47, 18 May 2017

paysafecard is a prepaid electronic payment method for internet usage, independent of bank account or credit card details. Customers can acquire vouchers, each with a 16-digit PIN and a specific denomination, at certain retailers of different types (e. g. convenience stores or post offices). Web purchases can be paid by entering one or more PINs in the payment form of the respective website (e. g. an online game). paysafecard PINs are not designated to be passed by mail or telephone; respective requests are always to be considered fraud attempts.

paysafecard is issued and distributed country-wise, but cross-border and cross-currency usage is possible (within some limits). As of 2017 paysafecard is issued in a total of 41 countries—covering most of Europe and North America, Australia and New Zealand, and some countries in Western Asia and South America. Denominations are available in the range from 10 to 100 United States dollars, euros, pounds sterling, and Australian dollars, and approximately equivalent sums in other currencies, e. g. 100-1000 Norwegian kroner or 50-400 Saudi riyal.

Web offers payable with paysafecard include online games, social media, telecommunication, music, film, and entertainment industries, and others. The scope of websites accepting paysafecard varies per country for several reasons. The most widespread use are online games; for example, League of Legends accepts paysafecard in all of the 41 countries.[1] Other examples of websites accepting paysafecard for their fee-requested services in 20 or more countries, and more than one continent, include Skype[2] and Facebook[3].

While the brand name of both the company and the product has always been paysafecard, in practice it's often shortened to "Paysafe", the "card" part also being translated into other languages. In 2015, paysafecard was acquired by the multinational Optimal Payments online payment corporation, which subsequently rebranded as Paysafe Group. The group now directly offers certain products and services under the Paysafe brand. paysafecard, however, continues to be a subsidiary brand of the Paysafe Group in its own right, alongside some others, like the digital wallets Skrill and Neteller.

History

The company paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG is based in Vienna, Austria, and was founded in 2000. It operates several subsidiaries in other countries, Germany, Gibraltar, Argentina, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA.[4]

In 2002 paysafecard is not only available as physical card but also as eVouchers. Since 2004, it has also been available for purchase online. In 2006, paysafecard was awarded EU funding (eTEN)[5] to help its international expansion. In 2008, Prepaid Services Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the paysafecard group was issued an e-money license by the British Financial Services Authority (FSA). This authorised it to issue e-money throughout Europe.

The company is now present in 41 countries at over 500,000 sales outlets in Europe, Australia and North- and Southamerica. paysafecard can be used at 4,000 online shops.[6]

In 2009, paysafecard was voted as both the "Best Prepaid Company Outside USA" as well as the "Leading Prepaid Organisation" by the Prepaid Awards.[7]

In August 2011, paysafecard bought Dutch payment provider Wallie.[8] In February 2013, Skrill, one of the largest payment services providers in Europe completed the acquisition of paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG.[9]

As of 2017, paysafecard is available in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi-Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and the USA.

Functionality

paysafecards are normally sold as eVouchers (uniquely numbered receipts from in-store sales terminals).

Customers purchase paysafecard in the form of a 16-digit PIN from sales outlets or from authorised online PIN shops. The amounts available are €10 and €100. Sales outlets for prepaid cards are typically newsagents, petrol stations, pharmacies, supermarkets, electrical retailers and vending machines.

When paying in an online shop, the user enters the 16 digit number and the amount tendered is deducted from the paysafecard balance. Hence, the same PIN code can be used multiple times. For larger sums it is possible to combine up to ten paysafecard PINs for a total amount of up to €1,000.[10]

The current balance of each paysafecard as well as its transaction history and production date can be viewed at the official site by entering the respective 16 PIN code.

Costs

Card issuing as well as checking the balance of a PIN or its payment history online are free. No fees are charged within the first 12 months from the time of purchase. Twelve months after purchasing a paysafecard for the first time customers will be charged an administrative fee of €2 per month, which will be automatically deducted from their credit.[11]

There are charges for purchases made in euros but not accurate. Payments for goods or services in other currencies are converted into euros at the conversion rate at the time of purchase. The conversion fee varies depending on the original currency and end currency and it varies from country to country. The currency conversion rates for foreign currencies are always available on the paysafecard website.[12]

A reimbursement of credit remaining on a paysafecard PIN is always possible. This requires the customer to provide their personal details, a copy of a valid form of photographic identification, bank account details and the details of the paysafecard PIN in question. In some cases, a reimbursement fee of €7.50 will be deducted from the remaining paysafecard credit.[13]

Shops accepting paysafecard have costs as well, but paysafecard.com does not give a clear and complete overview of the costs.[14]

Acceptance

Accepting webshops fall mainly into the following categories: online games/gaming (including browser games, skill games, community games), music download sites, telecommunication services, gambling sites and travel.[15]

According to paysafecard.com, there are over 450,000 sales terminals worldwide.[16]

Security

Because it is possible to buy PIN codes with cash, a certain level of anonymity is automatically guaranteed,[17] as well as a limit to the amount of money that can be lost by accident or fraud.

Like all systems that only require entering data on a website, it is possible to obtain this data (here: PIN codes) by creating a website that looks like the official one and tricking users to enter their data on that website. This is possible with phishing techniques. It is also possible for fraudulent webshops to not link to the official payment site but to a fraudulent similar looking website at checkout phase.

Abuse

In 2012 paysafecard reported the use of their services was being taken advantage of by the spread of malware categorized as ransomware, stating "The BKA/GEMA computer virus demands the users of affected computers pay a "fine" and threatens to erase their hard drives". paysafecard suggests to remove related viruses and trojans by following instructions provided by Botcrawl.com and other websites.[18]

Awards

Paybefore Awards (ab 2016 Pay Awards)

The Paybefore Awards (since 2016 Pay Awards) are issued by the US Paybefore media group, a daughter of Informa, with a focus on prepaid electronic payment solutions.

  • 2009 Best Non-U.S. Prepaid Program[19]
  • 2010 Best Network Branded Gift Program[20]
  • 2012 Best Digital Currency[21]
  • 2012 Most Innovative Prepaid Solution Europe[22]
  • 2013 Best virtual or digital Program[23]
  • 2013 Best Consumer Value Europe[24]
  • 2014 Top Digital Dollars[25]
  • 2014 Consumer Champion Europe[26]
  • 2015 Consumer Value[27]
  • 2015 Consumer Value Europe[28]
  • 2016 Best Online or Mobile Commerce Solution[29]
Other electronic payment awards
  • 2013 Prepaid Awards France Meilleur programme numérique ou dematerialisé[30]
  • 2014 Recognition as Banking IT-Innovation[31]
  • 2015 EGR B2B Awards Mobile Payments Solution[32]
Other
  • 2014 Inclusion in The New Economy 2013 Innovation 40[33]
  • 2014 Austria’s Leading Companies: 3rd place in Vienna, category Big Player in Vienna[34]
  • 2015 Finalist Best of Mobile Awards Finance[35]
  • 2015 Austria’s Leading Companies: 1st place in Vienna, category Big Player[36][37]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Riot Games Support, Payment Methods: paysafecard
  2. ^ How can I pay for Skype? - lists paysafecard as a payment method in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  3. ^ What payment methods can I use on Facebook? - lists paysafecard as a payment method in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czeck Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Siwitzerland and Turkey.
  4. ^ http://www.paysafecardgroup.com/en/company/management-board.html
  5. ^ http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/eten/library/about/brochure/index_en.htm
  6. ^ "404". Retrieved 13 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  7. ^ http://www.paysafecardgroup.com/en/company/milestones.html
  8. ^ http://www.finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=40685
  9. ^ http://corporate.skrill.com/2013/02/skrill-completes-acquisition-of-paysafecard-com-wertkarten-ag/57807/
  10. ^ https://www.paysafecard.com/en-gb/help/
  11. ^ https://www.paysafecard.com/en-gb/help/
  12. ^ https://www.paysafecard.com/en-ie/terms-and-conditions/paysafecard/new/
  13. ^ https://www.paysafecard.com/en-ie/terms-and-conditions/paysafecard/new/
  14. ^ https://www.paysafecard.com/en-global/business/help/
  15. ^ "Prepaid credit for your online entertainment". Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Find paysafecard sales outlets in your area". Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  17. ^ Párhonyi, Róbert, study on micropayment systems, page 9
  18. ^ "BKA/GEMA computer virus - demands the payment of a "fine" by paysafecard". Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  19. ^ "The Winner's Circle: Paybefore Announces 2009 Award Winners (February 2009)" (in German). paybefore.com. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2016-02-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  20. ^ "Paybefore Awards 2010: The Winner's Circle (March 2010)" (in German). paybefore.com. 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2016-02-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  21. ^ "Paybefore Celebrates Best in Prepaid at Prepaid Expo USA (March 12, 2012)" (in German). 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2016-02-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  22. ^ "Paybefore Announces Best-in-Category Winners in London (March 2012)" (in German). paybefore.com. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  23. ^ "2013 Paybefore Awards: Best Virtual or Digital Program (May 2013)" (in German). paybefore.com. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  24. ^ "Paybefore Honors Innovation in Orlando, Announces Europe Winners (March 2013)" (in German). paybefore.com. 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  25. ^ "2014 Paybefore Awards Winners List" (in German). paybefore.com. 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  26. ^ "Paybefore Reveals Best-in-Category Winners for European Awards in Spain" (in German). paybefore.com. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  27. ^ "2015 Paybefore Awards Winners: Record Sixth Judge Participation" (in German). paybefore.com. 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  28. ^ "2015 Paybefore Awards Europe: Consumer Value" (in German). paybefore.com. 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  29. ^ "2016 Pay Awards Winners: Support Your Favorites" (in German). paybefore.com. 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  30. ^ "Communique de presse, Prepaid Awards 2013" (PDF) (in German). clubprepaye.fr. 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  31. ^ "Analysed Innovation" (in German). banking-innovation.org. 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help) see paysafecard in the list and open entry
  32. ^ "EGR B2B Awards 2015 Winners Announced" (in German). Casino Locale. 2015-06-20. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  33. ^ "The Innovation 40" (in German). theneweconomy.com. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  34. ^ "ALC 2014: Bester Big Player in Wien ist Henkel Central Eastern Europe GmbH" (in German). Wirtschaftsblatt. 2014-11-25. Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  35. ^ "Best of Mobile Award 2015" (in German). best-of-mobile.de. Archived from the original on 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  36. ^ "Die ALC-Bundesland-Sieger 1999–2015" (in German). Wirtschaftsblatt. Archived from the original on 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2016-08-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)
  37. ^ "ALC 2015: Paysafecard.com will weltweiter Marktführer werden" (in German). Wirtschaftsblatt. 2015-11-24. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2016-02-17. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |trans_title=, |day=, |month=, and |deadurl= (help)


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