Payment methods

When trading bitcoins for national fiat currencies, one issue that frequently comes up is the mismatch between the hardness (non-reversibility) of bitcoin, and the softness (reversibility) of many of the fiat-currency payment methods. This page lists a number of payment methods, hardness ratings, and more detailed info in the notes field.

Hardness goes from 0 (extremely soft) to 10 (completely non-reversible).

Method	Currencies	Hardness	Notes
Liberty Reserve	EUR, USD	10	Very good match for trading bitcoin. However, it is difficult to get LR funded - it is only possible through third-party exchangers.
Webmoney	USD, RUB, BYR, EUR, XAU	10	Very good match for trading bitcoin. Requires funding by bank wire though, which may be expensive for small amounts.
PayPal - regular	Most world currencies	0	Extremely easy to charge back. Also, since trading bitcoin is against their ToS, good luck disputing the chargeback. Do not use.
Paypal - personal	Most world currencies	1-5	If funded via bank, requires person to dispute the ACH, which may be more arduous. If funded via credit card, requires person to dispute the CC charge, which is pretty easy. Since there's no way to tell what the funding source was... it's a gamble. Also, if paypal account is reported stolen, paypal will probably attempt to claw back the money.
Paypal - masspay	Most world currencies	7	Mass pay requires funding from paypal balance. Generally much harder to reverse, but not impossible. Probably your biggest worry here is an actual stolen account.
Dwolla	USD	3?	Since Dwolla amounts are funded via ACH, Dwolla will reverse payments if the funds were the result of fraud. Additionally, Dwolla's Terms and Conditions now state that peyments received are subject to chargebacks as the result of their internal dispute resolution processK.
Serve	USD	0	Extremely easy to charge back.
AlertPay	Many currencies	1	Because payment may be made using a credit card a charge back is easy. Doing so hoewver will cause the account to be closed.
Moneybookers		0	Chargebacks are possible. Accounts have been terminated when this payment method was used for a Bitcoin trade.
Neteller
Western Union Money Transfer		9	A money transfer can be stopped but once funds are withdrawn as cash there's little risk.
Money Order		5	A money order can be lost or stolen and there are procedures for reporting that. Losses could occur even weeks after the check has cleared.
MoneyPak	USD	10	MoneyPaks are irrevocable.
Personal check	Any currency	5	At least in the USA, once a check clears, it is hard to claw back except when fraud is alleged.
Bank ACH	USD	5	Though not very easily, ACH can actually be clawed back if the transaction was the result of fraud.
Euro SEPA transfer
Cash in mail	Any currency	10	No chargebacks, obviously. Just check for counterfeit paper.
Cash at bank	Any currency	n/a	Some exchanges (e.g., Virtex and OTC traders accept cash deposited to an account at a bank.
Check at bank	Any currency	n/a	Some exchanges accept a check deposited to an account at a bank.
Credit card	Any currency	0	Dead easy to charge back. Do not use.
TransferWise	GBP to EUR
Intra-bank transfer
Popmoney ACH	USD	5	Since Popmoney transfers occur via ACH, Popmoney will reverse payments if the funds were the result of fraud.
ING Person2Person	USD	5	Since Person2Person transfers occur via ACH, ING will reverse payments if the funds were the result of fraud.
Pingit	UK	5	Barclays will reverse payments if the funds were the result of fraud.
Chase QuickPay	USD	3	Chase has reversed legitimate transactions as the result of anti-fraud measures requiring the sender to be trusted to re-pay. The sender can also request a reversal after submitting an affidavit alleging that fraud occurred.

See Also

• Secure Trading
• Digital currency
• Money transmitters