PayPal Plans To Raise Prices on Various Cross-Border Transactions in March

By Jim Daly
@DTPaymentNews

PayPal Holdings Inc. on Wednesday announced updates to its user agreements for consumers and merchants, and among the numerous changes are 0.5% price increases for several types of transactions involving U.S. sellers and foreign buyers.

Beyond the price hikes, other changes include a new non-discrimination clause for sellers that will ban PayPal-accepting merchants from discouraging PayPal usage by customers. PayPal also made additions to its list of items not eligible for its Seller Protection program, a form of chargeback insurance.

For consumers, an updated “Payment Method Used for My Transaction” section describes changes that the company says gives them more control and choice when paying with PayPal. “Updates include how to select a preferred payment method, the ability to see and choose from multiple payment methods when you check out on a merchant Web site,” and greater clarity about using pre-approved payments, PayPal said in its announcement.

The changes take effect March 29.

The planned price changes include:

• The currency-conversion fee spread will rise to 3% from the current 2.5% over the exchange rate set by PayPal’s bank;

• The standard seller fee for online transactions involving buyers outside the U.S. will go from 3.9% of the sale to 4.4%, plus the existing fixed fee based on local currency. The seller fee for in-store transactions involving buyers from outside the U.S. will rise from 3.7% to 4.2%.

• Micropayment fees for in-store payments received from buyers outside the U.S. will rise to 6.5% from the current 6.0%, plus the existing fixed currency-based fee.

• Tiered fees charged to nonprofits that receive payments from senders outside the U.S. will be replaced with a flat 3.7% rate, plus the existing currency-based fixed fee.

A spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News by email that PayPal’s pricing for the past three years “has remained steady and consistent,” with few increases.

“As a business, PayPal is focused on investing in innovation and adding value for our customers,” the spokesperson says. “We are continuously improving our product offerings and enabling merchants to accept payments from around the world in faster and more convenient ways. These changes to transaction fees will contribute to PayPal’s ability to continue to provide top-quality payment solutions that help merchants grow their businesses.”

The items that will be ineligible for Seller Protection come March 29 include donations, financial products and investments of any kind, payments sent using PayPal’s friends-and-family functionality, and payments using the PayPal Payouts and Mass Pay service.

PayPal also said it updated its list of restricted activities “to ensure we can protect our customers from attempts to misuse or gain unauthorized access to our systems. We’ve also made clear that these restricted activities include actions to PayPal-operated systems or systems operated on PayPal’s behalf.”