Paypal charges users fines for non-use

payment service provider
10 euros fine for non-use: Paypal demands extra fees from users

For many Internet users, online shopping without Paypal is hardly imaginable. But not every registered account is used. Now the company is demanding a fine for such cases.

The benefit is immediately apparent: Instead of giving your account or credit card details to any website, you simply rely on a single service provider that both sides can trust. PayPal has thus established itself as a standard payment service that is widely used for online shopping. But apparently many accounts are idle – and now have to expect a fine.

Affected are customers who have not actively used their account for more than a year. Some of the affected users have also been contacted by Paypal since November 15, reports “Caschy’s Blog”. The fee is not fundamentally new: it was introduced in April last year PayPal announced it for the first time. The group wants to use the income to cover the costs that also arise from inactive accounts.

Paypal: This is how the new fees work

PayPal has so far only dealt with merchant accounts, private customers are not affected by the fee. The group also announced that customers from Germany and other countries such as Austria, Italy and Greece will not have to pay any fines for this year. However, this explicit exception clearly allows the conclusion that it may be raised in the future.

According to the service provider, the fee is up to 10 euros; anyone who has less credit in their account pays a penalty equal to the remaining credit. If there is no money in the account, it will not be debited. Paypal expressly excludes accounts from slipping into a negative balance as a result of the fee or the new fee being debited from deposited accounts or other payment methods.

Even if the fee has been paid, the greatest danger has not yet been averted: if the account remains inactive for another 60 days after payment, the group does not rule out a complete deletion of the account.

This is how Paypal users have to proceed

The good news: it is also very easy for those potentially affected to avoid the fine and the closure of the account. Paypal expressly allows them for “inactive” accounts. To avoid this status, one simply has to use the account once a year. According to Paypal, it is enough to log into the account via the website or the app. Payment via PayPal, sending money to friends and acquaintances, withdrawing money or making a monetary donation are also counted as activities. Only the passive receiving of money does not count.

If you really don’t want to use your account anymore, the best thing to do is simply transfer your PayPal balance to a bank account. This also counts as activity – and empty accounts are not charged. Simply having the money lying around at a service that you don’t use is of little use anyway.

Note: The article gave the impression that the fee was newly introduced. In fact, it has been in force since last year. The corresponding positions have been adjusted.

Sources:PayPal, Caschy’s blog