Visa Internet from PrivatBank, Privat24, and PayPal

My old virtual card had expired, so I went to a PrivatBank branch to find out what to do next. They told me I needed to get a credit card, link it in Privat24, and then open a new internet card, since the old ones aren't reissued.

I know PrivatBank's service isn't the best, judging by the reviews, but I couldn't find any other option with internet banking that's as functional and free — yes, Privat24 is a pretty buggy system, but it's free and constantly being developed, and I didn't see anything better with the others. And I didn't want to deal with another bank — the staff everywhere is about the same, it's hit or miss.

So I got a "Universal" credit card, stopping by the bank branch after work. After that they told me I could now open a new internet card in Privat24 and explained step by step how to do it. I still don't get why they had me get a credit card, since I could have opened a new virtual card anyway — I just wanted to check with the bank itself.

At home, calmly and quickly, I opened a new Visa Classic Internet through Privat24, with 3-D Secure support, which the previous card didn't have and which some stores require. All of this cost nothing — that's where the free part ends. After that, transferring funds from the old card to the new one costs 0.5 hryvnia. There's also a 35-cent charge on any transaction, even a failed one — for example, during a check on LiveJournal, $1.35 was withdrawn from the account, and the dollar will come back about three weeks after it's unfrozen. And, when adding money to the card, you have to pay 5 hryvnia or 0.75% of the amount deposited. Not very favorable rates, but if you don't do operations often, it works out cheaper than a plastic Visa Classic, which costs $10 to open and $20 a year to maintain.

After opening it, I added the new card to PayPal, and then waited a few days for the transaction to post so I could find out the terminal code to confirm ownership of the account. When I finally got it, I discovered that the new card doesn't list the name of the final terminal in its transactions — it just says "PRIVATBANK" everywhere, probably because of the new security system or something else. I immediately wrote to online support about the problem; they asked me for the card number and to fill out a standard identity-confirmation form. After filling in the data, they gave me the PayPal terminal code — the whole thing took about 15 minutes, but still, it's kind of inconvenient.

I wonder if there are any banks in Ukraine with better rates when it comes to internet banking and cards for paying online? I'd like to know.