Click and Buy

The main selling point of the service was security. Customers only had to provide their private banking details once – to Click and Buy. As a further security measure, a series of verification e-mails were sent to the new account holder’s e-mail address before the account became valid. Once the verification procedure was negotiated, purchases could then be made simply by logging in to Click and Buy and they would forward the money to the retailer, without requiring the customer to re-enter their details, nor to provide those details to the retailer.

The disadvantage was that the Click and Buy account had to be funded first. As this could only be done effectively via a credit or debit card or bank transfer, you had to have a bank account in the first place. Not only that, but there was an additional charge for depositing and withdrawing money from your account. This made the service inefficient and relatively expensive. People were (and still are) worried about data theft and fraud, but the sheer convenience of simply using your credit and debit card, together with the fact that there were no transaction charges for doing so, tended to overcome this fear, and the service declined in popularity. The company’s prospects were further hampered by the emergence of more competitive rivals, who would make fewer charges, and the emergence of pre-payment methods (like Paysafecard) and pre-payment accounts which did not require a pre-existing bank account, nor involve a credit check.

Deutsche Telecom took over the ailing service in 2010, but failed to revive its prospects. The final nail in the coffin was provided by its reputation for poor customer service. Complaints on online forums were a regular occurrence, with some concerned account holders even concerned that the whole service may be a scam. That was not the case – it was licenced and regulated by the UK authorities, but not to put too fine point on it – better alternatives were available.

It appears that toward the end of 2015, the new German owners finally pulled the plug on things, and at the time of writing, Click and Buy appears to be no more. The entry on German Wikipedia “Die Freie Enzykloapedie” declares that the service was finally withdrawn on April 30th 2016.

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