When PayPal Becomes the Back Office, Too

[mandy]

WHEN C. J. Liu bills her clients, all it takes is a few mouse clicks, and for the most part their payments end up in her bank account a few days later. She does not need an assistant to send out invoices or to track accounts payable and receivable. She never has to wait for checks to arrive in the mail, and she does not have to visit the bank.

PayPal,...expects to process $25 billion in money transfers this year. About 70 percent of the payment volume comes through PayPal's parent company, eBay, and is used to buy and sell items on the Internet. But more and more, small businesses and sole proprietors outside of eBay are using PayPal as their back offices...

..."I would advise consumers to use their credit card directly, rather than PayPal, for purchases," said Ms. Litan, who researches electronic payments and Internet fraud for Gartner. "Credit card companies are bound by regulation, so it's usually easier and faster to get your money back from an unauthorized charge to your account."

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/busine...aypal.html