These days with Credit Card fraud and Identity fraud lurking online you have to think of better ways to protect your credit details online and one way to do this is to create a PayPal Account.

Another way is to get yourself a P.A.Y.G (Pay As You Go) Debit Card. Virgin do this Prepaid Mastercard which you use as a Debit Card - You must have money on the debit card before you can use it and but you can top it up at the Post Office for free. See the Virgin website for more information.

PayPal is more secure than the Virgin Prepaid Mastercard with regards to giving out credit details. For example. If you want to buy something online paying by any kind of debit card (or credit card) involves you typing out many of the details on that card, which an online fraudster loves. Whereas paying for something online using a PayPal Account means you only have to type in your paypal account Username and Password before paypal then takes care of payment on your behalf WITHOUT DISCLOSING ANY OF YOUR CREDIT DETAILS. In other words. You do not need to enter your credit details because paypal has them, hence the Username and Password requirements only, and they send your payment over to the retailer in a safe, secure, way which the fraudster hates. Normally the retailer has a paypal account as well so that payments can be carried out paypal account (you) to paypal account (retailer). See the PayPal website for more information.

To set up a PayPal Account you first need to go to your local (country based) PayPal website, in this example to PayPal (UK), and then click on the SIGN UP button. If you go to directly to PayPal .com it will also advise you to go to your local paypal website.

Fig 1.0  Click on the SIGN UP button to continue




Fig 1.1  Select your COUNTRY, if need be, before clicking on your preferred ACCOUNT TYPE

After clicking on the SIGN UP button (Fig 1.0 above) you are then asked what Account Type you would like to set up (above) - Personal, Premier or Business. In this example, assuming you are not a business and just need an account for buying and selling purposes, a Premier Account will be adequate. You may need a paypal account for selling purposes when using EBay, which is owned by PayPal. See the EBay website for more information.

When you are ready select your Country from the COUNTRY drop-down menu, if need be, and then click on the GETTING STARTED button underneath the PREMIER Account Type to continue. Doing so will take you to the following Registration Form.

Fig 1.2  Fill out the Registration Form and then click on the AGREE AND CREATE ACCOUNT button to continue

As you can see, the registration form is simple enough to fill out. One thing to note here is that you should never enter the password belonging to your e-mail address inside the PASSWORD edit box - The PASSWORD edit box is expecting you to enter a New Password that will be used with this PREMIER PayPal Account, once this PREMIER PayPal Account has has been created.

When you have filled out the Registration Form click on the AGREE AND CREATE ACCOUNT button to continue. This means you accept the Terms & Conditions (User Agreement) of the PREMIER PayPal Account as laid out by PayPal - Click on the registration form's USER AGREEMENT and PRIVACY POLICY links for more information.

The next window to appear asks you how you would like to pay for your purchases (products and/or services) - By BANK ACCOUNT, DEBIT CARD or CREDIT CARD. In this example click on the CONTINUE button underneath the SECURELY STORE YOUR BANK DETAILS Payment Method where you will then be asked to fill out your Bank Account details in order to set up a Direct Debit agreement.

Fig 1.3  Click on the CONTINUE button underneath the PAY WITH MY BANK ACCOUNT Payment Method to continue

This next part needs extra attention paid to it, so read everything on the paypal pages (screenshots) carefully as well as what I am about to say. Otherwise you may get problems with paypal and/or with your bank or building society.

This next part asks you for your bank (or building society) details. THESE MUST BE PRECISELY AS WRITTEN AND/OR GIVEN BY YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY. Precise bank (or building society) details meaning your Bank Name, Bank Branch (Location), Bank Account Type, Bank Sort Code and Bank Account Number. Before filling out these details I strongly recommend you print the paypal pages first and then show them to your bank (or building society) and say I am setting up a PayPal Premier Account - What are the precise bank details I need to supply paypal?. They should then give you their precise bank details, which also contain your bank account details, in order for you to set up any paypal account.

Do not be flogged off with any old bank details. For example. I had a case myself, and when helping someone else, whereby we asked the same bank (on different occasions, in different circumstances) for the precise bank details for setting up a paypal account; only to be given the wrong Bank Branch and Bank Address details. This not only delayed things but it also caused confusion amongst their ill-informed staff. In the end I just used a different bank account and the person I was helping eventually got their correct bank details. So it pays to check you have the correct bank details in the first place rather than relying on your Bank Book or Cheque Book for bank details, as those bank details might not be the ones used by your bank (or building society) for processing paypal accounts.

When you have acquired the correct bank (or building society) details you should start filling out the paypal Bank Account form. It is in two parts. The first part requires your bank (or building society) account details and the second part requires the specific bank (or building society) branch details - The branch that processes PayPal Accounts, which might be their Head Office.

Fig 1.4  Fill out this form with your Bank (or Building Society) Account details and then click on the CONTINUE button to continue




Fig 1.5  Fill out the NAME AND FULL ADDRESS OF YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY details before clicking on the SUBMIT button

After clicking on the CONTINUE button (Fig 1.4 above) you are then asked to fill out the NAME AND FULL ADDRESS OF YOUR BANK OR BUILDING SOCIETY (Fig 1.5 above). These are the important details I mention above. When you have filled out these details verify that they are 100% correct before clicking on the SUBMIT button, because making a mistake here can cost you a penalty charge by paypal if your account details turn out to be incorrect. If you realize they are incorrect click on the CANCEL button, but if you are sure they are 100% correct click on the SUBMIT button to continue.

If you do make the mistake of submitting incorrect bank details log-in to your PayPal Premier Account and delete the listed/pending bank (or building society) account straight away - Give PayPal a call, if need be, to explain your mistake. With my experiences of PayPal I found their phone operators to be very helpful, caring and understanding. You can always set up a bank (or building society) account, again, by logging into your PayPal Premier Account and going to the Profile section.

Fig 1.6  Wait up to 5 Days to be sure that the two small amounts of money have been deposited into your bank (or building society) account

Now that you have entered and verified your bank (or building society) details paypal will deposit two small amounts, of between 01 and 99 pence, into your bank (or building society) account. Read the above instructions. Basically, after 5 Working Days you go to your bank (or building society) and check your statement for the paypal deposits. If all is well, remember those two small amounts (i.e. 01 and 44 pence) as you will need to know them later. In the meantime you need to confirm your e-mail address, in order to fully activate your PayPal PREMIER Account, which can be done before or after clicking on the above CONTINUE button. In this example click on the CONTINUE button (above) and then confirm your e-mail address by clicking on the CONFIRM EMAIL ADDRESS link (Fig 1.7 below) - At this point you are already logged-in to your newly created, but limited, paypal premier account (created above in Fig 1.2 onwards).

To confirm your email address, the one you supplied above, open up a new Internet Explorer and log-in to that e-mail account. Inside its INBOX you should see an e-mail from PayPal titled ACTIVATE YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT. If you cannot see it look inside your SPAM box instead, although it should be in your INBOX. There will be other e-mails from PayPal but click on the one titled ACTIVATE YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT first. From there, click on the ACTIVATE ACCOUNT link inside that e-mail which will then ask you to enter your PayPal PREMIER Account password in order to fully activate your PayPal PREMIER Account (Fig 1.8 below).

Fig 1.7  Click on the CONFIRM EMAIL ADDRESS link to continue




Fig 1.8  Enter your PayPal PREMIER Account password and then click on the CONFIRM button to continue

When you are logged-in to your PayPal PREMIER Account for the first time, and have confirmed your email address, you will be asked to provide two Security Answers to two Security Questions of your choosing, from the relevant Q/A 1 and Q/A 2 drop-down menus and edit boxes (below). These details are asked for when ever you forget your password, so that your password can be reset for example. Set up these two items and then click on the SUBMIT button to continue.

Fig 1.9  Set up your password Security Questions and Security Answers before clicking on the SUBMIT button

All you have to do now is wait up to 5 Working Days for the two small amounts to be deposited, by PayPal, into your bank (or building society) account. Once you know the two small amounts log-in to your PayPal PREMIER Account and click on the COMPLETE BANK SETUP link, in the NOTIFICATIONS List, in order for you to enter those two small amounts as digits (i.e. 01 and 44). Once this process is complete you can then start paying for online goods (products/services) using your PayPal PREMIER Account. PayPal does not take the two small amounts back out of your bank (or building society) by the way, they leave it in there for you!!

Fig 1.10  You can also set up your Debit/Credit Card as a different/alternative payment method, if you wish, for goods.

When filling in BANK SETUP details you might be asked generic questions about you and your income, depending on PayPal's bank setup security procedure at the time. If so, just answer the questions as you see fit. One question for example might be about your Business Status, but if you are not a business simply state you are an Individual.

Every so often, for security reasons, PayPal change their bank setup procedure. Hence why I cannot do an exact replication of their final bank setup procedure (screenshots) here simply because I cannot be setting up many different PayPal Accounts and Bank Accounts just to keep this section up-to-date. Meaning. This section is currently up-to-date, and I monitor the basic setup of PayPal regularly enough to keep this section up-to-date, but the final bank setup procedure (as explained in the paragraph above Fig 1.10, onwards) could be changed by PayPal at any time - I cannot go into, or explain, that procedure any further here without setting up a proper bank account of course.

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.