NSF, taking from my bank account AGAIN when I clearly state to use my MasterCard

[sammykins]

This is possibly the third or fourth time it's happened to me. I changed my preferences in that, if there not be enough in my PayPal, it would go on my MasterCard.

It went well for a short period of time, and now I log into my bank account and I have the NSF message. My MasterCard is linked up as my backup payment, so why, PayPal, knowing that it BE my backup payment plan, did you go into my bank account to withdraw money FROM there? Really?

I'm really, REALLY disappointed in you.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Broccoli -

No worries! Thanks for coming back to let us know you have resolution. 🙂

sammykins -

Thank you for your examples! 🙂 I think they'll be a great jumping-off point for clarifying this further. A full understanding of the process can help you take the steps necessary to prevent NSF fees, and I definitely want to help you do that.

When you manually switched the funding method to your Visa in the transaction for your brother, your Visa was used. Switching the funding method in the checkout flow allows you to designate a source other than the default. When a bank is active and functional on the account, the bank will always be the default method used after the balance is exhausted. There is no feature that allows the card to be used as a default for all transactions instead of the bank.

Designating your MasterCard as Primary only means the MasterCard is the card that will be used after the bank has failed twice. You can bypass the bank on a transaction-by-transaction basis, manually, the way you did in the transaction for your brother. In a situation where you are unable to fund the transaction with your bank account, it is vitally important that you select a different funding source prior to completing the payment, or else those defaults will be used.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you still have questions.

Olivia

[MirandaD]

I just found out that after i DELETED my bank account off my Paypal it never seemed to take and now i have 120$ in NSF charges!!!! all pruchases were to go onto my credit card!!!! how can i get this money reimbursed????

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi MirandaD, and welcome to the forums!

I'm sorry to hear about the NSF fees your bank has charged you. While PayPal can't reimburse for fees charged by another institution, I would definitely suggest contacting the bank directly. A bank can opt waive some or all of their fees as a customer service gesture. I've heard follow-ups from PayPal members in the past that the bank was cooperative if the account is otherwise in good standing and no similar requests have been made before. I myself made a mistake that resulted in NSF fees a few years back and my own bank was willing to waive a portion of the fees up to a certain amount.

When removing a bank account, there are two places where clicking remove is necessary. There is the initial list of banks, and then a summary screen that requires remove to be clicked again. Is it possible that when attempting to remove the bank, the second screen was overlooked? When you go through the process again, complete both steps, and then go back to your profile and check your list of banks to ensure it was removed successfully. If it's not listed there anymore after you removed it, then you can be confident that it is not active.

To prevent NSF fees, PayPal provides built-in tools that help you stay in control of your payment sources and ensure that you are informed of what's happening before it happens. When making a payment, it's vitally important to review the summary page before completing the payment, every time. Doing so ensures that you are aware of the terms of the payment that you're agreeing to, and will help you identify account information that should be changed.

I wish you the best of success in negotiating with your bank. Please let us know how it worked out!

Olivia

[sammykins]

I have bought some items using my CC when I only had a few/no funds in my PayPal, and the rest went onto it. You didn't go through my bank first.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi sammykins,

Thanks for coming back. I'm happy to help further clarify. 🙂

For the transactions where your card was used as the funding option, one of the following circumstances likely occurred:

• The bank may have been temporarily disabled for that transaction due to security concerns, or otherwise not active on your account.
• During the checkout, you may have manually selected to use the credit card for that payment.
• The transactions may have been part of a billing agreement or preapproved payment, where the credit card was established as the default funding for the duration of the agreement.

I hope this helps! 🙂

Olivia

[sammykins]

The bank may have been temporarily disabled for that transaction due to security concerns, or otherwise not active on your account.

Nope.

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During the checkout, you may have manually selected to use the credit card for that payment.

Nope. It told me that it would go to my CC if I didn't have enough funds. I know I didn't, but it did not go on my CC as I have indicated in my PayPal account to do so.

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The transactions may have been part of a billing agreement or preapproved payment, where the credit card was established as the default funding for the duration of the agreement.

Nope.

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I just want to know why CC was ignored altogether.

[PayPal_Olivia]

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@sammykins wrote:

The bank may have been temporarily disabled for that transaction due to security concerns, or otherwise not active on your account.

Nope.

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A funding source may be ruled out by the security models on certain transactions, and available for use on others. If you give Customer Service a call with a specific transaction date and time, a representative can look in the records to see whether or not the credit card was available as a funding source for that transaction.

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sammykins wrote:

I just want to know why CC was ignored altogether.

---

To clarify, the credit card is not the default funding method. By marking your MasterCard as primary, you have selected the card you want to be used by default when a card is used, but this designation is true only among your credit cards. This selection does not supercede the regular hierarchy of funding methods for your payments.

The funding hierarchy that PayPal always uses is arranged in this way: PayPal balance, then bank, then credit card. A credit card would not be the default funding source for the majority of your payments except in situations where the bank is unavailable and there is insufficient PayPal balance.

One exception to this rule is billing agreements. If a merchant requires a billing agreement for payment, your card might be a necessary element of that payment. In these cases, the primary card would be the default method of payment.

Billing agreements are arrangements that you make with a merchant to set up recurring billing on a cycle, without need for manually paying each time. Some vendors may even require a billing agreement for a one-time purchase, so that future purchases can be made directly through them without coming back to PayPal. A couple of examples of one-time payments that require a billing agreement are eBay fees and some digital goods like MP3s or phone apps, but there are lots of others.

I hope this makes it clearer! 🙂

Olivia

[sammykins]

Still doesn't explain why my MasterCard wasn't charged after.

As you can see, plainly, my MasterCard was ignored. Twice. I should not have NSF on my statement.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi sammykins,

I think I've identified the misunderstanding here. I think this might shed a little more light on things.

PayPal has no way of knowing the balance of your bank account. If the bank funds the payment with overdraft protection, PayPal will not make another attempt. The credit card will be used only if the bank fails twice. Back-up funding is meant to be a failsafe measure only.

Here's an analogy that may help explain - when you write a paper cheque, you are certifying your ability to back up that check with actual cash in your bank account. When you click to complete a payment through PayPal, it's the same situation. By clicking to complete the payment, the terms of the payment are being accepted, and you're certifying your ability to back up the payment. Your bank may charge you NSF fees even if they do also offer overdraft protection.

I hope this helps clarify!

Olivia