Sustainable Substitutes for PayPal

A leading online payment system with major security issues.

Reasons to avoid PayPal

Avoid PayPal due to its invasive data collection, lack of transparency, and high fees.

PayPal shares user transaction data with third parties for targeted advertising, imposes opaque and frequently changing fee structures, and has a history of privacy breaches and regulatory fines. Its dominance in online payments limits user choice and fosters anti-competitive practices.

Early employees and investors are also known as the PayPal Mafia. They co-founded or acquired other Big Tech companies such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Palantir, OpenAI, Twitter, Tesla. The most prominent members Thiel, Musk and Sacks actively support Donald Trump and express anti-democratic and fascist views.

Sustainable Alternatives

Here are some sustainable alternatives to PayPal

wero logo

Wero

A European online payment service focusing on sustainability and transparency.

Wero is (currently) ad-free, ensuring a cleaner and more private user experience.
Wero is governed by European banks and operates under EU regulations, ensuring compliance with GDPR and European financial standards.
Wero adheres to strict European data protection laws.
Wero is free for users to use for basic transactions, though merchants may incur standard payment processing fees.
Wero is built on the SEPA infrastructure, reducing environmental impact compared to traditional card networks.
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Klarna

A global payments provider from Sweden, best known for its BNPL services.

Klarna aims to decarbonise its entire value chain by 2040. Though, it has to be said that they try to achieve it with a internal carbon fee and support for innovative climate solutions. Its recent investments in AI solutions also make these goals questionable.
Klarna allocates a portion of its funding to climate initiatives.
Klarna is headquartered in Sweden, which should ensure compliance with GDPR and European privacy and labor regulations.
Website

The 4 main issues with PayPal

Monopoly - Market dominance that stifles competition and limits user choice.

PayPal is the world's dominant online payment companies, contributing to market monopolisation.Source: PayPal Review 2025: Is It Worth It?

Privacy Concerns - User data is likely to be stored and used against users' best interest.

PayPal has significant privacy concerns, including data mining and lack of user control. Its updated privacy policy allows sharing user data with third-party merchants by default, raising serious privacy issues. Source: PayPal’s data sharing controversy: New setting raises privacy concerns (2024)Heise: Expert Report: Massive Data Protection Violations at PayPal (2025)

Lack of Transparency - Opacity in operations, data handling, or supply chains, making it difficult for users to understand practices.

PayPal lacks transparency in its fee structure and data handling practices. Security incidents have not been communicated transparently either. Sources:The Register: PayPal app code error leaked personal info and a 'few' unauthorized transactions (2026)Heise: Paypal: German banks apparently blocked payments of billions of euros (2025)

Support of Authoritarian Regimes - Companies actively supporting, financing and legitimising regimes and unethical policies.

Some of the early investors / employees, also known as the PayPal Mafia, are expressing anti-democratic, fascist views and actively supported Donald Trump. Examples are Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and David O. Sacks. Some of them are still stakeholders at PayPal.Source:Wikipedia: PayPal Mafia