Google Wallet Adds A Safety Net
Google Wallet, a popular payment method when trading digital currency on peer-to-peer platforms, announced that funds left in Google Wallet will now be FDIC insured. This means that now, the only people you have to worry about ... is Google. The electronic payment systems provider, frequently declines transactions, and freezes funds for days, even after sales are made, however they do not confiscate funds nearly as frequently nor as long as rival, PayPal, does.
PayPal, almost automatically, freezes funds for a month (21 days) on new accounts, and are notorious for destroying or seriously damaging business operations, to the point some, have had to file bankruptcy, terminate employment, or all together cease operations. Google isn't quite that bad, yet, but anyone who's tried to add money from a credit, debit, or bank card, knows that the process is hit and miss, working instantly sometimes, and funds being frozen for up to two weeks on others, even with the same card being used over the course of several months.
Google Wallet Issues
Another major issue is, that paying with Google Wallet, doesn't mean you actually paid with Google, Wallet, or that the Merchant has been paid by Google Wallet (GW). GW payments can be put on hold, even when using an available balance, and the intrusive Fraud Protection may completely reverse payments already made, without warning. This is particularly bad after the sale, presenting the illusion, that the purchaser reversed the payment, when it was in fact, Google. Google even mentions "Fraud" in it's automated email notices of payment reversal sent to the Merchant, solidifying the appearance of buyer responsibility, fraudulent transaction involvement, when they are not. This process certainly needs some further attention and correction on Google's part.
Payment System Issues In General
Other payments systems such as Payza, Apple Pay, Venmo, and Square cash, are not much better, or even worse, but none of them are as bad as PayPal, who not only are not FDIC insured, but can hold your money for up to six months. PayPal is usually, buyer-side friendly, essentially giving scammers and criminals the green light to perpetrate their schemes easily. We have witnessed this first hand with PayPal, Google Wallet, and iPayment Systems, as well as others. Funds were unjustly frozen, giving the Scammer more than enough time to credit the reversed payment, withdraw the cash, and make a clean get away.
PayPal "Is The Devil"
Likely the most hated payment system in the industry, PayPal has earned, not only millions of complaints, but many websites dedicated to exposing their corrupt practices, and calling them out, such as PayPal Sucks.com, and sharing thge organization's questionable business practices, in the way of horror stories, which are individual stories of the actual encounter with PayPal. Despite PayPal's legal efforts to shut these websites down, they continue to exist.Not only have there been countless lawsuits, class-action suites, complaints, and legal issues for PayPal, many by large Corporation such as Stamps.com, AT&T, and Bank One. Due to its volume, however, the company continues to flick these issues off, as a minor annoyance. It's practices, are questionable, such as holding 30% of it's Vendors money for 90 days or more, or holding funds longer than a Vendor can file a claim, among others. In 2015, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Israel, claiming that they arbitrarily freeze accounts and hold funds for up to 180 days without paying interest and thereby directly profit from it. The lawsuit requests that PayPal be declared a monopoly and thus regulated accordingly.
During the time frame in which funds are "frozen", its a well known fact that no interest is being earned, and if you forget about your funds (in the event they need more info), they aren't going to go out of their way to remind you about them. It is unlikely, that this is not a source of revenue for these various systems, and during this time frame if anything, such as bankruptcy, were to occur in regards to a company holding funds, there is no insurance in place protecting these funds.
Google has now changed that with the addition of FDIC insured Wallets, for up to $250,000. That certainly adds some allure to the service.
Google has now changed that with the addition of FDIC insured Wallets, for up to $250,000. That certainly adds some allure to the service.
Nothing For Bitcoin Traders
This is certainly good for buyers, and users that intend to add money, and make purchases with Google Wallet, and it does protect Merchant funds for the short time the funds are held on GW. It's always nice to know that in the event of a major catastrophe, your money is insured and that you will get it back at some point,
This does nothing for digital currency traders however, paying for digital currency with Google Wallet remains against their Terms of Service. Additionally, no protection against Google itself is in effect, and although they do not actively enforce this in the way of monitoring every transaction specifically looking for violators, if they do find out, it's most likely that they will terminate your service, and by most likely, we mean to kiss your Google Wallet goodbye.
We do commend Google on this addition to it's Google Wallet service, it is certainly a positive one, but more importantly we urge GW to take a closer look at it's service and correct some blatant issues. However, our commendation stands, as is. FDIC Insurance on Google Wallet funds, is a big positive change for the better, and one others will most certainly follow suit.
We do commend Google on this addition to it's Google Wallet service, it is certainly a positive one, but more importantly we urge GW to take a closer look at it's service and correct some blatant issues. However, our commendation stands, as is. FDIC Insurance on Google Wallet funds, is a big positive change for the better, and one others will most certainly follow suit.
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