eBay

15westcoast · ‎05-26-2021

I recently tried to open my Paypal Account and found that I could no longer

do so without registering a cell phone number with them. I do not have a cell and

do not wish to get one. I have sent some money recently using E-transfer and

paid for some other purchase with Visa that I normally would have done with Paypal.

I think Paypal is losing some business over

this and would like to now if anyone else has experienced this problem. I see I can

still pay on Ebay with Paypal but cannot open my account.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-26-2021

@15westcoast

You may need to call PayPal directly....The old fashioned way. I've never had problems dealing with PayPal. Always most helpful and if you add some humour during your chat it can break any possible "tension" under the current circumstances.

Ahhh this world we now live in where you must have a cell to ............. anything? At times can be very frustrating. 🙃😐🙄. Curbside pickup when you can't find a payphone, oh what fun!!

-Lotz

marnotom! · ‎05-26-2021

My understanding from the PayPal community pages is that a cell phone number is required for PayPal use as a security/ID measure. You can use an old school flip phone if you don’t want to get a Smartphone for this purpose.

15westcoast · ‎05-26-2021

I don't know what was wrong with e-mail verification that most sites use for security/id

measures. I really don't intend to get a cell phone for the sole purpose of being

able to access my Paypal Account. " I know, everyone in the world has a cell phone" !

I guess I am just out of luck.

15westcoast · ‎05-26-2021

Thank you. I will just try and use e-transfer and Visa for transactions outside

of Ebay. I am not going to go to the cost and inconvenience of getting a cell

phone for the sole only purpose of getting into my account with Paypal. I find

that every other site I am on uses e-mail i.d. for verification.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-26-2021

Rev Canada is using dual verification(call back or text with code - Only options) because of the recent problems. If you are in your account and it times out when you are talking to them impossible to sign back in while using a land line.

-Lotz

femmefan1946 · ‎05-26-2021

What happens when you put in your landline number? If you don't have one at home, the one at work?

15westcoast · ‎05-26-2021

I think that Paypal wants to send a text message to your cell phone that

you can respond to so they can confirm it is really you !

marnotom! · ‎05-27-2021

@15westcoast wrote:

I don't know what was wrong with e-mail verification that most sites use for security/id
measures. I really don't intend to get a cell phone for the sole purpose of being
able to access my Paypal Account. " I know, everyone in the world has a cell phone" !
I guess I am just out of luck.

My guess is that an unauthorized person who manages to get into somebody's PayPal account may also be able to get into that same somebody's email, depending on how they do it. If a device independent of a computer is used for authentication and that device is something that's kept on one's person pretty much all the time, somebody up to no good who's in a location other than the account holder will be stopped in their tracks because they won't be able to respond to the text message requesting an authentication code.

As @lotzofuniquegoodies pointed out, Revenue Canada has a similar dual-verification system in place now. My credit union uses something similar for some transactions. Scrolling through my log of text messages, it looks like my landline provider used text verification for something, as well. I think at some point you're going to have to break down and join us mobile-using robots.

15westcoast · ‎05-27-2021

Okay, this is good advice. I guess we live in a different world of technology

that is prone to some bad people taking advantage of our accounts.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-27-2021

@15westcoast wrote:
Okay, this is good advice. I guess we live in a different world of technology
that is prone to some bad people taking advantage of our accounts.

This is kinda like the government contemplating Covid Passports requirements for travel, concert etc and having them accessed with a cell phone. Not everyone has a cell phone. And some cell phones do not work in all countries. Backwards kind of thinking.

-Lotz

femmefan1946 · ‎05-27-2021

OT-- has anyone travelled internationally (to Nigeria, for example) and had to get shots before they could get a visa?

Were those vaccinations recorded in your passport?

If so, there is a simple answer to the "covid passport" question. Most adult Canadians have passports (over 80% when I worked for Canada Tourism) so the technology is there.

Even more off-topic, if you have a passport and a blacklight, shine the light on your pages. If you have ingested any cannabis gummies before hand, you will be even more impressed.

marnotom! · ‎05-27-2021

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
This is kinda like the government contemplating Covid Passports requirements for travel, concert etc and having them accessed with a cell phone. Not everyone has a cell phone. And some cell phones do not work in all countries. Backwards kind of thinking.

My understanding is that with an ePassport, the passport is stored on the phone, so the inability to use the phone in a country with incompatible cellular bandwidth isn't an issue. One would be using the phone as a mini-tablet for passport purposes.

Most world travellers would likely have an "international" version of their cell phone that would support multiple bandwidths, anyway.

And while not everyone has a cell phone, they're much more common in many other countries than you might think. In fact, in some countries, many people have ditched their personal landlines outright.

The graph in this blog posts suggests that 65% of Indian adults have some sort of mobile phone now, and when you consider the population of India, that's a lot of people. As the blog post suggests, Canada is a bit of a laggard when it comes to mobile usage:

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/wait-25-of-canadians-still-dont-have-any-kind-of-mobile-phon...

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-27-2021

@marnotom! wrote:
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
This is kinda like the government contemplating Covid Passports requirements for travel, concert etc and having them accessed with a cell phone. Not everyone has a cell phone. And some cell phones do not work in all countries. Backwards kind of thinking.
My understanding is that with an ePassport, the passport is stored on the phone, so the inability to use the phone in a country with incompatible cellular bandwidth isn't an issue. One would be using the phone as a mini-tablet for passport purposes.

Most world travellers would likely have an "international" version of their cell phone that would support multiple bandwidths, anyway.

And while not everyone has a cell phone, they're much more common in many other countries than you might think. In fact, in some countries, many people have ditched their personal landlines outright.

The graph in this blog posts suggests that 65% of Indian adults have some sort of mobile phone now, and when you consider the population of India, that's a lot of people. As the blog post suggests, Canada is a bit of a laggard when it comes to mobile usage:

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/wait-25-of-canadians-still-dont-have-any-kind-of-mobile-phon...

They (Governments) knew there would be vaccines....eventually. They should have been working on something safe and secure that would work worldwide. Currently it's looking like it will be very piecemeal to get all countries on close to the same page similar to getting vaccines for the considered unfortunate havenot countries.

-Lotz

dousoft · ‎02-15-2023

I had the same problem. After calling Paypal several times -- and spending hours with a representative each time -- there was no solution. They would not email me the verification code as in the past: only send a text to my cell number (which I don't want) or to my landline (which is silly as a landline number cannot receive a text). Obviously, their system is 'automated' and the only option is sending a verification code to a cell phone number. So, I simply had to de-register my account. I've also found similar problems with a couple of other important credit providers (VISA and MASTERCARD), which is usually at the bank security level; but I was able to resolve these. I actually have a cell phone that was given to me but really don't want to use it (have it activated). I suspect that, some day soon, I'll be forced to go the cell phone route as other sites, like Paypal, decide to be equally inflexible.