"Looking for Pay in 3? Unfortunately, Pay in 3 isn't available for this purchase" - Why???

[Fowler1966]

I have recently tried to make several payments to merchants using the Pay in 3 option. I have been able to use Pay in 3 with each of these merchants in the past. I am now getting this message:

"Looking for Pay in 3? Unfortunately, Pay in 3 isn't available for this purchase"

I have not missed any payments and have always fully paid off the previous Pay in 3 plans that I have been on.

For some reason, Paypal likes to keep secrets from its customers and is refusing to tell me why they have decided to impose these restrictions on my account. Does anyone know if Paypal have ever actually published the criteria that they use to assess people's eligibility for Pay in 3? There are no issues with my credit rating and it is genuinely a mystery to me why this has suddenly changed.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Fowler1966 

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/article/what-is-pay-in-3-help463

PayPal Pay in 3 is not available for certain sellers and goods. We may also decide not to offer PayPal Pay in 3 as an option based on our internal checks.

Also ... PayPal Pay in 3 is available on eligible shopping cart values between £30 and £2,000 GBP.

[ShintoMcGinto]

That’s not an answer to the question being posed. PayPal can never answer the question of why pay in 3 randomly disappears. Not a single answer I’ve read from PayPal about it simply amounts to a non answer. They need to get a grip and just start answering the actual question

[kernowlass]

@ShintoMcGinto 

Its a factual answer, you can use it when offered, you can't if its not..........end of.

[TTTTTSSSSS]

How can that be ? I was send to paypal from the retailers payment options. Why should they send me here if 3 installments are not an option. I could directly pay there from my card! It is a problem with paypal. I tried to pay 3 payments i was offered them as a option this time but after clicking the button it said i cant choose it i obviously failed the algorithm. So i paid directly it was not that big amount around 40 pounds! So the retailer got my 40 pounds directly and paypal says i have no credit!????????????????

[EdT67]

You didn't answer the question asked...end of!

[kernowlass]

@EdT67 

Doesn't bother me, never needed to use it.

Maybe you try answering the question if you think you can do better?

[Natalie93200627]

It is ever since I started using PayPal credit. My guess is they have taken it off me because they assume I will use the credit option meaning they make a lot more money from my interest! I will not be doing that PayPal as there are other services I will use. I’m not getting anywhere either!

[Temp20240307G]

I have the same problem pay in 3 no longer offered never missed a payment etc. I suppose it like any business if paypal make nothing out of you in interest etc. Your no longer good business.

[cainshiro]

I have been having this issue since May 2023. It vanished and I was not able to use it since. I completed like 30 payment plans without any issues before. I made several calls to PayPal, contacted them through their messages centre and it got me nowhere. They keep saying they checked me account and I'm eligible to use it and asked me to: use other merchants/stores, clear web browser cache, remove all debit/credit cards and then add them back, use different web browsers and nothing worked. It's clear their automatic security system is broken because it's preventing good customers from using this feature. When will this be addressed? How many more people will be denied to use it?

I have never missed any payments, I have excellent account history since 2006 and my credit score is above average.