PayPal Holdings, Inc. Bank Account Or Service Complaint

PayPal Holdings, Inc. Bank account or service department,

Other bank product/service Making/receiving payments, sending money Massachusetts

I have used PayPal several times without issue, mainly with my credit card as the form of payment. However, twice now ( out of a small number of transactions ) I have had a problem with a seller, resulting in no transaction completion, yet PayPal holds my money leaving it tied up for days/weeks/months. The common denominator is the use of a PayPal balance, rather than a credit card as the method of payment. They market this balance as online cash, yet when a transaction falls through, it operates like a black hole, unlike cash whatsoever. This is problem # 1 : false and misleading marketing Problem # 2 : While this is happening, PayPal is earning something called float in financial markets and likely are investing funds that are not theirs ( failed transaction ) in short-term financial instruments, keeping the gains for themselves. This is more serious and may violate banking laws. Even if they are not investing it, by holding a customer 's money when no transaction has occurred, they are depriving customers of usable funds without compensation. Since a customer ca n't spend their Paypal balance while it 's in limbo, a


This just happened for the second time on - - ( 2016 ). I attempted to use my online PayPal balance to make a purchase for $100.00. PayPal is for all functional purposes an online bank in these transactions, and should be subject to related banking regulations. In this case, the merchant ( - ) had a problem on their side, and we did n't connect live within 48 hours. As a result, - informed me that they " cancelled '' the transaction. Having no goods/services for my $100.00, I expected my PayPal balance to reflect the cancellation quickly. It did n't. I finally got a - rep with enough skills to get me the - phone number and information. The information was that I needed to get PayPal support on the phone and conference in -. - confirmed on the phone, with me as a witness, that PayPal should release my funds back. The PayPal rep said that she could and would start the process when I hung up. Two days later, no funds released. I called tonight and the whole circular fire-drill was about to start at square one. To me this is : 1 ] Theft of float without compensation 2 ] False marketing of a financial instrument - if a cash/electronic checking transaction is cancelled before completion, I 'd get my finds back very quickly, perhaps never see them gone at all. In this way, my PayPal balance is not like cash at all - they can hold it for as long as they want even though it is " for the benefit of '' money, not theirs at all.