All PayPal everything

I figured this was common practice, but after seeing some co-workers’ reactions to my mentioning it, I guess maybe it isn’t? In any event, the general idea is that I use PayPal whenever and wherever possible. Do I particularly like PayPal? No, but it is about as ubiquitous as internet-based payment services get (and you can pay for things with either a checking account or credit/debit card).

The main reason I try to concentrate payments there (especially recurring payments) is that it lessens substantially the number of services I have to update if and when my debit/credit card numbers get stolen. In the past year my card number has been stolen twice, and when that happens, as you likely know, it’s a damn pain going to the site of every service you use and changing the card number on record.

My process now when a card number gets stolen is 1) I add my replacement card number to PayPal and remove the old one; and 2) I reference a list I maintain of the services I pay for that don’t use PayPal, and update each of them. It’s a real time-saver.