You're being hyperbolic, or don't know what predicated means. This defaulting to bank transfers is a relatively recent thing in their history; they've been profitable for more than 10 years without that. Their fees are also sufficient to make a profit on credit card transactions, so their business would not fail should everyone opt-out of paying by ACH.
There are reasons for PayPal to want you to use ACH over a credit card beyond simply increasing profits, too. They're just as much victims of credit card fraud as their merchants. It's the card networks' fault that almost anyone in the world can pick up a Visa/MasterCard card, use it to buy something on eBay, then charge back the payment after they get the item. PayPal's the one getting the chargeback, and they're not exempt from the card networks' requirements on maximum chargeback rates. It's an existential threat to their business, always has been.
I've had a paypal account since before Ebay bought them and they've always used sneaky user interface tricks to push customers into using bank transfers over credit cards. It was the first thing I noticed about them after signing up.
Your note on chargebacks supports my point: Paying by card is better for the consumer. PayPal's trick UI steers them away from that.
Credit Cards essentially cost paypal more. A more honest solution might be pricing in the cost of credit card transactions fees and chargeback/fraud risk to the customer. I have no doubt this would be bad for conversion rates. It introduces huge friction, going from 0 cost to small percentage costs.
The way they do it now allows users to segment themselves. If you have a strong preference for using credit cards, it's available. If not, well then paypal does. They choose if you don't.
It's like an opt out system. In a lot of cases, thats a good system. For example, I think organ donation should use that system.
It's literally a case of using UI to steer customers towards a method that's worse for customers and no better for merchants.
I had my bank account connected to PayPal once, but deleted the association a few years ago. Somewhat surprisingly in the modern world of phantom deletion, there's never been any sign of it reappearing or Paypal trying to use or access it for anything. Each Paypal purchase uses only my credit card with no accidental way to do anything else.
I'm surprised they don't allow people to transfer money to you (and then force you to connect your bank account to get the money).
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
You may just end up pulling all you hair out before you find a way to do so.
* Third line of text on the page: "You can see all of your recurring payments on the [My preapproved payments].". Clicked the link.
* Hair intact.
Of course, the polite way of handling subscriptions would be having a link to this page in the menu. Sort of like how there are links to all of the other things you can do.
Does this feature honestly not seem hidden to you compared to the other things you can do on PayPal?
Their entire business is predicated on steering you away from using your credit or debit card (better for you) to a direct bank withdrawal (better for them).
Bank withdrawals carry a risk of overdraft fees, have fewer consumer protections, and lack the rewards programs and other benefits of cards. But they cost less for PayPal. Merchants don't pay any less though -- it's how PayPal makes money.
Each and every time it defaults to bank withdrawals. You have to hit "Change" to select your card, every time. There's no way to change the default to your card. The only reason for this UI is to steer customers away from their best interests.