PayPal announced its service now offers account balance withdrawals to Visa-branded credit, debit, or prepaid cards in 26 international markets. The company said the new feature is particularly valuable in markets where it had previously limited ways customers could receive or withdraw funds. PayPal explained the new feature on its blog:

"A good example is Brazil. In the past, customers in Brazil could only withdraw funds via a paper check. Now, Brazilian account holders can withdraw money in a secure environment and have their funds available for online and offline purchases using their preferred Visa card. It is also exciting for our Italian customers where local PostePay cards are widely used. The new withdrawal method gives them the freedom to easily move funds from their PayPal accounts to the payment cards they prefer to use online or offline."

The new functionality is available in: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Cyprus, Estonia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Indonesia, India, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Philippines, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, UAE, and Uruguay.

The move follows PayPal's expansion in May to 87 new markets allowing users there to send money online with PayPal (http://www.shareholder.com/paypal/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=242097&Category=US)

One online seller based in the Phillipines wrote on his blog that this was a good sign - "very welcoming indeed particularly for us who use PayPal for Online businesses" (http://tech.moroblog.com/paypal-philippines-can-now-recieve-payments).

Another blogger based in the Philippines wrote, "This will surely mean more e-commerce transactions in our country. It can spur economic activity and even further strengthen our peso. Thanks Paypal. Now, we just look forward to more features such as withdrawal of funds to our local banks" (http://isulong-seoph.aboutmyrecovery.com/2007/09/29/paypal-is-in-the-philippines).

http://www.thepaypalblog.com/weblog/2007/09/paypal-introduc.html