PayPal screwed us too, just not very big, but we won't use them ever again. Bad news is, when you are in business, many of the other businesses who call you a "cherished" customer will fuck you in a second the instant you present any liability to their business model at all. Problem is, they won't be honest with you up front about what <i>your</i> place in that business model is. They'll lie to get you to believe you are the cherished customer. Just remember they're all whores who only do it for the money and that will guide you to make wise decisions that CYA at all times.
In general, I have problems with all credit card processing laws and companies. The actions of Visa and Mastercard when they "blacklisted" Julian Assange are especially troubling. The federal govt. allows these companies to position themselves where they can literally destroy a business in just a few days or weeks (mine could last only 2 weeks or so without them) and no one seems to care, we (and our courts - DOJ) are more concerned with whether or not Microsoft, Google, Mozilla or AOL makes the free browser you are using.
What's the idea payment service provider we are looking for? There will be always a trade-off between flexibility and risk control. On one hand, we don't want our account be frozen to damage our business. On the other hand, we also don't want our money be stolen due to some fraud action. what's the best example of a payment service provider? I suspect that a payment provider can easily satisfy merchants when they are small (e.g. startup), but will come into the similar situation when they grow up to a big one.
I have a business that relies solely on PayPal and reading every story like this makes me afraid of being the next one. What are global, <i>not US-only</i>, <i>not credit-card only</i> PayPal alternatives? Plus points for MassPayment API equivalents.