Paypal: Transactions in Greece are interrupted
Following the imposition of capital controls by the government and the "freezing" of online payment services that rely on traditional banks and credit cards to transfer money, Greeks will no longer be able to use their Pay Pal accounts.
As a PayPal spokesperson states:
"Due to recent decisions by the Greek authorities on capital controls, Pay Pal payments from Greek bank accounts, as well as cross-border transactions funded by cards or bank accounts, are currently unavailable. Our goal is to continue to serve our customers in Greece in full as we have been doing for over a decade."
The move reflects the fact that both PayPal and other financial technology companies depend on traditional institutions that were created to disrupt. The truth is, there's an old-school bank at the heart of every financial startup trying to throw the old guard out of things.
Something similar happens with the digital currency bitcoin.
Coinbase, which enables people to buy and store bitcoin, relies on Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California, to convert bitcoin into US dollars or other currencies, despite the company's advertising that with bitcoin you use a global currency that is not controlled by any country or banking company.
Therefore, despite the fact that many of these companies present themselves as a necessary competitive tool in the traditional banking system, the closure of Pay Pal in Greece reminds us of how difficult it is for banks to not intervene at all in the flow of money.
source: sofokleousin.gr
