Payment status still pending after a whole week?

[honeywellle]

I made a payment using paypal from my bank account (which is verified) thinking this was a system that was somewhat more modern than mail, however after a whole week of it still saying pending, it would have been quicker for me to send it as a personal check...I made the payment on the 2nd, and the payment was withdrawen by paypal on the 3rd which was great timing, but now paypal has had my payment status as pending for over a week and apparently expires tomorrow? The woman who I paid says the money still has not been released into her account...??????

[PayPal_Adrian]

honeywellle -

Welcome to the boards!

It sounds as if you sent an eCheque.  eCheques take 5 to 7 business days (weekends/holidays don't count) to be completely processed and given over to the seller.  It sounds like it should clear soon (if not today) if you sent it out on the 2nd. 

Hope this helps,

Adrian

[ice112369]

But why does it take that long to process an e-check when Paypal gets the money from the bank account in 1 or 2 days? In my case, I paid on the 3rd of March and yet , my echeck payment has not (?) cleared until now even though the money has been taken off my bank account on the 7th of March.   Is Paypal counting the 5-7 business days from the day they take the money off the account? and not the day it was paid? just wondering... because this is not the first time it happened to me.

[PayPal_Adrian]

ice112369 -

Welcome to the boards!

PayPal uses a process called EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to move groups of transactions to and from various financial institutions.  This process can take five to seven business days, even though your account is debited immediately.

Why does this happen, and why don't you get the money at PayPal right away?

When you select to take money from your institution and send it to PayPal, PayPal sends an advance notice of the EFT debit to your bank.  Your bank, understandably, places the funds on hold and debits them immediately - they know you're expecting to pay the bill, and would rather ensure that the funds are there than bounce a cheque down the line.  The entire settlement process then takes up to seven business days before PayPal has the funds and can place them in your account balance.

Withdrawals from PayPal work much the same way.  You tell us to send the money to your bank, so we debit it out immediately to make sure your requested withdrawal goes through.  Except now, your bank is the recipient of the money.  So while we have debited you immediately, your bank won't provide the withdrawal, understandably, because they don't yet have the cash on hand. 

Once it is, though, either party will credit you immediately.  We want you to have your money as soon as possible!

Did you know there's no need to "Add Funds" to your balance before making a payment?  If you have a credit card on file, you can use the Instant Transfer option.  This still debits your bank (and the transfer still processes in the background), but because you have elected to pay via a credit card in the even the cheque doesn't clear, PayPal pays your seller in advance.  That way, you have your item sooner because the seller is paid immediately!  We don't offer this on withdrawals or Add Funds, though, because if it fails, we would have to charge the card as a cash advance - and that could result in some nasty fees for you with your card issuer.

Hope this helps,

Adrian

[rvirtue]

Adrian says: "The entire settlement process then takes up to seven business days before PayPal has the funds and can place them in your account balance."

But that's the part that, to me, seems inexplicable in today's financial environment where millions (billions?) of "instantaneous" transactions and transfers occur daily.  In fact, the entire financial world and its "microsecond" trading depends on it.

I find PayPal's delays in transacting straighforward bank funds transfers to be almost intolerable.  As the OP says, a cheque by "snail mail" might be quicker.  Surely there must be some more expeditious process that can be made available for those of us who, like myself, prefer to avoid using credit cards entirely.

In fact, avoiding credit card usage is one of my primary reasons for using PayPal in the first place, and yet it seems to put us into some kind of "second class citizen"  category -- both in terms of prompt transactions and in other ways like "unconfirmed" addresses, etc.

But perhaps that's the actual intention to promote credit card usage!  Is it?

[SiryiVovk]

I've paid with the paypal for skype in the past, and the money were received within seconds. Now it tells me I have to wait 12 days????  Did PayPal "upgrade" its systems? How come every time companies claim that they are "upgrading"  to "serve us better" , become actually harder to use? May be rvirtue is right, and those "changes" are forcing us to use credit cards more and more

[ToadWart]

I find I am in a similar situation with PayPal.

I sold an item 4 days ago and supposedly had the full amount deposited to Pay Pal in my account  by the buyer. I then provided the shipping data to PayPal the same day as requested.

Since then I have received nothing from PayPal but emails, telling me to be patient as the payment must be processed.

In the meantime (when I could use the funds for other electronic transactions) I get to wait while PayPal does what????

They are sorry for any inconvenience, but I am sorry I ever dealt with them to begin with.

From this point on I will only use  PayPal when purchasing and then only when absolutely required.

I don't think electronic money transfer should be at the speed of the horse and buggy!!

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@SiryiVovk wrote:

I've paid with the paypal for skype in the past, and the money were received within seconds. Now it tells me I have to wait 12 days????  Did PayPal "upgrade" its systems? How come every time companies claim that they are "upgrading"  to "serve us better" , become actually harder to use? May be rvirtue is right, and those "changes" are forcing us to use credit cards more and more

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