Available Credit on PP Credit Card NOT Reflecting

[smo727]

Question: Why hasn't my available credit on my credit card account been updated to reflect the payment if it is showing as completed?

Situation: I made a payment on 05/16/2023 online and it's cleared my bank account (the same day) and even shows a "completed" status on PayPal's website. PayPal Credit Card payment postings are supposed to take no longer than 5 business days. Now I am being told it won't reflect as available credit until 06/02/2023, a full 17 calendar days (13 business days) later, nearly 3X the amount it should take! Moreover, I cannot even address the issue via the "resolution center" because the payment shows as "completed" and therefore has no issues according to PayPal even though a representative is showing it as being "On-Hold". This is supposedly because of "suspicious" payments being made, even though it was simply my full statement balance which is what I have done since opening the card several months ago. Has anyone else had this problem?

Specific Comments On This Question: I think it is absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. PayPal can hold onto funds for arbitrary reasons, then we should be able to charge them daily interest for them holding our credit & money hostage. They can take our money but God forbid if they give us any notice, any inconvenience credit/ gift back to our account for holding onto our money for an extended period of time other than it being paid in full! 

General Comments On PayPal's Processes (or lack thereof): Then when I go to put in a complaint with customer service there is no actual complaint with a confirmation number, but rather just a simple notification on the backend of a customer being unsatisfied with the issue. Absolutely no direct follow up or confirmation number. Never have I ever had to deal with such an incompetent credit card that does not have adequate processes in place for complaints, escalation, or sufficient reasonings behind issues. PayPal completely doe not have it's customers best interest in mind whatsoever and has an awful user interface experience. I see why so many people hate their cards for these reasons and I am strongly contemplating cancelling mine, if only it didn't have a negative impact on my credit or I would have done it months ago!

[Nellie2020]

This is a problem for me. My payment was processed 3 weeks ago and the available credit still has not shown up on my account. I was told on the phone that the customer service representatives cannot release the hold even if there is proof that it has cleared my bank. I will be cancelling my card once ythis is resolved.

[Maru_nation]

Did you ever find a solution to this? I'm facing the exact same problem.

[Jrivv96]

If this referring to the paypal cashback mastercard, according to the agent I spoke to when I experienced an excessive delay in credit availability after a payment was "accounts under 12 months of age will have available credit placed on hold until Paypal determines your paypal pattern. It is listed in the card agreement terms." Basically, what this means is that if you make a large payment, or multiple payments in succession, the paypal mastercard flags your payment as "suspicious" and hold the available credit for up to 21 days. Now, I checked my paypal mastercard terms and agreement, and no where in the terms does it state it will "hold your payment up to 21 days after" after a certain threshold of payment. The only thing the terms and agreement state is that credit can take up to 5 days, and that credit can be held longer, determined by paypal; it never states how large your payment must be to flagged as suspicious, nor does it state that it held for 21 days. so technically, holding your available credit for 21 days is not stated in the agree, nor does it underline the conditions needed to have a payment held; the terms are ambiguous to **bleep** over customers who make large payments, because paypal wants to prevent the daily use of the card for cashback, as well as deter people from paying their bill in full, so they can accumulate interest on your balance. They do not expect nor want people to pay their balances in full, because they gain no interest from it and expect credit card users to be poor financial circumstances to the point where they cannot pay their bill in full. As mentioned before, there is actually nothing in the card terms and agreements that states how large of payment would to hold, and how long the hold would be. It just states that paypal has a right to "hold available credit." You could legally argue against the vagueness in the terms and agreement since it never really specifies, but it is probably not worth. In summary, do not expect to use this card as your everyday card unless you are over 12 months of opening the account. Synchrony Bank( PayPal's bank) does not want card owners paying their bill in full, and will place holds on your credit for large payments you can: not earn as much cashback, and charge interest to your balance if you decide to not pay in full because you need to/want to use the available credit right away. 

[bjimenez372]

Thank you so much for your thorough post. This helps to explain a lot of issues I’m having with the MC. I was planning to use this card for my daily expenses and usually pay my balance in full. I will definitely need to consider using another card and use this one minimally.

[MaineDruid]

My experience was similar to yours.  I have had this card less than a year and pay the balance in full every month.  I have been using it for nearly all of my purchases, monthly payments, etc., so the end-of-month balance can be fairly high.  I made my last payment online, from my bank account, on June 22, and it posted on the 24th.  The money left my bank on the 24th.  Therefore I was surprised to find today that my available balance on the PP card did not take this payment into account.  When I called, I was informed that the amount of my payment had exceeded a number "the system" had determined as my maximum.  Furthermore, this maximum can change from month to month, apparently depending on my typical pattern of expenditures and payments--so I don't know whether this maximum will apply next month.  This is done for "security purposes," though whose security is being protected was not explained.  The person I spoke with assured me that PP has my money but that because I had gone over the maximum payment my available credit would not reflect my payment until July 9.  They stated that this is done because of a federal rule (which I seriously doubt), also that I was informed that it could take up to 21 days to adjust my available credit (I can find no such information in boilerplate received from PP).

I found the entire explanation weird and incredible and tried to get the person I was speaking with to agree that it was "bizarre"--the closest he came was, "I can see how you might think that."  As for the justification for this practice, I think you've hit the nail on the head.  PP is actively trying to discourage customers from paying their bill in full, so that they can collect their usurious interest.  I appreciate the solution someone else posted here, but I've put enough time and effort into this today to give it a try.

[Jrivv96]

I will say I asked the agent why they do that with large payments, as they are essentially penalizing responsible bill payers... and the agent only told me was "in the card agreements," in which it is  actually not if you look for those the specific details. Also, PayPal Mastercard's customer service are composed of Indian employees, which explains its poor customer service. 

[Jordanmth]

I just had this happen. I made 3 payments in the last two weeks because my Dog is having surgery TODAY. I called customer service and they informed me it's not going to be until December 27th and December 29th until that money is available and I paid on the 8th and yesterday. All other credit cards I have take 24 hours to make the payment. It's already come out of my bank and now I don't have the money for my dog's surgery. I had to ask my ex for it, which sucks so badly. I love PayPal. I love the 3% cash back but if it's going to take 2 weeks to get the available funds. I'm not sure I can even use it. I buy and sell on eBay and I've been using this for that but now if I pay it the funds won't be available. I've never heard of a credit card that takes more than 48 hours to let a payment go through. If it's come out of our bank it should reflect that. I even had a return. send me a refund and even that's on hold. 

We really need to get this resolved. At least make it like other credit cards

[crystalswish01]

Did you ever get this fixes and how long did it take? I am now waiting 14 days for available balance to update when funds cleared in 48 hours

[smo727 · Accepted solution]

So the work around that I have figured out to get funds released as soon as they clear your bank account that you made the payment with is to… 1. Call PayPal customer service 2. State that the funds have already posted and been removed from your bank account (FULLY POSTED AND NOT PENDING) and you want the funds added to your available credit as of today 3. If they don’t just give it to you and say it’s on hold, then say okay then we can 3-way my bank to verify the charge has cleared and posted. If they say that isn’t possible ask for a manager. 4. They call the institution you made the payment with and verify the exact charge and that is has cleared (fully posted…NOT PENDING) the account (some small companies, like credit unions, do not allow 3-way with another business because of privacy even if you “okay” it over the phone). 5. Then they hang up on the institution and should give you your money immediately. 6. If they don’t give you your money and release hold after verification ask for manager and then they will do it. 7. Make sure it shows as available credit BEFORE you hang up. I had a few times spending 45 minutes with the whole ordeal then a representative hung up on me and it didn’t go through, then I had to do it all again. Absolutely abhorrent system used to collect as much of consumer money as possible to launder and put towards other investments. But I’m not about to cancel the card which will drop my credit… smh

[Jds10011]

There are a few comments stating that live agents have resolved the problem, but that it takes a long time and speaking to a manager. This has absolutely NOT worked for me. The manager said that they (Synchrony Bank) does NOT speak with another (the customer's) bank to ensure that funds were released. The explanation shifted a bit in response to my complaint and search for logic, but it seems to come down to, "It's in the Terms and Conditions." As others have said, the specific language regarding amount of payment and multiple payments within a particular time period is not there. I was assured that the full amount of credit, as was in place before my 'large' payment will still be in effect after the wait. Of course, I was told it is their 'policy' to implement these holds, and "No", they don't contact other banks. My response and request to seek a resolution by engaging with another human at my bank was ineffective. This manager stood for my in 'policy'. I suspect this allowed because there's no specific law against doing it, or Synchrony will do this until they're sued by the regulator in each given country in which they operate. They've calculated the cost of fine and legal expenses compared to having the cash assets at their disposal for this 'waiting period'. It should be illegal. It IS shameful. And, it's very disappointing; it's should be an embarrassment for PayPal.