It can be frustrating if PayPal decides to hold your money, especially if you need to access it quickly. Perhaps your friends have sent you money via PayPal to buy tickets as a group and you need to use the funds to make the purchase. Or maybe you’re selling pre-loved clothes on Vinted and you need to withdraw the money to pay for postage.
If you’re asking yourself “why is my PayPal money on hold,” there are a few possible explanations. The most common reasons for PayPal to hold your funds are for security purposes, because you’ve reached a sending limit or because you’ve tried to withdraw a large sum of money.
In this article, we’ll talk you through each of these reasons for held funds on PayPal in more detail, as well as explaining how to fix each of them.
How Do You Know If Your Money Is Being Held By PayPal?
There are a couple different ways in which you can tell that your money is being held by PayPal.
Firstly, you’ll receive an email with the subject ‘An important message about your PayPal balance’. This will explain why your PayPal funds are being held and what you can do for PayPal to release your money.
If you log into your PayPal account and navigate to the ‘account overview’ section, you’ll also notice an alert. If you click on this, you’ll be able to find out why your funds are being held and what you can do to have the funds released.
Why Is PayPal Holding My Money?
There are a few reasons that PayPal may be holding your money. The most common ones are:
- For security purposes
- You’ve reached your sending limit
- You’ve reached your withdrawal limit
- Your activity appears suspicious
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.
1. Security Reasons
If you’re new to PayPal, or if you’ve recently made a lot of changes to your account, it’s not uncommon for PayPal to put a hold on your funds. This is because PayPal needs to make sure that it’s you who is trying to access your account, and not someone who has hacked into it. This is because PayPal needs to protect itself from possible fraud and so it wants to make sure that the person receiving the funds is legitimate.
How To Fix It
If you think your account is being held for security reasons, you’ll be asked to confirm your identity.
To confirm your identity, PayPal may ask you to provide some additional information, such as your date of birth, your address or a copy of your ID. Once you’ve provided this information, the hold on your funds should be released.
2. You’ve Reached Your Sending Limit
If you’re a new PayPal user, or if you’ve recently started using PayPal to send large amounts of money, it’s possible that you’ve reached your sending limit.
To protect both buyers and sellers, PayPal has limits in place for how much money can be sent or received in a single transaction, as well as in a day, week or month.
How To Fix It
To lift the limits on your account, you’ll need to provide some additional information to PayPal, such as your date of birth, your address and your bank details. Once PayPal has this information, they’ll be able to lift the limits on your account.
3. You’ve Reached Your Withdrawal Limit
Finally, PayPal may be holding your funds because you’ve made a large withdrawal from your account. When you make a withdrawal, PayPal will hold the funds for a period of time to make sure the transaction goes through smoothly.
How To Fix It
If you think your account is being held because you’ve made a large withdrawal, you’ll need to wait for the funds to be released. PayPal will typically release the funds within 24 hours. However, in some cases, it may take up to 72 hours. Unfortunately, there is no way to get PayPal to release your funds sooner – you’ll simply need to wait it out.
4. Your Activity Appears Suspicious
If your activity on PayPal appears to be suspicious, it’s possible that your account will be put on hold. This is because PayPal needs to protect itself from possible fraud and so it wants to make sure that the person receiving the funds is legitimate.
How To Fix It
If you think your account has been put on hold because of suspicious activity, you’ll need to provide PayPal with some additional information. This may include your date of birth, your address or a copy of your ID. Once you’ve provided this information, the hold on your funds should be released.
When Will I Be Able To Access My Money?
If your PayPal money is on hold, you’ll usually be able to access it after 24 hours have passed. However, in some cases, it may take up to 72 hours. Unfortunately, there is no way to get PayPal to release your funds sooner – you’ll simply need to wait it out.
If you’re still having trouble accessing your funds after 72 hours have passed, you may need to provide PayPal with some additional information. This may include your date of birth, your address or a copy of your ID. Once you’ve provided this information, the hold on your funds should be released.
How To Prevent Your PayPal Funds Being Held
There are a few things that you can do to prevent your money being held by PayPal. Let’s take a look at some of those things.
Keep An Eye On Your Email
From time to time, PayPal may send you emails about your account. It’s a good idea to read these emails regularly in case PayPal requests any further information from you. If you see an email titled ‘An important message about your PayPal balance’, you’ll need to take action to prevent your funds from being held.
Check Your PayPal Account
If you use PayPal, you should log into your account regularly. If there is a problem with your account, you’ll see an alert in the ‘Account Overview’ section of your PayPal account. If you see any alerts, you’ll need to take action to prevent your funds from being held.
Post Genuine Photos When Selling Online
If you’re selling items online, make sure that you post genuine photos of the items that you’re selling. If PayPal suspects that your photos are fake or misleading, they may put a hold on your account. Using genuine photos will also reduce the chance that a customer may be unhappy with a purchase and file a dispute.
Ship Items On Time (And Take Photos Of The Receipts!)
If it takes you longer than usual to ship an item, PayPal may put a hold on your account. This is because PayPal wants to make sure that buyers receive their items as soon as possible. To prevent this from happening, make sure that you ship items within the time frame that you’ve specified in the listing.
It’s also a good idea to take photos of receipts when you ship items. That way, you’ll have evidence that you’ve shipped the item on time if PayPal requests it.
Communicate With Your Buyers
If you’re selling items online, make sure that you communicate with your buyers regularly. If a buyer hasn’t received their item, they may file a dispute with PayPal. To avoid this, make sure that you keep buyers updated on the status of their orders.
Follow PayPal’s Rules
Finally, it’s important to follow PayPal’s rules. If you violate PayPal’s policies, your account may be put on hold. To prevent this from happening, make sure that you read and understand PayPal’s policies before you use their service.
In Summary
If PayPal is holding your money, it can be frustrating, especially if you need to access the funds quickly. However, it’s important to remember that PayPal is simply trying to protect itself and its users from possible fraud.
There are a few reasons why PayPal may hold your funds, such as for security purposes, because you’ve reached your sending or withdrawal limit, or because you’ve made a large withdrawal.
If you think your account is being held for one of these reasons, you’ll need to provide PayPal with some additional information, such as your date of birth or your address. Once PayPal has this information, it will usually release the funds within 24 hours.
We hope that this article has given you a comprehensive answer to the question ‘why is my PayPal money on hold?’, as well as helping you to solve the issue.