Using Paypal for unauthorized accounts and for different countries now may get more expensive. Paypal, in its fee policy change statement on April 19, 2018, announced that the variable rate pricing was being done away with. They have announced dual flat fees structure as follows.
“We’re removing the variable rate pricing for sending money to friends and family members who have PayPal accounts in a country other than the United States when you send money using PayPal balance or your bank account and introducing a new flat fee of $2.99 or $4.99 per transaction depending on the recipient’s country. However, when you send money using your credit card, debit card, or PayPal credit you will be charged the new flat fee per transaction depending on the recipient’s country + 2.9% of the transaction amount + a fixed fee based on the currency.”
This will create a discrepancy in the pricing from the previous rates for certain countries. Some will become more expensive to transfer and some will become cheaper. Also, the advantage of anonymity in PayPal would end soon and only users who are verified with the platform via credit card, bank account, or have an SSN link will be able to transfer money to other people. Without registration and verification, the users will be unable to make a purchase or send and receive money. If you choose to remain unverified, then the Paypal balance is transferable only to your linked credit card or bank account.
Now, in such a scenario where bank transfers and other platforms such as Paypal are becoming expensive, for such countries, large volumes of transfers can be made possible using cryptocurrencies.
Making payment via cryptocurrencies will be highly beneficial for users suffering from frozen accounts due to verifications issues. Also, transferring via various cryptocurrencies will be far cheaper. Bitcoin currently has a median transaction fee of 15 cents. Dash has been giving single digit fee structure even in peak months and currently charges 1/10 of a cent for each transaction. Hence, cryptocurrency transactions are way faster and charge lesser than compared to a Paypal transfer.
Cryptocurrencies are a convenient, quick, efficient, secure and also the cheapest method of transferring money without disclosing too much personal information. While cryptocurrency exchanges are also looking at KYC and registration processes at the insistence of various governments, these exchanges will remain by far the cheapest method of transfer for a while to come.