OnePlus Credit Card Payments Suspended Pending Investigation

OnePlus may have survived 2017 largely unscathed, but it has started the new year with a thunderous flop. Users everywhere have reported getting fraudulent credit card transactions after they used that same card to purchase something from OnePlus' online store. While OnePlus is still investigating the incident, it has temporarily stopped accepting credit card payments to put a halt to the reports. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to save those already affected.

Using credit cards to pay online for goods and services is not only convenient, sometimes it's also the only way to pay for such things. Either way, it always carries a risk, though that risk is sometimes mitigated by the expectation that a more or less popular and large company would be more careful in handling such transactions.

Sadly, OnePlus is popular but not large. Both for practicality and perhaps to be less liable for problems like this, it opted to go with a payment processing partner for credit card payments. OnePlus' brief explanation subtly points the finger in that direction, while, at the same time, explaining that it doesn't store any critical information, even in the "save this card for future transactions" feature.

Unfortunately, the damage has been done and, to be fair, OnePlus doesn't have the capability to directly reverse the suspicious transactions. All it can do is to tell customers to report it to their banks and stop accepting credit card payments.

That leaves only one payment option left: PayPal. Though the payment method does offer one added layer of protection/indirection, some buyers are unwilling to setup a PayPal account for whatever reason. In other words, it will ultimately lead to decreased sales. OnePlus says it is exploring other alternative payment options, though it remains to be seen if that will actually improve or worsen the situation.

SOURCE: OnePlus