PayPal payments take up to a week to come off your bank account?

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:15

Something that really bugs me and is more evident now that I am using Starling as my bank is that when making a payment using PayPal, why does it take up to a week sometimes for them to actually take the money out of your bank account? I get that they are a payment broker, they pay on your behalf and then take the money from you at a later date but... why? Why not instantly?

I've just paid off my PayPal credit and I can guarantee I will get a notification say, Tuesday evening saying "Your PayPal payment is due tomorrow". So to ensure I don't spend it and land up short I have it in a goal waiting for that notification so I can move it back. Why should I have to do this!

Inb4 "be better with your money". I just want to understand. Thanks!

Threepwood · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:21

Have you googled it? I did, and the answer is there!

Moley · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:24

Paypal's default payment method now is 'Pay After Delivery'. You can switch the default back to pay immediately.

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:24

Threepwood said:
Have you googled it? I did, and the answer is there!

Well your Google Fu is better than mine so instead of being a smug little pirate why don't you just tell me?

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:27

Moley said:
Paypal's default payment method now is 'Pay After Delivery'. You can switch the default back to pay immediately.

It's not that, I am not buying something. I am paying my PayPal credit balance so there is nothing to be delivered. I have set "Pay after delivery" to paused for my default payment method too.

Threepwood · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:29

ubern00b said:
Well your Google Fu is better than mine so instead of being a smug little pirate why don't you just tell me?

Tee hee! I haven't done this for ages (link)

(plz don't hate me, just having fun)

Edit, dammit, should have rick rolled you.

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:35

Threepwood said:
Tee hee! I haven't done this for ages (link)

(plz don't hate me, just having fun)

Edit, dammit, should have rick rolled you.

Well you sir, fight like a dairy farmer!

So the first result on that page is all American lingo so I discounted it as being pertinent to the UK.

The others (as far as I could be bothered to read each thread) is all speculation. "they are holding onto your money to generate interest, Caiman (sic) Islands blahblah" type stuff.

Then others blame the bank but Starling process everything instantly.

So help a guy out because I am clearly not seeing the actual, factual answer!

Threepwood · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:40

ubern00b said:
Well you sir, fight like a dairy farmer!

How appropriate! You fight like a cow!

(Honestly I don't know the real answer, but, it would make business sense with so many customers to get some free interest while holding it, can you imagine how much that much be every week! So i'm going to go with that!)

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:45

Threepwood said:
How appropriate! You fight like a cow!

(Honestly I don't know the real answer, but, it would make business sense with so many customers to get some free interest while holding it, can you imagine how much that much be every week! So i'm going to go with that!)

Well if it is that then so be it. Greedy corporation rah-rah-fist-in-the-air type stuff. I was hoping for something a bit more concrete

Threepwood · 9 Aug 2019 at 14:47

ubern00b said:
Well if it is that then so be it. Greedy corporation rah-rah-fist-in-the-air type stuff. I was hoping for something a bit more concrete

Have you tried doing it with credit/debit card tied to the same bank account? Or is that how you are doing it anyway?

tom_e · 9 Aug 2019 at 15:10

It annoys me no end, seems to be slightly quicker paying using the card attached to the bank account rather than direct from the account itself but it still takes multiple days for it to go.

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 15:35

Threepwood said:
Have you tried doing it with credit/debit card tied to the same bank account? Or is that how you are doing it anyway?

Yea tried both, same story. Meh.

ubern00b · 9 Aug 2019 at 15:35

tom_e said:
It annoys me no end, seems to be slightly quicker paying using the card attached to the bank account rather than direct from the account itself but it still takes multiple days for it to go.

Yay a fellow annoyed person.

MichaelAwkward · 10 Aug 2019 at 17:47

It takes longer to pay for things with PayPal linked to a bank account because it's collected by Direct Debit as an automated payment. These take time to submit to Bacs and process (3 working days).

Paying through PayPal using a debit or credit card is treated like any other card transaction so should show immediately as pending, as the merchant provider (PayPal in this case, but otherwise WorldPay, Sagepay, whoever) charges it at the point of sale instead.

Pawnless Endgame · 10 Aug 2019 at 18:01

Not PayPal-related, but just in general - I hate it when transactions don't appear until 3 days after I've been in the store. Aldi, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Wetherspoon's, and some online stuff e.g. Just-Eat. Also, the difference between the balance and the available balance.

MichaelAwkward · 10 Aug 2019 at 18:11

Pawnless Endgame said:
Not PayPal-related, but just in general - I hate it when transactions don't appear until 3 days after I've been in the store. Aldi, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Wetherspoon's, and some online stuff e.g. Just-Eat. Also, the difference between the balance and the available balance.

Switch banks - all of the app based ones and quite a few high street ones now (Natwest for example) will show individual pending transactions and an available balance taking them into account until it actually clears.

LeeUK · 10 Aug 2019 at 20:12

When I use pay at pump at an Asda petrol station, the pump says it has authorised my Starling card for £1 yet it will show up as £20 on my Starling app. It then takes 48 hours to show the correct transaction value.