Use PayPal like a Credit Card

paypal-firefox-addon How would you like to be able to use PayPal anywhere and everywhere, even where it is not accepted? At this point the PayPal people hope you are excited because that is what they would like to offer to you via a new Firefox plugin.

Once you get it up and running, a window should come up when you visit a web site asking for your credit card information. With this new Firefox extension, you now have the choice to pay via a card that PayPal creates for you or you can generate a card manually through a drop down menu.

Some of the other features include:

Use Secure Cards to shop anywhere online

Save and print your receipts

Enter addresses with 1 click during checkout

Avoid fraudulent web sites

Check your balance right from your browserOnly downside is this add-on is only for Firefox 2 right now. I am sure it won’t take long for them to get it updated for Firefox 3 when the time is right.

To pickup the new Firefox PayPal Plug-in, you must login to your PayPal account, and then there should be a link to click on your left to “Use PayPal even where it is not accepted”. Hopefully in the future, they will put this in an easier place to access. All in all though, great idea if you are a heavy PayPal user.

For more help, check these out...

Tags: addon, credit cards, easy, money, PayPal, plugin

Posted on June 5, 2008 in Add-ons, Usability

Reader's Comments

from MonztA | permalink

The link to the add-on is missing.^^
from MonztA | permalink

Ah sorry, I thought it is not an official add-on. I’ve read the last part now.
from Mitch | permalink

Yep, hopefully PayPal gets that fixed in the future.
from Jen L. | permalink

Be warned, though – if you use Kaspersky and FF with this plugin (even after allowing it access to everything you and Kaspersky can think of), you will have a fairly annoying amount of lag and daily FF crashes if you are a heavy FF user.

It hasn’t persuaded me not to use it yet but I think I have the patience of Job.
from MonztA | permalink

I think that’s it, right? https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/general/NewPayPalPlugin-outside But if you log in and click on ‘Learn more’, you can’t download it. :(
from MonztA | permalink

Can someone upload that plugin?
from Jen L. | permalink

You have to actually login to your PayPal account to get it and no, by the license agreement, they can’t upload it.
from MonztA | permalink

Alright but I can’t get it. Maybe it is because I am living in Germany. Does that site work for you I mentioned in the 5th post?
from Mitch | permalink

Wouldn’t surprise me if it was US only, also noticed that it was Windows only too.

Mac users cannot install the PayPal Plug-In at this time. However, you can still use the Secure Cards feature of the plug-in.
How it works:

* Go to the Secure Cards page.
* Generate a unique MasterCard Secure Card number.
* Note the card number, expiration date, and the CVC2.
* Enter these details at checkout.
from What is Paypal? | permalink

In Ubuntu 8.04 with Firefox 3b5 I was able to download a plugin (not called an extension) from the Paypal website. However, the plugin is a Windows executable, so a lot of good it did me! I’m writing to Paypal now to ask when the Linux version will be released.
from Vincent | permalink

Damn, here I am, in the Netherlands, using Xubuntu… :(