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alipay.com Paypal's U.S. focus could cause it to lose overseas customers to competitors like Alipay

For almost a week I had been spending time and energy on this project. Encouraging remarks from fellow victims at Facebook kept me going. But when Paypal's security system demanded that I give my U.S. state and social security number to verify my identity, I knew I had lost the struggle. Those things are pretty hard to produce when you divide your life between Europe and China.

Of course, it's my own fault. I was not a regular user of the service (mistake #1) and I had forgotten under which of my dozen e-mail addresses I had registered my Paypal account (#2). After two wrong tries (#3 and 4), I got the right one. Of course, I had forgotten the password (#5) -- but it's fairly easy to get a new one, once you answer some basic security questions. All my fault.

Unfortunately, my efforts to access the account had set off the alarm bells and I got only limited access "because a third party had tried to access my account." I was quite sure that had been me under a different e-mail address. You see: it is all my fault.

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So I checked Paypal's site and learned that I could get full access to my account (including useful things like receiving money) if I'd upload a utility bill to verify my address. All my utilities are in my wife's name, so that was a problem.

Fortunately I did have bank statements going to my office address, where my credit cards also are registered. I went to a friends with a scanner, scanned the stuff and uploaded it. (Mistake #6)

Nothing happened for days, so I started to send e-mails to Paypal. Eventually Charlotte from Paypal mailed me back saying that the address on my back statement did not match the address in their system. Again, I had been wrong. Being a globalized citizen is not easy.

I changed my contact details online and waited for another few days. Nothing happened. I went back to their online system. That's when Paypal asked for my U.S. state and social security number. Should I have forgiven them for making such a mistake after having made so many myself?

As compensation, Paypal can keep the US $59 ramining in my account. I will turn to a more convenient Chinese competitor, like Alipay.