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 | 7? | There hasn't been much experience trying to chargeback, but since it is funded via ACH, it should be possible to dispute from the side of the funding bank. Dwolla will investigate the dispute but there have not yet been any reports of any disputes[1]. |
| 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. |
| Neteller | |||
| Western Union | |||
| MoneyPak | USD | 10 | MoneyPaks are irrevocable. |
| Personal check | Any currency | 8 | At least in the USA, once a check clears, it is hard to claw back except when fraud is alleged. |
| Bank ACH | USD | 8 | Though not very easily, ACH can actually be clawed back. |
| Euro SEPA transfer | |||
| Cash in mail | Any currency | 10 | No chargebacks, obviously. Just check for counterfeit paper. |
| Credit card | Any currency | 0 | Dead easy to charge back. Do not use. |
| Intra-bank transfer | |||
| Popmoney ACH | |||
| Chase QuickPay | USD | 3 | Chase has reversed legitimate transactions as the result of anti-fraud measures[2] requiring the sender to be trusted to re-pay. The sender can also request a reversal after submitting an affidavit alleging that fraud occurred. |