Payment methods

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

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

Method	Currencies	Hardness	Notes
Bank wire	Various	10	Very good match for trading bitcoin. Quick (but expensive) transfers that are not reversible.
Euro SEPA transfer	EUR	10	Non-reversible, usually free wire transfer between European banks. Cleared in one working day after the transaction is done.
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 however will cause the account to be closed.
Skrill (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	7	MoneyPaks are reversible if claimed stolen. There have been reports where the party attempting to redeem a MoneyPak number has been asked to provide a copy of the receipt used to purchase the MoneyPak. Ask for a copy of the receipt when accepting MP to protect yourself.
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	Sometimes referred to a type of ACH transaction, a direct deposit. Though not very easily, ACH can actually be clawed back if the transaction was the result of fraud.
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.
AliPay	CNY	n/a	Though reports of reversed AliPay payments can be found on the Internet, the operator of Bitcoinica asserts that AliPay transaction are "non-reversible".
UKash	many	n/a	A cash-based voucher system.
CashU	many	n/a	A cash-based prepaid card / redeemable code.
Bitcoin	BTC	10	While the bitcoin network has no concept of a bitcoin transaction being reversed, there could be the possibility of an exchange or merchant refusing to accept a bitcoin for various reasons (e.g., funds were stolen).
Redeemable code	USD, BTC	?	These are generally bearer instruments so the "hardness" would seem to approach a 10 however each exchange that issues a redeemable code may have its own policy. As these are a fairly new tool, it is not known if any exchanges will refuse to honor a code of their own (e.g., customer claims that the code had been stolen).

Virtual Currencies

Method	Currencies	Hardness	Notes
In-game	SLL	5	There may or may not be a dispute process if a user claims a transfer was done against the TOS.

See Also

• Secure Trading
• Digital currency
• Money transmitters
• The May Scale of Money Hardness and BitCoin
• Mobile Payment Apps