AUSTMAN - There is a similar deal called "Billpoint" that allegedly works in a similar way it seems. I have used that to pay folks who do not accept credit cards in the USA. Like you, trying to pay Catman's dinner just got crazy via PayPal, so had a check sent instead. A stamp newsgroup user of PayPal made this comment today:

Some of you suggested it was too good to last. Now PayPal have a snag on
international customers withdrawing fund to their visa cards.

I don't see this as a major problem because my idea was to leave the balance in my PayPal account to use to buy things - a sort of international bank account, with not much of a balance in it.

The sting for me is in the paragraph 3 from the end, where they say that if I do have a balance in my account, they will send it to my credit card. That's NOT what I opened the account for!