Have paypal on my website for now. Customer cards being declined

[way2hota]

So I have a website that has the paypal payment gateway setup on it.

Pricing is usually from 80 - 1,000 usd via invoice or we have some packages they can click and check out.

When they click the "don't have a paypal" button  because obviously they would like to pay with debit or credit

they enter their information and the card gets declined and they are asked to try a different card. 

Honestly this is costing me a lot of money as it happens multiple times per month and customers

actually contact me about it. Called into paypal and frustration continues as they can't do anything

about it because it is not a problem directly related to my account (Even though it prevents my account from accumulating funds)

Is there anything I can do besides changing payment processor that can fix this problem. References, advise and respectful opinions appreciated. 

Thank you

[snowshoe]

Just curious, what product are you using, Payments Standard, Advanced, Pro or Payflow Gateway?

[way2hota]

Just the standard. I doubt im the only one with this exact problem. 

Cheers

[snowshoe]

Has this customer purchased other items through PayPal using the same card in the past?  It does not have to be your site, it can be anyone's web site that uses PayPal for credit card transaction processing.

Here's the madness behind the question. PayPal keeps track of the number of times a card is used to make purchases. At some point, don't know how many times, but PayPal will required the card user to open an account. It has nothing to do with credit history or even the seller, it's their way of signing up new accounts. You won't find this info posted anywhere. We were at a PayPal event some time back and spent some time discussing issues of this nature. One of the folks there told us straight up about this particular scenario. The odds are that at some point in time, a customer will also setup an account but if they don't or never intend to setup an account and continue to use their card for purchases through PayPal, they end up in this situation.

[way2hota]

Well that kinda **bleep**. Knowing that really puts a damper on my business. I guess PayPal only really wants to process payments of PayPal account holders and credit/debit processing is just an extra. I'm guessing having multiple payment processors is the only way to ensure my customers have a way to pay.

[snowshoe]

Not defending PayPal here but, they are a corporation.  Growth is what they rely on and signing up new customers is how it works. We all know it's about marketing. You do have a choice when it comes to online processors. PayPal does work well for many and not so much for others.  Here's a link with info about alternative services.  http://www.stayonsearch.com/top-10-paypal-alternatives

We use 3 different services, the best support to date has been thru our own bank's merchant account, the folks are outstanding.  We also use Square, it's less complicated than PayPal Here, works well for phone and mail orders with card not present.  Last, we use PayPal for our website as it does serve our needs. 

[way2hota]

Appreciate the insight.  I'm not currently residing in the US, Sorta the point of having an online business. PayPal was just convenient that I can hook up my PH bank account to PP and withdraw funds that way. But yea if you have any recommendations that work internationally that would be awesome. I'll look through the resources you've gone out of your way to send and I do appreciate it. Thanks mate.