Pay via Debit Card or Bank's portal
There are reward points that you have already mentioned. Some banks also give reward points for netbanking transfer, although very few and less than debit card. On a fraudulent site, debit card adds a layer, if compromised, easy to change. i.e just hot list the card, get a new card issued. Netbanking quite a few banks have incorrect implementation and difficult to change the login ID / User ID. The dispute resolution mechanism is well established as there is master or visa network involved. The ease of doing transaction is with netbanking as for card one has to remember 16 digits, expiry, cvv. The entire process of card usage is multiparty, on slow connection if something goes wrong, it takes 3 days to figure out. In netbanking it is instantaneous. You just login to bank and see if the debit has gone through.
"Just to add about using debit card as ""credit"" vs ""debit"" way: In addition to the difference of having to enter the PIN when using ""debit"" mode (vs having to sign in ""credit"" mode), for stores that offer cash back (i.e. get cash out of your account at the same time as paying), you can only get cash back when using ""debit"" mode." "Circa 2002-2005, I was able to successfully ""transfer"" a balance from a debit card linked to a bank account to a Bank of America Visa credit card. As an example, I could say do a balance transfer from the card XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (which was a valid debit card number) to the credit card, and the funds would appear in the checking account within a few days, and also the balance on the credit card would go up the amount plus any balance transfer fee. I think they've sealed off that loophole years ago." You cannot directly transfer money from your Bank Account.   You can use Debit Card to make payments to your paypal account. Just enter the details of the payment and amount, it would make the necessary deduction from your debit card.   Indian regulations do not allow you to store value in your paypal account. This credits have to be transfered to a Bank account. You're knowingly providing a payment method which has insufficient funds to meet the terms of the contract, because you are too lazy to comply with the contract. That's unethical and fraudulent behavior. Will you get in trouble? I don't know. I'd suggest getting acquainted with an electronic calendar that can remind you to do things. In case the other ATM is visa enabled, many bank allows transfer to visa card through their ATM. More details about your banks are required for a very specific answer. I suppose both banks are Indian Bank, which bank ? "American Express is great for this use case -- they have two user roles ""Account Agent"" and ""Account Manager"" which allow you to designate logins to review your account details or act on your behalf to pay bills or request service. This scheme is designed for exactly what you are doing and offers you more security and less hassle. More details here." According to PayPal, if he or she used a credit or debit card, then yes. "Have you ever read a TOS. All of that can be covered.  ""We are not responsible for the use of this app or the bla bla bla.""  Payment is not built into the app, there is plenty of other methods of payment.   https://arcade.city/ was pointed out by another user." I generally only carry my debit card and a small amount of cash. On payday most of my money goes into a bills account, so I only have enough in the main account for a few days regular spending. This means if I want to buy anything I need to make a transfer from my bills account. If I really need to I can transfer the money instantly this over the phone or the web, but it cuts down greatly on the impulse purchases as I have to go through a process to get hold of the money.  As an aside this approach would probably help if I got mugged or lost the wallet as they wouldn't get much cash or be able to use my card for very long. That's how my power company does it. You authorize them to direct debit recurring monthly. If they screw up and withdraw $1000, you're out until it gets fixed.   But it varies from company to company. Not everyone's situation is like your online banking. "Is there a solution here that would allow me to provide him with a   debit card in his name that I could fund, that wouldn't have foreign   transaction fees associated with it (I'd probably be okay with a small   fixed ATM fee).  There are separate issues here.  There is no law limiting bank accounts to U.S. citizens, but most banks will not open an account for a non-citizen outside their declared service area.  There are substantial legal liabilities to the bank in allowing it, whether a citizen or non-citizen.   The difficulty will be compliance with the Patriot Act.  This is an extension of the older ""Know Your Customer"" doctrine.  It is improbable that the bank could comply with the Act without the potential customer being physically present.  You would have to check with your bank in advance as to their policies.  Banks are not required to accept a customer outside their policies. As to waiving the foreign transaction fee, that is very improbable.  Although a handful of institutions do this in specific cases it is uncommon because the bank isn't actually charging the fee, they are passing it along.  With a credit card they collect interest and waiving the fee can be thought of as a reduction in interest income, that isn't possible on a debit card. You would want to make sure you have a scrupulously honest nephew.  You could be held criminally liable for any actions he takes at both the state and the federal level.  U.S. law is global.  A citizen who commits a crime in any country of the world can be charged for it in the United States.  By being on the account you can acquire any liabilities that are created as an accomplice.  This is a bigger issue at the federal level because 4,000 federal laws do not require criminal intent.  Some do not require you to even know the action happened.  Unlike state law which generally requires you intended to commit a crime and had to be aware of it, federal law often does not.  It is also not adequate that the action is legal in Russia if it would be illegal in the United States. If I get a card in my name, and give it to him to use to withdraw money from ATMs, is that legal? What problems might that cause? It is legal, but you are now strictly liable for its use.  See the above answer.  It would probably get shut down anyway when they phone you and asked: ""are you in Russia right now?""  The bank is still liable for you giving away the card.  The bank may close out all your accounts and submit a currency transaction report on you to the Treasury for possible money laundering. Wire the money.  Plan out how much and when, but just wire it." Show your Bank passbook, preferably signed one, to relevant money sender. Great effort on the question. All I can advise is: If paypal does not provide the mapping table (Type, Status, Credit/Debit) you will have to build it up yourself as you go along. I would tackle it this way: Your SQL mapping table has Credit/Debit entries for all knows combinations and the Credit/Debit entry would be -1 for all. Then, as you get a list of transactions you will have to display all possible results to the user who will then tick the correct one (comparing it to the balance). You would store the Credit/Debit entry if it is unique. This way you will learn what the possible combinations are over time. Its a to the nth problem, so maybe start with a small number of transactions first. I expect you can build up pretty quickly. It will be an interesting experiment... "A couple of thoughts and experiences (Germany/Italy): First of all, I recommend talking to the Belgian bank (and possibly to a Dutch bank of your choice). I have similar conditions for my German bank accounts. But even though they talk about it as salary account (""Gehaltskonto"") all they really ask for is a monthly inflow of more than xxxx € - which can be satisfied with an automatic direct transfer (I have some money automatically circulating for this reason which ""earns"" about 4% p.a. by saving fees). In that case it may be a feasible way to have a Belgian and a Dutch bank account and set up some money circulation.  Experiences working in Italy (some years ago, SEPA payments were kind of new and the debits weren't implemented then):  My guess with your service providers is that they are allowed to offer you contracts that are bound to rather arbitrary payment conditions. After all, you probably can also get a prepaid phone or a contract with a bill that you can then pay by wire transfer - however, AFAIK they are allowed to offer discounts/ask fees for different payment methods. Just like there is no law that forces the store around your corner to accept credit cards or even large EUR denominations as long as they tell you so beforehand.   AFAIK, there is EU regulation saying your bank isn't allowed to charge you more for wire transger to foreign country within the SEPA zone than a national wire transfer." "Well, it took some effort to get an explanation from my bank. Turns out that some supermarkets use direct debit as a method of transferring money for purchases payed by so-called ""EC"" cards here. I was told that for some reason, a supermarket decided to reverse one of such transactions."