Why is the PayPal Student Account being discontinued?

PayPal_Drew
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Community!

 

If you are new, thanks for coming to the community forums to understand more about what's happening with the Student Accounts. Feel free to check out any of the other articles while you're here!

 

We are aware that this may be an inconvenience for some, so we'd like to thank you for understanding the change. Below are some common questions that we have received. If you have any additional questions, please reply to this thread and the community can respond to you.

 

Why is the PayPal Student account being discontinued?


PayPal has decided to close PayPal Student Accounts and PayPal Student Debit MasterCards on the following dates:

     • Effective September 29, 2016, PayPal Student accounts will no longer be able to make purchases online.
     • Effective September 29, 2016, the PayPal Student Debit MasterCard® card, and related services, will be closed.
     • Effective November 15, 2016, the PayPal Student account will be closed.


What happens to the money in the Student account balance?


Any money that is not spent from the Student account prior to November 15, 2016, will be moved to the student’s parent’s PayPal account. The student account will no longer be able to make purchases effective September 29, 2016. You will still be able to send and withdraw money until November 15, 2016.

 

Is there a replacement product?


At this time, we aren’t introducing a replacement for PayPal Student Accounts and PayPal Student Debit MasterCards. We will continue to explore ways to serve our younger population in the future. If the student is over 18 years old, we invite them to sign up for a PayPal account so they can enjoy the benefits PayPal offers, such as sending, receiving, and spending money online and in-stores. We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience.

 

Because the Community Forum isn't actively monitored by our Customer Service team, please reach out to us via phone if you require immediate assistance. You can do this by visiting the "Help & Contact" link on any PayPal webpage, selecting "Call Us", and continue as a guest if you're not logged in to your account. 

 

If this post is helpful, please accept it as a solution or provide kudos. 

 

Thanks! 

 

- Drew

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157 REPLIES 157

ChooksChick
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, it was clear in the email, however they didn't mention any way to convert the Student Accounts (you can't, apparently) nor did they mention that your child, if over 18, CAN'T USE their email address, and how to get around an account already being associated with it. My kids don't have another and why the heck should they create a new one for this? If PayPal wanted to keep them as users, they should have considered this. 

 

 

The information that WASN'T in the email, such as the million questions I have thought of, should have been on the site. Instead, there's NOTHING on the site, and as of 2 hours ago, we could still create new Student Accounts, which I did. I got a confirmation the new Student Account was created and no message about the program being shut down. 

 

The void when we are seeking info on the site is upsetting, confusing, and frankly, suspicious. I'm posting about it on Twitter. I have emailed the news. I think we should repost others if they discuss. Blow it up enough that PP at least coughs up something on their site and they remove the capacity to open a new SA.

 

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DPCreations
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

By the time PayPal management decided to discontinue the student acocunts, the time for questions had passed.  I susppose there were many questions posed by PayPal staff before the business decision was made to discontinue the accounts.

It was a business decision and PayPal presented the options available for users to close out their accounts or they would be closed according the stated plan.

 

Users only have the options presented by PayPal.   Users then make decisions based on their own needs with alaternative financial service options.

 

There have been many suggested options presented for studen finances.  Those who found good options could present them to help other users.  It's all about moving forward.

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mtneiswender
Contributor
Contributor

you are right... this seems like such a disconnect from the core of paypal it makes me think that student accounts were actually some sort of affiliated company/business that was licensed to work under paypal's brand. Really weird that any modern company would so weakly communicate a major change like this otherwise. Nothing on the website plus ongoing ability to enroll is just too weird. Certianly badly managed.

 

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Temp20211002Z
Contributor
Contributor

There is NOTHING that even comes close to the Student Paypal Account, so to say that there are options is a joke.

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Daddioo
Contributor
Contributor

Opened Capitol One student accounts for my kids. Actually rather superior to what paypal had. Kids get debit card, just like with paypal. However, they can deposit checks they receive directly with the phone app. Additionally, since CO doesn't have branch offices to speak of, if they use their debit card for an ATM withdrawl, the ATM fees are credited back making ATM use free.

 

Also opened a CO account myself and all are linked for simple transfers.

 

This is real bank account as opposed to whatever you want to call a paypal acct. 

 

Don't get me wrong - paypal student acct was fine and I probably wouldn't have looked around. But CO is better and more effective.

 

Let's no even talk about customer service......

 

 

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tomrothenbach
Contributor
Contributor

It seems like a typical move by the gods at paypal, just like your forced to use PayPal for eBay and forced to have to return money to buyers even if they lie about purchased item. It's just a typical move again by PayPal  to show you that they really don't  care about you. Ya it seems the same 2 people are making the stupid remarks probably being paid by PayPal.  There is an alternative you can look at which is called CASH. you can set up bank account for them and sent them cash works good and I think it will hurt paypal, their pants got to big and now they are just as greedy as the rest.

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stihlfixing
Contributor
Contributor

A few years back, paypal and ebay merged together, and then last year they split. Why? How much it cost to merge and then split? Who paid? That tells you the decision making ablity of these fools at the upper mgmt. Remember billpoint more than a decade ago that they bought to try to compete with paypal and end up they have to buy paypal from Musk? Remember skype they paid $2.6 billion and ended up trashing it? Just last Friday I got a few dozens of orders (I am selling on ebay) from int'l customers because somehow they were undercharged for the int'l shipping and I had to pay the difference. I spent one day to explain to these customers about this ebay glitch and to request them to cancel the transactions and even now I still got a few of them threatening me for negative feedbacks. With Paypal for almost 2 decades, so far today I still don't have an easy way to reconcile the accounts. Their statements are just not like a bank or credit card statement listing the transactions correctly. When you buy something and the money is funded by your credit card, it is TWO TRANSACTIONS THERE! And for the sales tax return, it is still impossible to generate a report for each quarter to show how much sales tax I have collected for my state.

Of course all these are off topic but I have to tell you how mess up paypal and ebay are with their internal mgmt! You just can trust them a bit.

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lancelotme
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

In the beginning,there is just Ebay being run out of Pierre 's apartment.

It was a place to exchange Pez dispenser,then individuals and retailers start listing and selling,it grew by leaps and bounds.

Sellers can bid on their own auctions and anyone can leave you feedback,they dont have to buy anything from you.

Payment can be cash,money order,personal check,cashier check,wiretransfer,postal order.

Sellers pay EBAY by mailing in a check.

There were a lot of shill bidding.

Then comes Billpoint,which is joint efforts between Wells Fargo and Ebay,seller can accept credit card via Billpoint.

The IT dept set up the site and turned them over to some clerks and took off to new projects.

Then comes PAYPAL,they are innovative and aggressive,they offer a $15 bonus for you to sign up,and another $15 for referring someone to sign up.

Some sellers made a fortune !

Paypal at one time was giving 6 figures away daily  as referral.

Paypal IT workers never leave the site,they are constantly innovating and making changes ,there were big credit card scams and theyhave to constantly tweak the site to catch these scams,while Billpoint did not.

I recall some of the sellers selling designer gowns were scammed by an Eastern European buyer ,losses range from thousands to entire shop inventory,they were all using Billpoint to accept credit card payments and Billpoint did not catch the fraudulent cards used .

There was a lawsuit against Billpoint,I dont know the outcome.

Eventually Ebay ditched Billpoint and bought PAYPAL,PAYPAL was neat,your fund in the Paypal fund will earn money market rate interest,your PAYPAL DEBIT CARD earns you a cash rebate of 1 1/2 %,chargeback fee was $10.

Why did Ebay spin off Paypal?

Ebay was not growing,growth came from Paypal ,to unlock Paypal growth potential,management felt it is better to spin off Paypal and let it be on its own.

There is a contract that Ebay will contine using Paypal as a payment method on Ebay,in fact lion share of Paypal revenue still come from Ebay,I think the contract would only last a few years and EBAY will then be free to choose.

I think Paypal realises that,thats why it keeps coming up with new products like PAYPAL Extra Master debit card,Paypal line of credit,Paypal credit card,Paypal CASH Now,Paypal here,Paypal gift cards??

As Paypal goes global,it charges 2 1/2 % plus fixed xchange rate on currency conversion,thats good money right there !

By reading this forum,I realise making money is not easy,collecting nickel and dime on each transaction,it is tedious and labor intensive (think customer support) and can also be dangerous to its $$ health,the last thing it wants is to be the last one holding the bag !

My speculation is that someday some big financial institution will buy Paypal and due to its wide acceptance,a need to establish itself on ecommerce and there are some features which would be hard for PAYPAl to offer but would be easier if it is part of a major international finance player,my guess would be a large bank with an intl presence,you can figure who it may be !   

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lancelotme
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

Paypal is not Intuit or Quickens or H & R Block,never claim to be,you have to do your own bookeeping if you are running a business.

I use a 19 cents spiral notebook to keep track of my sales,shipping,COGS,postage,FVF,PAYPAL fees,sales tax  by day and by  month and thats good enough for my tax return,the rest of the expenses would be mileage,incoming freight cost,supplies and capital goods such as PC and camera,printer and miscellaneous.

you would have to keep track of your returns,shrinkage ,if you track it month by month,it is much easier than waiting till year end.  

Most tax preparers welcome Quickens.  

(when an order comes in via email ,I just take out the spiral bound book and make the entry,no typing,no computer,just plain old pencil and paper work) .

It is plain and simple,but then I AM NOT RUNNING A MULTI MILLION DOLLARS BUSINESS FROM HOME! 

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DPCreations
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

@lancelotme

I enjoyed reading your history of PayPal and eBay.

I starrted on eBay right after eBay purchased PayPal.

I didn't realize that PayPal and eBay had the payment system arrangement when they split, but it makes sense as spinoffs frequently do incude arrangements to benefit both new companies.

The benefit of the spinoff/split is to go to the shareholders.

PayPal, like any public company, will constantly chage to offer more value to the shareholders.  If they fail, stock prices drop.

 

 

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