Here is some very interesting (read: shocking) statistic for you: (accurate as of 15th January, 2010).

• Number of Countries in the World: 192 (as per United Nations) [i]
• Number of Countries in the World: 195 (if we include Kosovo, Vatican City, etc.)
• US State Department Recognized Countries: 194
• Number of Countries in which PayPal Operates: 189[ii]
• Number of Countries that do NOT have Paypal: 5 (as per US State Department’s count)
• GDP Ranking (as compiled by IMF) for Pakistan for the year 2008 out of 179 Countries is # 48[iii]
• GDP Ranking (as compiled by World Bank) for Pakistan for the year 2008 out of 182 countries is # 46[iv]
• Internet Users in Pakistan: 18.5 Million (as per December 2009)[v]
• Internet users (as a percentage of the population): 10.6%

As of now, PayPal operates in 189 countries, that is like only six countries where Paypal does NOT operate:

• Cuba
• Pakistan
• Iran
• North Korea, and
• Afghanistan
• Syria

So lets see, Cuba has an embargo on trade with the US – has been for past 40+ years, so that is okay.

Iran, North Korea and Syria are “Axis of Evil” countries. So that’s understandable.

Afghanistan – is where the US is fighting it main battle $200+ Billion lost – okay so that is also understandable,

Pakistan – Ah! Pakistan. US’s Non-Nato Ally. Why the heck is Pakistan left out? I mean for crying out loud, even Somalia and Yemen have access to Paypal? Bloody Yemen! Bloody Somalia! Bloody Rwanda!

You know what? That makes me – Bloody Angry!

Why the discrimination – I have no idea. Reminds me of the song by the Pet Shop Boys, “What Have I Ddone to Deserve This?”

Here are the list of countries where PayPal is operating:

[ii] Source: Paypal (www.paypal.com) and navigate to Sign-up Page (countries list extracted from there).

[iii] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

[iv] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

[v] Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm#asia

Am updating this article: Have setup a website that now has all the relevant information:

http://OnlinePaymentsGuide.com

A lot of people continuously bombard me with the questions as to who the best online payment processor is, from where can I get an online merchant account for their website to accept payments, is there an alternative of Paypal, How can I get a paypal account, etc.

So here is my condensed list. Over the days, I will slowly make public the reviews I had done on each and everyone of these payment processors / gateways, etc.

For now, be content with the list, hope it helps. If you know of any other, please do write it down in the comments section.

2CO
Alert Pay
Alter Gold
Authorize.net
Bank of America
Blue Pay
Cash U
CC Avenue
CC Bill
CC Now
CDG Commerce
C-Gold
Charge
Concorde FS Net
CyberBit
Dao Pay
Durango Merchant Services
eCharge
EBS (Processor for Indian companies only)
EC Suite
Echo Online
E-Gold
Elavon
Electracash
Entropay
ePassporte
Face Book Payment
Application
Fail Safe Payments
Fastspring
First Pay
Gate2Shop
GloBill
Go Real Time
Google Payments
iKobo
InstaBill
IntaBill
Internet Secure
iTransact
Liberty Reserve
Link Point
Miva Merchant
MoneyBookers
Money Gram
Net Billing
No Chex
Pay Omo
Pay Pal
Pay Pay
Payoneer
Pecunix
Planet Payment
Plimus
Plug n Play
PS Bills
PSI Gate
RegNow
Revolution Money Exchange
Robo Xchange
RTWare
Safe Charge
Safe Pay Card
Safe Pay Solutions
Skip Jack
Trans First
Via Klix
Western Union
WM Transfer
World Pay
W-Pay
Xcoin
Xoom

Entries in Bold, needless to say are the most well-known ones.