Georgia has joined the PayPal online international payment system, meaning customers can now shop in thousands of online stores securely, without disclosing private financial information. PayPal can be used by customers in Georgia who carry a Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card issued by banks working in the country.

For more information about the advantages of PayPal and the level of the service support for Georgian customers, Interpressnews spoke to Damien Perillat, PayPal Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Europe.

For more than two years, the number of Georgian customers expressing interest in Georgia joining the PayPal system grew steadily. What was the deciding factor for facilitating Georgia’s membership in the system?

We had constant updates about the interest of customers to see the PayPal system work in Georgia. We even knew about the Facebook page created for supporting the idea, and received requests from politicians and the National Bank of Georgia. The main reason for the prolonged process was the fact that there was a necessity for talks with government representatives and discussing a number of matters, as well as studying the legal base to make sure it was in agreement with the PayPal system. We also needed to carry out preparations and study local market before deciding on accepting Georgia into the system. You know that PayPal is an extensive system working in various states where we need to take local specifics into account. It was not easy to do this in your country, but we are now in Georgia and feel very optimistic. We believe our business will prove to be successful here. We have been cooperating with some of Georgia’s neighbor countries, including Turkey, Russia and Ukraine, all of which are now very important markets to us. Georgia has also acquired a lot of potential in this direction for two reasons – the country has a high figure of internet usage with almost half of the population having access to the web, and there is a wish within the country to connect to the rest of the world. The Georgian population has a great appeal for online transactions and this was the message we received from customers and government representatives.

Who has access to PayPal in Georgia at this stage? What level of service support will Georgia have from the system?

The service is available to all customers in Georgia. That means every individual can use the system to purchase items over the internet and facilitating transactions whether they are shopping for computers, clothing, music or some kind of service. So if an individual wishes to purchase something, they just need to register their Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit cards – issued by any bank in Georgia - in the PayPal system. The feature we are not able to offer at this moment is support for local businesses, although we plan to be able to facilitate this during the next stage. We decided to begin with private customers as we believe there is great potential in Georgia in this regard.

One of the issues with regard to online shopping concerns delivery and shipping companies. What does PayPal offer to customers in this regard?

The reality is that the majority of customers using PayPal shop on Ebay, as we are a single company. But as a result of my experience with the countries in the region I work on, I can state that many people use PayPal for other online shops. Not all online stores offer shipping to any country of the world and. This does not only concern Georgia. In such cases we cooperate with companies to ensure delivery to our customers. We hold such cooperation in all countries in our system and I am confident that we will have such cooperation with many companies in Georgia who offer to facilitate communication between customers and any online shop in any country.

What are the expenses tied to PayPal usage?

PayPal is free for customers. They do not have to pay for registration, membership or transactions. Let’s say you want to buy something in an online shop from the United Kingdom. You do not pay anything for the service, with the shop covering additional expenses. The only payment that might arise for the customer is the one emerging as a result of currency conversion. If you have a bank account in US Dollars and wish to buy something in Euros, we will be the one charging a small additional expense if we are the ones facilitating conversion. If the conversion is done by your bank, then they are the ones establishing the expense. PayPal usage in general is unique as it offers secure and safe usage.

By Ana Tskhovrebova