Disguised payment

[Iangjones]

I wish to send my wife some flowers for our anniversary.  I do not want her to know how  much I have spent on the flowers, but pay via credit card when I order.  When preparing the order, I am told that the entry on my bill will say PAYPAL INTERFLORA - so she would be able to see how much was spent.  Is it not possible to decide what is assigned to your credit card bill ?  I don't mind it being registered in my PAYPAL account as INTERFLORA; but don't see why it has to be explicitly noted on the credit card bill - surely a transaction ID that matches a similar one in PAYPAL should be sufficient.

[red-bay]

The name that apperars on your credit card statement is the trading name supplied by the merchant when they sign up with paypal. Buyers cant edit that unfortunately, sorry

[Iangjones]

 Thanks for the reply; but surely there are two transactions happening here. 

Firstly, I am  transacting between the vendor and my paypal account - so, I understand that the transaction should be marked in Paypal with the name of the seller.  However, there is a second transaction where I transfer money between MY account (bank or credit card) and MY paypal account - there is no reaason for any description other than is sufficient for me to enable MY reconciliation. 

Consequently, it is surely Paypal who decide to append the seller's description with no benefit to the customer?

[red-bay]

I understand what you're saying, but that's not how it works.

Merchants have to give a "business name". Paypal use that "business name" to help the buyers identify in a second what the transaction was

Paypal add the merchants name to the debit on the relevant card to help remind buyers. Whilst there may be buyers who want to keep some purchases secret, the vast majority recognise the benefit of being able to see at a glance what the payment was for

What you could do is open a personal account to run alongside your premier account, then use it to fund purchases you dont want to be identifiable, by simply ensuring you maintain a paypal balance in it. If you did that, the example you use "interflora" would only ever appear on the payment history within the paypal account, not on any bank or credit card statements. If I was trying to achieve what you are, that's how I'd do it 

[Iangjones]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I suspect you have not polled your buyers on whether they would appreciate the option of being able to amend the reference on their credit card from PAYPAL "business name" to PAYPAL "i decide a reference" - though your self-belief that you know the wishes of the vast majority is admirable. 

It is apparent that there is no reason to use Paypal for any situation where I can use my credit card directly, and will so restrict my Paypal usage to situations where direct credit card payment is not possible (as is probably done by the vast majority).  I won't be creating and maintaining a separate bank account because Paypal have no wish to offer flexibilty to their customers (though I'm sure the vendors find it a beneficial restriction). Thanks again.

[red-bay]

You wouldnt need a separate bank account, you'd only need a separate email address, but I can see why you'd feel it overkill. I use paypal for the protection if an item doesnt arrive, or isnt as described, and to stop me having to give my card details to sites or sellers who I've no reason to trust

Hope you find a way round it