PayPal Community

Sorry to bring bad news, but I have been having exactly the same problem with trying to use American Express on PayPal for several months now.  Every time I get the "You cannot use this card to pay for this transaction" message.  I have spoken to PayPal on the phone at least a dozen times and almost every time get a different response.  The only duplicate answers I've gotten is that the transaction fits some "security model" that PayPal has so they are blocking the sale and there is nothing they can do for me.  What I think is really going on is PayPal doesn't want to pay fees to American Express, so they are blocking use of their cards.  I won't give PayPal access to my bank account, so they don't want my business.  Don't be surprised if you continue to get the message when you try to use American Express.   ... View more

At this point I am convinced the problem is one of two things.  Either PayPal truly has a problem with their software and have no idea what to do about it (so a moderator won't get on line because they can't or won't own up to the problem) OR PayPal is purposely blocking credit cards to try and bully buyers into giving them access to the buyers' bank accounts (a moderator is not going to get on line and admit that is their plan).  Considering the incompetent way they've handled this issue, there is no way I am giving them access to my bank account.   I am letting every seller I come across (both on Etsy and independent web sites) that I am not buying from them because they only accept PayPal and PayPal refuses to process my payments.  Perhaps if enough sellers complain the issue will get some attention from PayPal.  Experience demonstrates they could care less about buyers with problems using their system. ... View more

Not only has no one solved the problem, no one at PayPal seems to care that there is a problem. ... View more

Update to above post:  it has now been more than 10 days since PayPal decided to stop taking my credit card.  I have spent no less than 20 hours on the phone with various PayPal customer service people.  Every time I get a different answer as to what has caused the problem, and none of the solutions work.  I have asked to talk to supervisors, and only once have I gotten through to a supervisor (who knew less than the representative).  On all of the other occasions when I asked for a supervisor, I was put on hold and eventually they hung up on me.   It was suggested that I needed to have my credit card verified.  I went through that exercise, and all it got me was a $1.95 credit on my PayPal account, which I cannot use because PayPal won't process my transactions.  The card is now verified and still won't work.     Is there anyone at PayPal who knows what they are doing? ... View more

Apparently PayPal is doing this to everyone who is not verified, even if you are no where near the $10,000 limit.  We need to let every seller we purchase from (or want to purchase from) know that PayPal is the problem.  PayPal doesn't really care about the buyers because (at least for now) they are not collecting fees from us.  If sellers start dropping them then they might take notice. ... View more

Have been having the same problem for more than a week.  Made a purchase on Etsy and it went through fine.  Ten minutes later I get a message that "You cannot use this credit card for this transaction.  Please use another funding source."  I have spoken to the credit card company and there is no problem with them.  I now get the same message every time I try to use my PayPal account.  I have spoken to PayPal at least a dozen times in the last week and every time I get a different "answer", I have tried everything they suggested and nothing works.  The only consistency is that several of the PayPal people have told me that I fall within a "security model" done by their computer and this is blocking me.  However, none of them have been able to tell me how to fix the problem.  Moreover, I don't understand why this has happened suddenly, nothing on my account or credit card has changed since I opened the account years ago.   It seems to me PayPal simply doesn't want my business, which means none of their sellers are going to get it either. ... View more