How long does a direct debit take to reach Paypal? And is it better not to clear a negative balance?

[Jillian-P]

Hi, sorry if this is covered elsewhere, I did search and couldn't find the answer.
A monthly subscription failed as I was a bit short in the bank, leaving a negative balance. Following the instructions I made a payment from the bank to cover it and sort out my balance, which was instant.  But a couple of days later the same amount left my bank again, I would guess that it's automatically debited again after a failure?  It's now been five days ( 3 working days) and it still hasn't arrived in my Paypal, and it's left me with little in the bank. I keep checking Paypal hoping it will be ready to withdraw back but nothing!
So, two questions, how long is normal for a direct debit to take from bank to Paypal, and if this happens again am I better to ignore the negative balance knowing that it will be sorted automatically anyway?

 Thanks for any advice x

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Jillian-P 

Transfers from bank accounts are never instant, that is why when you buy something paypal credit the seller upfront for you and paypal take the wait for the funds to transfer to pay them back again, this is so you get your item without delay.

Takes 5-7 working days to transfer as Paypal use the slowest (cheapest) transfer option (which is why they credit the seller in advance) BUT funds normally leave your bank account from a few hours up to a few days later.

So whilst you made a payment from your bank account to your paypal account presumably using the faster option just before that happened Paypal may have automatically reapplied for the funds and that would crawl through to your Paypal balance in about 5-7 days using the slowest option.

[Jillian-P]

Thanks @kernowlass , sorry I can't seem to give kudos.
I will just have to be patient then, and I won't hurry to pay off a negative balance in future!