Have you ever been unable to pay by direct debit through PayPal?

Richard@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 31 points –

I recently wanted to buy a product from a manufacturer and luckily they offered PayPal as a payment method. However, after I signed into my PayPal account, it wouldn't show my bank account as a payment option and instead prompted me to add a card or bank account, despite my account being fully confirmed and direct debit activated. PayPal customer service reps told me that maybe the retailer blocked direct debit through PayPal and I should try adding a credit card, however, why would they do that if they offer non-PayPal direct debit anyway? The customer service reps further told me that my account was in good standing, so there shouldn't be any problems with trust etc. Have you ever encountered an online shop that refused direct debit when handled by PayPal?

10

You were able to reach customer service of PayPal? Wow.

I can confirm some shops don't allow bank payment and I have no idea why

Yea, this was a common occurrence when I used to rely on PayPal bank transfer. Apparently individual merchants can decide whether to accept it or not.

Thank you for your contribution, that supports my suspicions. But do you know what incentive a merchant could have to not accept it? I find it weird that they would not accept SEPA direct debit when handled through PayPal, but they do accept it when there's no intermediary.

My guess would be that there's extra fees involved on the receiving end related to a "transfer" and not a "payment".

Just a guess at the reason, but usually money is the first cause of "why not".

Was it a genuine PayPal link to start with?

Yes, it redirected to paypal.com and the vendor is supposed to be very trustworthy. PayPal 2FA was genuine. 🤷‍♂️

Not an online shop, but my ISP accepts payment by PayPal/ Google Wallet, etc, but payment by debit isn't an option, just cc.

can't you transfer money from your bank to your paypal account and then use that to pay. i vaguely remember i did that long tine ago

I'm not sure if this helps, but my PayPal account has two sources configured. One is direct withdrawal from my checking account. The other is a debit card tied to my checking account. I have never had a merchant refuse it.