I agree with some points however, HSBC's API is incredibly secure ...if you know how to intergrate it that is... the 'instruction manual' took 5 developers sat around a table for a WEEK to go through and just decode what the h*ll they were talking about!!!
PayPal has become the norm because its so easy to register with them and does not take long before you can begin to buy things, Because you cannot go 'Overdrawn' and because they dont actually provide 'credit' there are no need for credit checks nor credit agreements, this makes things a lot easier for those peeps who have a credit rating of about 3 points...
Anyway the upshot is, that even if if yo have a card you can use paypal as a payment gateway OR use the money that you have stored within your account, this is not only security but ease of use, and ease of use I am afraid may not be first on a developers or a site admin list, but it is on a customers.
How many of us have got to a site and after the fifth click on a 'click to continue' icon have you thought 'Sod this for a game of soldiers Ive had enough, I'll look on amazon'?
Ease of use I am afraid comes way before 90% of customers even think about security, the success of online credit card fraud and the fact that hackers can still get on to a site and get hold of sensitive information, I think, Justify's this comment....
Discuss...
Hehe!

Jimmy