When I signed up for Paypal and tried to link my bank account, I was immediately banned from Paypal with the message below.  It was bewildering.  Why would a platform tell me - "You can't use Paypal anymore" - when I have never used it at all?   No further explanation, no details.  I called Customer Service and after the automated attendant tried to kick me out I was finally able to get a live person on the line.  (Relief)  But I was basically told by this customer service rep I can never use Paypal and they will not tell me why (security reasons, blah, blah blah).  Before I could even ask the obvious question "can I try to create a new account" she basically told me "and if you try to create a new account, you will be blocked."  I asked "how would you know its the same person?"  She said we use photo id.  I responded "how can you match when I didn't upload a photo id for this account?"  (No response). 

Beyond the frustration that I can't use the product I am more concerned about what could possibly have triggered this ban.  This is a terrible business practice in the name of "security."  Other much larger financial institutions do a much better job with this type of resolution.  For example a couple of months ago I ran into a block when trying to link two accounts from different financial institutions (much bigger than Paypal).  Their customer service was willing to talk to me and we determined the problem was that one of that accounts was a joint account and the other was not.  Helpful to know.  I have no idea whether or not the same thing happened with Paypal.  But that's irrelevant.  The point is that this is a bush league process.  I would expect better from a serious institution.

You can't use PayPal anymore

At PayPal, we value a safe community for our customers to do business. We noticed activity in your account that’s inconsistent with our User Agreement and we no longer offer you PayPal services.

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. Any money in your balance will be held for 120 days, after which we’ll send you an email with instructions about transferring your money.

Reference ID: PP-L-312634281232