GunPal

GunPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. GunPal serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. GunPal is distinct from its competition in that it does not restrict transactions for firearms and other legal goods, instead they require that all laws be followed.

A GunPal account can be funded with an electronic debit from a bank account or by a credit card. The Recipient of a GunPal transfer can either request a check from GunPal, or request a transfer to their bank account. GunPal is an example of a payment intermediary service that facilitates worldwide e-commerce.

GunPal performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee. It sometimes also charges a transaction fee for receiving money (a percentage of the amount sent plus an additional fixed amount). The fees charged depend on the currency used, the payment option used, the country of the sender, the country of the recipient, the amount sent and the recipient's account type.

History

Beginnings

GunPal was founded in January 2004 by Benjamin Cannon as an Internet financial services company. For the next 5 years, Cannon built a team of engineers, lawyers, banks and other financial institutions to take on a niche in the online payments world, and GunPal launched November 3, 2009.

Auction Affiliates

In 2010, AuctionArms.com elected to use GUNPAL as its online payment provider of choice. AuctionArms users enjoy the highest level of Buyer Protection that GUNPAL offers.

Bank status

GunPal is not classified as a bank in the United States, though the company is subject to some of the rules and regulations governing the financial industry including Regulation E consumer protections and the USA PATRIOT Act.

Safety and protection policies

The GunPal Buyer Protection Policy states that customers may file a buyer complaint if they did not receive an item or if the item they purchased was significantly not as described. If the buyer used a credit card, they might get a refund via chargeback from their credit card company.

According to GunPal, it protects sellers in a limited fashion via the Seller Protection Policy. In general the Seller Protection Policy is intended to protect the seller from certain kinds of chargebacks or complaints if seller meets certain conditions including proof of delivery to the buyer. GunPal states the Seller Protection Policy is designed to protect sellers against claims by buyers of unauthorized payments and against claims of non-receipt of any merchandise. Note that this contrasts with the consumer protection they offer. This policy should be read carefully before assuming protection. In particular the Seller Protection Policy includes a list of "Exclusions" which itself includes "Intangible goods", "Claims for receipt of goods 'not as described'" and "Total reversals over the annual limit". There are also other restrictions in terms of the sale itself, the payment method and the destination country the item is shipped to (simply having a tracking mechanism is not sufficient to guarantee the Seller Protection Policy is in effect).

Phishing

GunPal has developed substantial anti-Phishing resources, GunPal encourages consumers to report all phishing emails to them, to better equip them in fighting this phenomenon.

See also

• eCache
• Electronic money
• Google Checkout
• Itex Corporation
• PayMate
• PayPal Mafia
• Ripplepay
• Swreg

External links

• GunPal
• "Assessing Criticism of PayPal" by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Web Commerce Today, Issue 56, March 15, 2002