Account Limitations: What You Need to Know

[PayPal_Mark]

Keeping your business and customers safer

To ensure PayPal remains a safer place for enabling payments, we regularly review all accounts. Sometimes, limitations may be placed on your PayPal account, which could restrict you from completing certain actions: such as withdrawing, spending, or receiving money. Limitations are in place to help protect all our customers, and in some cases to meet our regulatory obligations. Protecting your account and money is important to us.

Account Limitations: What might cause it, and how to help avoid it?

If your PayPal account is limited, you may be unable to withdraw, send or receive money. There are a number of reasons why your account could be limited:

Suspicious & unusual activity

• We suspect someone could be using your account without your knowledge.
• Your bank alerts us that someone has used your credit/debit card linked to your account without your permission.
• There are unexpected changes to your selling activities such as a sudden increase in your typical sales volume.

In such cases, we do what it takes to protect you from potential fraud prompted by the unusual activity– through limiting your account, and investigating.

You can safeguard your personal information and help protect yourself against fraud through some simple measures.  For example, don’t enter your personal or financial details when describing items for sale or in response to emails, and log out of sites you’ve entered your personal information into.

Regulatory reasons or business is not compliant

Your account could be limited for regulatory reasons. For example, India PayPal sellers need to include additional information to be able to accept payments in their account. Also, reaching a certain transaction value in your account may trigger a limit, which can also be removed by providing information required to PayPal.

There are also restrictions on what a PayPal account can be used to accept (and make) payments for. For example, PayPal doesn't allow the sale of counterfeit goods or banned items. So, ensure that your business is compliant with PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy .

Increased buyer issues

An increase of complaints, claims and chargebacks from buyers can lead to account limitations.

Following some simple guidelines can help you improve your performance and reduce the likelihood of limitations. Overall, communication is key. You should:

• Provide detailed product descriptions and photos.
• Be upfront about policies such as shipping and returns.
• Ship orders promptly and track shipments.
• Respond quickly to any messages from buyers.
• Work to amicably resolve any problems.
• Ship to the address provided in the transaction details page.
• Use quality shipping materials to prevent damage.

Removing limitations

 If your PayPal account is limited, here’s what happens:

1. We’ll email you to let you know –  we’ll ask you to log in to your PayPal account and go to the Resolution Centre for details on how to resolve the issue quickly, usually by providing information.
2. Once you’ve submitted the information required, we’ll review and reply via email.
3. We’ll remove the limitations once we have verified your account. At times, limitations can be removed by simply changing your security questions and password.

Here are the types of information and documents we may need from you:

- Supplier’s invoice with contact information

This helps us determine the inventory source and validate that you have the items that you’re selling in stock.

- Payment information

When an invoice is unavailable, we’ll review the following information about your payments:

• The item or service that was sold
• The buyer’s name and shipping address
• Proof of shipment to verify that an order was delivered

- Shipping or Tracking information

This helps us to verify that customer orders are being fulfilled.

- Proof of business
This provides evidence of a valid business registration and business ownership.

- Information for India sellers
This is to comply with our India regulatory obligations. Provide a valid PAN, a local bank account and the purpose code in your PayPal account task board.

- Proof of address such as bank statement or utility bill, Proof of identity such as passport or driver’s license
This helps us verify your identity when there is unusual account activity or to comply with regulations.

Once you’ve submitted your information, look out for any more emails from us as we may need additional details. We’ll do our best to confirm your information and remove the limitation within 2 business days, but sometimes it can take a little longer.

Quick Tip: If your PayPal account is limited, don’t open a new account. It could be traced back to the limited account.  It’s always best to resolve the limitation. We will guide you through it and restore full access to your PayPal account as quickly as possible.

[Jdude54]

My account just got "PP-L-253449820542" which apparently is a no-warning permanent ban????? With no warning???

Its my personal paypal I use to pay for my kids' roblox account. And I know exactly why this happened. My wife sends me money f/f once a month and I transfer it to my checking account via PP.

I guarantee you some AI fraud bot flagged that, because her personal account got locked too!!!!!

If there was a probably sending around 2k a month f/f this way, shouldn't I have gotten an alert or something?

It's DECEMBER. I can't believe this is going on during a pandemic when eveyrone has to buy things online. Now I have to go put in credit card information with Roblox, Steam, etc, etc, etc. 

Paypal, I've been on hold all morning to talk to a real human. This is insanity. 

[Jdude54]

Follow up, here is how today is going:

1. Any bank or credit card information linked to your PayPal account cannot be removed nor can it be used to create a new account. You can still log in and see your account information but you can’t send or receive money.  (wow, my Limitation is an actual blacklisting).

2. "You earned Your PayPal Anniversary badge"

This is bizarro.

[Bibobello]

@Jdude54 this is happening to thousands of us, and like you said it’s December and during a pandemic! They are stealing our money, I have thousands blocked on PayPal for 3 months now and Was never Able to talk to a human being on the phone. Their office of escalations is made of incompetent people all named Catherine and. Repeating that the decision is final! They are destroying our lives, I can’t pay rent, tuition, food for my family and lost everything because of this stupidity!

[homerlea]

I have gone through the same thing. Banned for no reason after selling for 20 years with no complaints. Also, very odd, is that after 180 days I was able to get my money but although banned for life they say I cannot close my account. Very odd logic or rather lack of logic. The real problem is that they are trying to do everything by computer with no humans involved for most things and the few actual people involved don't seem to understand their computer software.  The only actual person I have been able to contact is the VP and Corporate Secretary and that is because I am a PayPal stockholder and have sent in a proposal for the next stockholder meeting addressing the problem.

[Zappaz]

I have the exact same issue and still not resolved.....they are a joke at the absolute best

[YocaMariano]

Hi! Please help me because my account is put on hold because of this. I have uploaded multiple times my proof of residency but everytime I come back here on Paypal, they ask me to submit again and again. What should I do? I already left multiple messages on Paypal Message Center but nothing happens! No one is even replying. PLEASE. Thanks!!!!

[kinew]

I have no idea this is what they are doing to thousands of customers.

they are holding millions of pounds of people's money that is trying to survive through the pandemic.

[Bibobello]

Exactly! They are playing with our money and buying stocks, playing with crypto and doing record Revenus per day While we are starving and about to become homeless

[Zappaz]

See my latest post....EXACT same issue

[Karalius]

Hello,  PayPal Community,

Our company is making products and we sell them on eBay. 4 employees produce products and delight customers with amazing products. 

Today we have received a message that our account is suspended "due to potential risk".

Spoiler

"After a review, we've decided to permanently limit your account due to potential risk. You’ll not be able to conduct any further business using PayPal."  

Our company account has been permanently suspended. The reason why it happened "to protect us from potential financial losses".

Spoiler

"After a thorough review of your account, we're initiating the closure of your PayPal account in order to protect us from potential financial losses. You'll no longer be able to use PayPal account." 

We have reviewed the policy carefully and we found no reason to limit our account. We are thinking this decision was made by mistake. Unfortunately, we can't appeal the decision. The option to appeal this decision doesn't exist for us. I understand the decision at this level was certainly not made in error. It means there is a serious reason to limit our account. 

I agree that online shopping needs to be safe. Understandably, in most similar cases, there is no reason to explain the cause or engage in disputes with potential threats. There is no need to prove when it can be said "these are our rules", "you are possibly potentially dangerous". 

I just want to remind you, when you start a company - it's your company. When your company earns billion, it impacts millions of people and the company no longer belong to you. This PayPal decision affected not only me but our company including 4 employees. Do you really think that in all cases you can cover up by arguing that 'these are our rules - We do what we want'? 

I certainly wouldn’t write a letter if at least I felt we were behaving dishonestly. Obviously, PayPal's policy is safe, but from many topics about similar decisions, it is clear that it is sometimes applied too strictly. Keep in mind that PayPal’s unilateral decisions directly affect companies, their employees. Many businesses use PayPal and have no other alternatives. Any categorical decision to limit a company’s account causes bigger problems. They may be higher than the "possibly potential risk".

I hope that this type of rule, 'Our rules - We do what we want', will not be dealt with unilaterally in the future.

Sincerely,