You can back a Paypal account with your bank account or with a balance you have deposited with them.
But a credit card is the most secure.
You can use a prepaid credit card in some situations, but since the possession of a card is also used as a confirmation of creditworthiness, not in every situation.
Without a credit card, most online purchasing is closed to you.
So are many other daily transactions like renting a hotel room or buying a car.
Just remembering my first job out of high school as a bank teller, and making up the paypackets, in cash, for the guys at the Goodyear plant. And my pet dinosaur, Tyrone. *sigh*
