PayPal can freeze or hold your funds and close accounts at its discretion, sometimes for up to 180 days. The agreement is long, frequently changing, and pushes disputes toward arbitration.
The clauses that could affect you the most. Read these even if you skip everything else.
PayPal can freeze your funds for up to 180 days (or longer) using confidential risk criteria it is not obligated to explain to you.
You are locked into individual binding arbitration and waive class actions and jury trials unless you mail a written opt-out within 30 days of joining.
PayPal can suspend or terminate your account for any reason at any time and, if it alleges restricted activity, close it immediately.
PayPal has a lien on your funds and can take money from your account to cover debts owed on Venmo, Xoom, or Braintree.
PayPal's liability is capped at direct damages with no responsibility for lost business, profits, or data, and the service is provided 'as-is'.
Because payments are usually instant, transactions often cannot be cancelled or refunded once the recipient receives them, making scams hard to recover from.
Browse what the terms actually say β filter by severity or by topic.
PayPal can change terms with limited notice
πCan change terms anytimeπ¬ PayPal can change the agreement whenever it wants. For personal accounts you get 21 days' notice of changes that hurt you; business accounts get only 5 days. Continuing to use PayPal counts as accepting the changes, so your only real option to reject changes is to close your account.
βWe may revise this agreement and any of the other terms, agreements, or policies from time to time. The revised version will be effective at the time we post it, unless otherwise noted. If our changes reduce your rights or increase your responsibilities, we will provide notice of such changes.β
Mandatory arbitration agreement
βοΈForced arbitrationπ¬ By using PayPal you agree to settle disputes through private arbitration instead of going to court, unless you formally opt out within 30 days of signing up.
βThese terms include an agreement to resolve disputes by arbitration on an individual basis.β
Consent to credit report pulls for business accounts
π₯Data collectionπ¬ If you open a business account, PayPal can pull your personal and business credit report at signup and any time it thinks there's added risk.
βYou also consent to PayPal obtaining your personal and/or business credit report from a credit reporting agency at account opening and whenever we reasonably believe there may be an increased level of risk associated with your business account.β
Restrictions on closing your account
βAccount terminationπ¬ You can't simply close your account to escape an investigation, a dispute, a negative balance, or a hold β PayPal can keep the account open until those are resolved.
βIn certain cases, you may not close your PayPal account, including: - To evade an investigation. - If you have a pending transaction or an open dispute or claim. - If your PayPal account has a negative balance. - If your PayPal account is subject to a hold, limitation or reserve.β
Funds are not FDIC insured and earn no interest
πOtherπ¬ Money held in PayPal (unless placed in a Program Bank under specific conditions) is an unsecured claim, not FDIC-insured, and you earn no interest. PayPal invests the pooled funds and keeps the earnings.
βany balance in your Balance Account and any funds sent to you which have not yet been transferred to a linked bank account or linked debit card if you do not have a Balance Account, represent unsecured claims against PayPal that are not eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance.β
Broad authorization to charge and re-charge your payment methods
πOtherπ¬ You give PayPal broad permission to charge your linked cards/bank not just for purchases but also for disputes and any money you owe them.
βyou authorize PayPal to charge such linked payment method (a) whenever you choose such linked payment method to add funds to your PayPal Balance account or PayPal business account balance, send money using PayPal, or purchase something using PayPal, (b) in connection with any errors, claims, or disputes, and (c) for amounts you owe to PayPal.β
Revoking authorization doesn't stop prior transactions
πOtherπ¬ Unlinking a payment method only stops future charges. PayPal can still charge (and re-try charging) that method for anything you authorized before unlinking, including disputes.
βSuch revocation only applies to transactions that are initiated, by you or by a seller, after you unlink the payment method. It does not affect our authority to charge the payment method for a transaction you have already authorized, including our authority to re-present a charge to the unlinked payment method or charge the unlinked payment method as a backup payment methodβ
Bank overdraft risk
πOtherπ¬ Paying through your linked bank account could trigger overdraft fees even if you opted out of overdrafts with your bank.
βIf you use your PayPal account to make a purchase that exceeds the balance in your linked bank account, you could incur overdraft fees, even if you chose not to allow overdrafts with your bank.β
Currency conversion spread (hidden markup)
πOtherπ¬ When PayPal converts currency, it adds its own markup (spread) on top of the base rate and keeps that as profit, so you get a worse exchange rate.
βThe transaction exchange rate is adjusted regularly and includes a currency conversion spread applied and retained by us on a base exchange rate to form the rate applicable to your conversion.β
PayPal steers conversion to itself over your card issuer
πOtherπ¬ By default PayPal does the currency conversion (with its markup) instead of your card issuer, though you may sometimes be able to choose your issuer instead.
βWhen your payment is funded by a debit or credit card and PayPal determines a currency conversion is necessary, you consent to and authorize PayPal to convert the currency in place of your debit or credit card issuer.β
Tax withholding cannot be refunded once remitted
πOtherπ¬ If you don't provide tax info, PayPal can withhold tax from your payments and send it to the government β and you generally can't get it back from PayPal afterward.
βyou may be subject to account holds or limitations and withholding Taxes at the applicable rates on gross payments received. PayPal will remit any such withholding Taxes to the appropriate tax authorities, and you acknowledge PayPal may be prohibited from refunding any amounts to you once these have been sent to the appropriate tax authorities.β
60-day window to report pricing/fee errors
πOtherπ¬ Sellers must catch and report fee/pricing errors within 60 days, or PayPal is not obligated to fix them.
βyou will have sixty (60) days to notify PayPal in writing of any errors or discrepancies with respect to the pricing or other fees applied by PayPal. If you do not notify PayPal within such timeframe, you accept such information as accurate, and PayPal shall have no obligation to make any correctionsβ
Dispute and chargeback fees apply even if you win
πOtherπ¬ For non-PayPal-account chargebacks, sellers get charged a chargeback fee even if the buyer's chargeback fails.
βThis fee with apply regardless of whether the buyer is successful in pursuing the chargeback with the card issuer.β
Seller liable for full refund plus fees on lost claims
πOtherπ¬ If you lose a buyer protection claim, you refund the full price plus shipping, don't get your fees back, and may never get the item returned.
βYou must forfeit the full purchase price of the item plus the original shipping cost. This applies when you are the primary seller or a secondary seller of goods or services... In some cases, you may not receive the item back.β
Funds can be held up to 180 days at PayPal's discretion
βAccount terminationπ¬ PayPal can freeze your money for up to 180 days (and longer with legal process) if it decides there's risk or a policy violation. This is one of the most impactful clauses for customers.
βHolding the balance in your Balance Account, the balance in your business account, or any money waiting to be claimed through your personal account if you do not have a Balance Account linked to your personal account, for up to 180 days if reasonably needed to protect against the risk of liability or if you have violated our Acceptable Use Policy. The hold may remain in place longer than 180 days according to Court Orders, Regulatory Requirements, or Other Legal Processes.β
Reserves and holds based on secret criteria
πOtherπ¬ PayPal can hold, limit, or place a reserve on your account using secret criteria it won't explain to you, and you agree it doesn't have to justify these decisions.
βOur decision about holds, limitations and reserves may be based on confidential criteria that are essential to our management of risk... You agree that we have no obligation to disclose the details of our risk management or security procedures to you.β
Risk-based holds on incoming payments (typically 21 days)
πOtherπ¬ Money buyers send you can be held for up to 21 days before you can access it, at PayPal's sole discretion.
βRisk-based holds generally remain in place for up to 21 days from the date the payment was received into your PayPal account. We may release the hold earlier under certain circumstances... but any earlier release is at our sole discretion.β
Immediate termination and account limitation at sole discretion
βAccount terminationπ¬ If PayPal believes you violated the rules, it can immediately close, suspend, or limit your account with no penalty to itself.
βTerminating this user agreement, limiting your PayPal account (and any linked Balance Account), and/or closing or suspending your PayPal account (and any linked Balance Account), immediately and without penalty to us.β
PayPal can contact your buyers, banks, and law enforcement
πShares with third partiesπ¬ If you engage in restricted activity, PayPal may tell your customers, banks, card issuers, and law enforcement about it.
βContacting buyers who have purchased goods or services from you using PayPal, your bank or credit card issuer, other impacted third parties, or law enforcement about your actions.β
Termination for any reason at any time
βAccount terminationπ¬ PayPal can suspend or shut down your access for any reason at all, at any time, as long as it gives you notice.
βPayPal, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to suspend or terminate this user agreement, access to or use of its websites, software, systems... or some or all of the PayPal services for any reason and at any time upon notice to youβ
Security interest / lien on your funds
πOtherπ¬ You give PayPal a legal claim (lien) over the money in your account as security for anything you might owe them.
βAs security for the performance of your obligations under this user agreement, you grant to PayPal a lien on, and security interest in and to, funds held in your PayPal account.β
Cross-account and cross-product debt collection
πOtherπ¬ PayPal can take money from your account to cover debts you owe on other PayPal-family services like Venmo, Xoom, or Braintree.
βif you have a past due amount owed to us or our affiliates, PayPal may debit your PayPal account to pay any amounts that are past due. This includes amounts owed by using our various products such as Venmo, Xoom or Braintree.β
Broad limitation of PayPal's liability
π‘οΈLimits their liabilityπ¬ PayPal caps its responsibility to only direct damages and refuses liability for lost profits, lost data, or business losses β even if it was negligent.
βIn no event shall PayPal be liable for lost profits or any special, incidental or consequential damages (including without limitation damages for loss of data or loss of business)... Our liability to you or any third parties in any circumstance is limited to the actual amount of direct damages.β
You must indemnify PayPal
πOtherπ¬ If someone sues PayPal because of something you did, you have to cover PayPal's legal costs and losses.
βYou agree to defend, indemnify and hold PayPal harmless from any claim or demand (including reasonable legal fees) made or incurred by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this user agreement, your improper use of the PayPal servicesβ
Services provided 'as-is' with no warranty
π‘οΈLimits their liabilityπ¬ PayPal makes no promises that its service will work correctly or be available; you use it at your own risk.
βThe PayPal services are provided "as-is" and without any representation or warranty, whether express, implied or statutory. PayPal specifically disclaims any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.β
Broad release including waiver of California Civil Code 1542
πOtherπ¬ In disputes with other PayPal users, you fully release PayPal from all claims, even unknown ones you might discover later.
βyou release PayPal from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential)... you expressly waive any protections (whether statutory or otherwise, for example, California Civil Code Β§ 1542) that would otherwise limit the coverage of this releaseβ
Binding individual arbitration required
βοΈForced arbitrationπ¬ Almost all disputes must go to private binding arbitration instead of a courtroom, and there's very limited ability to appeal an arbitrator's decision.
βYou and PayPal each agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen or may arise between you and PayPal... shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration or in small claims court.β
Class action and jury trial waiver
π«No class actionπ¬ You give up the right to join or start a class action lawsuit and the right to a jury trial; you can only pursue claims individually.
βYou and PayPal agree that each of us may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative action or proceeding.β
Only 30 days to opt out of arbitration
βοΈForced arbitrationπ¬ You can escape the arbitration clause only if you mail a written opt-out notice within 30 days of first accepting the agreement.
βThe opt-out notice must be postmarked no later than 30 days after the date you accept this user agreement for the first time.β
Broad irrevocable license to your content
πClaims your contentπ¬ Content you provide can be used by PayPal and its partners worldwide, forever, for free, including to promote and develop services β and you also waive your moral rights.
βyou grant PayPal (and parties that we work with) a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, and worldwide license to use your content and associated intellectual property and publicity rights to help us improve, operate and promote our current services and develop new ones. PayPal will not compensate you for any of your content.β
Delaware governing law
πJurisdictionπ¬ Any legal interpretation of this agreement is governed by Delaware law, regardless of where you live.
βthe laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern this user agreement and any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and PayPal.β
Dormant accounts may be closed and funds escheated
βAccount terminationπ¬ If you don't log in for two years, PayPal can close your account and either mail your funds or hand them over to the state as unclaimed property.
βIf you do not log in to your PayPal account for two or more years, PayPal may close your PayPal account and send any funds in the PayPal account... to your primary address... or, if required, escheat (send) those funds to your state of residency.β
PayPal can crawl your website and collect public data
π₯Data collectionπ¬ If you put PayPal on your website, PayPal may automatically crawl your site and collect publicly available data to check compliance.
βIf you integrate or otherwise reference PayPal services on your website, PayPal may use automated technologies (e.g., website crawling) to assess your website and collect any publicly accessible or available data to ensure compliance with this agreementβ
Wireless carrier data sharing authorization
πShares with third partiesπ¬ You allow your phone carrier to share account and device information with PayPal for identity verification and fraud prevention.
βYou authorize your wireless carrier to use or disclose information about your account and your wireless device, if available, to PayPal or its service provider for the duration of your business relationship, solely to help PayPal identify you or your wireless device and to prevent fraud.β
No refund once payment is received by recipient
πOtherπ¬ Because payments usually arrive instantly, once the recipient has the money you generally cannot cancel or get it refunded β so mistakes or scams may be irreversible.
βYou have the right to cancel a transaction for a full refund unless your designated recipient has already received the payment. However, since most PayPal payments are received within seconds, you may not be able to cancel your payment for a full refund once the payment is made.β
Note: Users can close their account at any time and opt out of arbitration within 30 days. Users can opt out of marketing calls/texts and PayPal Giving Fund emails. Account statements are available. Data deletion and portability rights are not addressed in this agreement (governed by the separate Privacy Statement).