Resolving PayPal Account Limitations: A Step-by-Step Guide
Introduction to resolving PayPal account limitations
Account limitations on PayPal can be a frustrating experience, but they are often implemented as a security measure to protect both users and the platform. To resolve these limitations and regain full access to your PayPal account, you’ll need to follow a series of steps and provide the necessary documentation. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of resolving PayPal account limitations step by step.
Step 1: Understand the Limitation:
The first step is to understand why your PayPal account is limited. You should have received an email from PayPal explaining the reason for the limitation. Common reasons include unusual account activity, receiving a large sum of money, failure to confirm your identity, or missing account information.
Step 2: Log into Your Account:
Access your PayPal account as you normally would. You can do this through the PayPal website.
Step 3: Check the Resolution Center:
Once logged in, navigate to the “Resolution Center.” Here, you’ll find information about the limitation and any actions you need to take to resolve it.
Step 4: Provide Requested Information:
PayPal will typically request certain documentation or information to resolve the limitation. This could include:
Photo ID (such as a passport or driver’s license)
Proof of address (utility bills or bank statements)
Proof of business (for business accounts)
Proof of inventory (for sellers)
More information about particular payments
Step 5: Confirm Account Details:
Ensure that the information on your PayPal account profile is accurate and 100% matches the documentation you provide. Inaccurate or mismatched details can prolong the process of resolving PayPal account limitations or make PayPal limit your account permanently.
Step 6: Contact Customer Support:
If you’re uncertain about the requirements or have any questions, it’s a good idea to contact PayPal’s customer support. They can guide you through the process and provide clarification on what is needed. We can also guide you on how to go about it.
Step 7: Upload Documentation:
Use the Resolution Center to upload the requested documents securely. PayPal will review these documents and determine whether they are sufficient to resolve the limitation.
Step 8: Wait for Review:
PayPal’s review process can take some time, depending on the complexity of the limitation and the volume of requests they are handling. Be patient and monitor your email for updates.
Step 9: Resolve Any Outstanding Issues:
In some cases, PayPal may request additional information or actions. Be prompt in addressing these requests to expedite the resolution process.
Step 10: Account Reinstatement:
Once PayPal is satisfied with the provided information and resolves the limitation, they will notify you via email. Your account should then be fully reinstated, and you can use it as before. However, in some cases, your account may get permanently limited instead of being reinstated. If that happens, you are given access to your funds after 180 days.
Additional Tips:
Stay Calm and Cooperate: It can be frustrating to have your account limited, but maintaining a calm and cooperative attitude when dealing with PayPal’s customer support will help the process of resolving PayPal account limitations go more smoothly.
Keep Records: Document all communication and actions you take during this process, including emails, phone calls, and submitted documents. Contradicting information may lead to your account getting banned permanently.
Use Secure Channels: Only communicate with PayPal through their official channels to avoid scams and phishing attempts.
Read this article to help you keep your PayPal account safe.
Conclusion:
Resolving a PayPal account limitation can be a bit of a hassle, but it’s a necessary step to ensure the security of your account and the PayPal platform. By understanding the reasons behind the limitation, cooperating with PayPal’s requests, and providing the necessary documentation, you can usually resolve the issue and regain full access to your account. Remember to be patient, stay organized, and maintain open communication with PayPal’s customer support throughout the process.
If for whatever reason you get stuck resolving PayPal account limitations, feel free to contact us for advice
PayPal is an online platform for sending and requesting money. As one of the leading online payments platforms, PayPal is a popular choice for freelancers and ecommerce stores. Almost every ecommerce store will have the option of paying through PayPal. According to DMR as of 2019, PayPal has over 277 million active accounts and over 22 million merchant accounts. It serves over 200 countries and accepts over 100 currencies. These stats show just how popular PayPal is as a payment method. However, their strict and sometimes ambiguous terms make it unfriendly to a lot of people outside the US. Operating a PayPal account particularly in Kenya can be a nightmare. Here are some common problems and how you can fix them
1. PayPal Account Limitation
PayPal, for various reasons (or no reason at all), can limit
your account at any time (this is why you should always withdraw any funds in your
PayPal as soon as you receive them). This is one of the biggest challenges that
PayPal’s users face. It is always a nightmare when it happens. Limitations
means disabling of some features such as the ability to:
Send money
Receive money
Request money
Send refunds
Close account
Withdraw money
Remove a card
Add funds into your account
Features affected in a limited PayPal account
The severity of the limitation differs from case to case. At
the simplest level, you are only required to change your password and answer
security questions. At the worst level, your account is limited permanently and
you cannot appeal the limitation. After your account has been limited, PayPal
requests you to upload various documents such as:
Photo id
Invoices
Card statement
Bank statement
Utility bill etc.
But why does PayPal limit users’ accounts? Most of the time, the communication you receive from PayPal is not clear on why your account has been limited. It will be up to you to guess what you did wrong.
Six Reasons Why PayPal Limits Accounts
Unauthorized access. PayPal’s systems may detect access into your account by another person other than you. In order to protect you, your account gets limited until you can provide some information. Sometimes, this can happen when you log in using an insecure internet service such a Wi-Fi, using a cyber café, using a different device, hiding your IP address etc.
Sudden change in your sales volume or what you sell. E.g. if you normally receive payments of amounts less than $100, receiving a payment of $1000 may lead to limitation.
Operating more than one account. PayPal only allows one business account and one personal account per person. If you own more than one account and they all bear similar details, it’s only a matter of time before they all get limited. Instead of opening multiple PayPal accounts, you can have up to 8 different email addresses linked to your one PayPal account.
A high number of disputes or chargebacks. If you get a lot of disputes from your customers, this makes you look like a scammer.
Failure to confirm your identity. Once PayPal requests you to confirm your identity, you have 30 days to do so. If you fail to, your account gets limited until you provide all the requested information.
Non-compliance to PayPal’s policies, terms and conditions.
PayPal can hold any money that is in your account for “security” reasons. Yes, they always say it’s for security reasons. Mostly, the hold will be for 24hrs. In other instances, however, the hold will be for 21 days. When a payment is held for 24hrs, there is nothing you can do about it. You have to wait for the 24hrs to lapse after which the payment will either be released to the recipient or be reversed back to the sender. This hold is automated.
On the other hand, when a payment is held for 21 days, PayPal gives you an option through which you can get the money sooner. It involves cooperation between both the sender and the recipient. The recipient needs to confirm that they delivered the goods or service for which they got paid. Consequently, the sender needs to confirm that they received what they were paying for. When that is done, PayPal releases the money instantly to the recipient. Otherwise, the money will be on hold for 21 days before it is made available to the recipient.
Lastly, PayPal holds your money for 180 days if your account gets limited and you are unable to convince them to lift the limitation. After 180 days are over, your money becomes available for withdrawal.
3. Inability to Send Money
PayPal can put a limitation in your account’s ability to send payments. On trying to send a payment, you will get an error message. There are two different errors:
1. “Sorry we can’t send your payment right now. Try again later”
Why does it happen?
There are two main reasons:
Your account is new. This “limitation” will mostly happen when your account is new. However, it occasionally happens to old accounts as well.
There is unusual activity in your account. When PayPal’s bots detect something unusual happening to your account, its ability to send money can be temporarily limited. Such activities include but are not limited to: logging in over a new IP address, a different device, a new physical location/country, and change in the volume or frequency of transactions you do etc.
How do you solve it?
The first instinct tells you to contact PayPal. However, the
error is automated. As such, human intervention cannot solve it. Even if you
contact their customer service, you will be advised to either:
Tell the person you are paying to send you an invoice or
Log out and try again after some time.
From experience, the error only goes away over time. Even if you get an invoice and try to pay, it doesn’t go through.
2. “Your payment was declined. Contact your card issuer to find out why, or choose another payment method and try again”
When sending a payment, PayPal deducts money from your preferred funding source by default, which is either your PayPal balance or the linked card. This error occurs when PayPal tries to charge the card linked to your account instead of your PayPal balance. This can be as a result of you erroneously trying to pay from your card, or trying to send more money than what is available in your balance.
If you encounter the error, confirm that you are paying from your PayPal balance and not your card. You also need to make sure that the funds in your account are available, and not in pending status. If you had received the funds from a different currency from the one you are paying in, the balance in your is an estimate (the actual balance is slightly lower). As such, you cannot send everything and leave a zero. Reduce the amount you are sending by about $0.5.
4. PayPal Account Verification
After creating a PayPal account, you are required to add a
credit/debit card to the account. You can then use the card you add to make
payments directly from the card or linked bank account through PayPal. Verification
involves verifying to PayPal that you are the card holder. The process involves
adding the card number, expiry date and the CVV number. After that, an amount
equivalent to about 2 dollars is deducted from the card. The transaction
appears in your card statement along with a 4 digit code that you are required
to fill in PayPal to complete the verification.
5. Confirm Your Identity
After using your PayPal account for some time, you are requested to confirm your identity. This part of PayPal’s KYC process involves identity verification. PayPal simply wants you to confirm that you are the person your PayPal profile says you are. You are required to upload a government issued identification card or passport, a utility bill as proof address, and a card statement as proof that you own the card that is linked to your PayPal account. If you have a business account, you will be requested to upload proof of business registration, licence, etc.
The details in the documents you provide to PayPal MUST match the details in your profile-ALL THE TIME.
6. Disputes
Malicious clients or fraudsters can file disputes against you and claim they didn’t receive what they paid for (or what they received was significantly different from what they had ordered) or they didn’t authorize a payment they paid to you. If a client files a dispute claiming they didn’t receive what they paid for, PayPal gives you the chance to respond to the dispute via messages to the sender. If you are unable to reach a solution or if the sender escalates the dispute to a claim, PayPal intervenes and requests you to provide proof that you delivered what you were Paid for.
As a freelancer, always keep records of your correspondence with your clients as they come in handy in such situations. Gather all the correspondence you have with the sender and upload it as evidence. That way, you stand a good chance of winning the dispute.
7. Inability to Reset Your PayPal Account Password
If by bad luck you happen to forget your password, you may
find yourself unable to reset it. Of late, a lot of users have been locked out
of their PayPal accounts completely. Normally, to change your password, you
click on a “having trouble logging in” link. This takes you to another page
where you are prompted to fill in the email address you used to create your
account. If you can’t remember the email, you are prompted to fill in any three
email addresses you may have added to your account.
If you have filled the correct email address, the next page
performs a security check on you in two steps. You are presented with up to
four security check options, out of which you must pass two. These are:
Receive a text through the phone number in your profile
Receive an email
Answer your security questions
Confirm your credit card number.
Now this is where it gets messy for some users. When
creating their PayPal accounts, most people skip setting security questions and
linking a card. This means they are only presented with option 1 and 2.
However, option 1 only works if you filled in the phone number in the correct format i.e. country code follower by the number, but without a zero (+25470123456). With the phone number filled incorrectly, the PayPal system is unable to send the text to your phone number. Option 2 always works and a code is sent to your email, but it is not enough alone. As a result, you get locked out of your PayPal account permanently.
How can you manage to access your account again?
The easiest way is to recall your password. Even then, you
might have to delete all your browser history and cookies for the password to
work.
If that fails, call PayPal and explain your problem. Make a
specific request for them to edit the phone number in your profile
appropriately for you to be able to receive the code. The agent you talk to
might refuse to do so but if you call over and over again, you may land a kind
call center agent.
To avoid falling victim to such an eventuality, enhance the
security of your PayPal account by:
Making sure your phone number is filled correctly and is confirmed
Adding a credit card and verifying it.
Setting up security questions
8. Inability to Withdraw Money From a Limited PayPal Account After 180 Days
If your PayPal account is limited permanently, you are told
you can only withdraw any money therein after 180 days. However, after waiting
for the 180 days to lapse, you realize by default that you can only withdraw
your balance to a US bank account. Even if you had linked your PayPal account
to Equity bank or Mpesa, it is impossible to withdraw the money to those
accounts.
For you to be able to withdraw that money, you have to call PayPal and explain to them that you don’t have a US bank account as you are in Kenya and the only option you have is Equity bank or Mpesa. That way, they will temporarily enable the withdrawal option for you.
If your account was not linked to either Equity bank or Mpesa at the time it was limited, you won’t be able to link it. To withdraw any money stuck there after 180 days, you have to plead with them to transfer the money to another PayPal account that you can access. However, the agent you talk to can turn down your plea. If your plea is not successful, call again until you get an understanding agent; it’s really a like a game of chances and it all depends on the mood of the person you speak to.
The security of your PayPal account is of paramount importance. You should, therefore, ensure it’s never compromised. Since it’s a platform through which you receive and make payments, you should treat it just like a bank account. In fact, if you verified your PayPal account by linking it to your bank-issued debit card, then it can act as a gateway through which money can move from your bank account directly via PayPal.
What does this mean? It means that if anyone gained access to your PayPal account, then he/she can use it to make online payments directly from your bank account. As a matter of fact, your PayPal account doesn’t need to have any money for you to use to make online payments. Whenever your PayPal balance is insufficient, funds are deducted directly from your card, or in other words, the bank account linked to that card. As such, access to your PayPal account is access to your bank account. Scary!
A week rarely passes without hearing sad cases of hacked PayPal accounts from my clients and I hope this will help.
Here are 10 tips that will help you.
Use a strong and secure password-one that is impossible to guess. This is straightforward. Mix characters (upper and lower case), numbers, and special characters. The stronger your password is, the more secure your account will be. Avoid writing down your password in your diary, notebook etc. as these can fall into the wrong hands. If you forget it, you will reset it when logging in.
Avoid using the same password across multiple sites. If one site is hacked and your log in credentials stolen, you may end up losing your email and PayPal accounts to hackers.
Email address. Your PayPal email address is the gateway into your account. Securing it is equivalent to securing your PayPal account. Your email account password is just as important as your PayPal account password. You need to secure it with a strong password. Enable 2-step email verification for added security.
Phishing/spam email. All official emails from PayPal address you by your first and last name and bear the PayPal domain. Avoid opening other suspicious emails, most of which address you as “Dear PayPal member.” Don’t click on any links in those emails as they’ll redirect you to sites that look like PayPal and steal your login details as you attempt to log in. Clicking may as well install spy malware into your computer without your knowledge. Most of these emails tell you that your PayPal account has a problem or that someone (who you don’t know) has sent you money.
Suspicious payments. Avoid receiving payments from strangers on behalf of friends or other strangers. PayPal accounts are free to open. Anyone who wants to borrow and use your PayPal account is most likely up to no good. Such people may commit fraud using your identity…and all that trail would lead to you.
Avoid logging into your PayPal account from multiple devices or over public Wi-Fi. As a rule, limit the devices you use to two. As much as possible, don’t use a cyber café. This may lead to your account getting limited or being unable to make payments.
Confirm your identity promptly. After using PayPal for some time, they will request you to confirm your identity. They will request you to upload a copy of your national ID/Passport, a utility bill (such as a KPLC bill) that shows your physical address, a bank/card statement, certificate of business registration etc. You will be given one month to do this. Do it within that time, otherwise, your account will get limited.
Avoid sharing your PayPal account with other people, especially strangers. Sharing increases the risk of your account becoming compromised or being used to commit fraud.
Use your real details when creating a PayPal account. Some people use aliases and other abstract names when opening a PayPal account. Trouble sets in when such an account gets limited and your are asked to confirm your identity. You may end up losing your PayPal balance in such a scenario.
Do not sell your PayPal account. Strange as it may sound, you may have encountered strangers, or even people that you know offering to buy your account. It may appear harmless but the risk involved is too much for you to take. Selling your PayPal account is equivalent to selling your identity. If such an account is used to commit fraud, the trail would lead back to you.
Taking these steps will greatly enhance the security of your PayPal account. Though you can’t be 100% certain that your account will always be secure, it’s better to be vigilant at all times. If there’s something mentioned above that you aren’t doing right, correct it before it’s too late.
In as much as PayPal is a straightforward and easy platform to use, you are bound to encounter several challenges from time to time. Here are some of the most common ones and here is how you can overcome them.
“We’re sorry, but we can’t send your payment right now.” This is PayPal preventing the exit of funds from your account due to unusual activity. Several causes can be the reason. For instance, your account is new and unverified, it’s the first payment you are sending, you have logged into your account from a new device/internet connection or you are using open WiFi. For the problem to go away, wait for a few hours and then request the person you are sending a payment to to send you an invoice. Avoid using WiFi and ONLY log in using your normal device.
Verify your account. You do this by linking a debit/credit card. You can use your local Visa/Master card to do this. Make sure you have about Kes.300 in the card before linking it. After you fill the card details, a small amount will be charged. That transaction will appear on your card statement alongside a 4-digit code that you will then fill to complete the verification process.
“Your payment has been put under review for…” The problem might be with the sender or it could be among the first payments you have received through PayPal. If the funds have been held for 24hrs, wait till 24hrs lapse. On most occasions, the funds will be released to you but on others it will be cancelled and returned to the sender. If the hold is for 21 days, go to that transaction and mark the order as processed. Talk to the sender and request him/her that you have already delivered what you were paid for. This way, you won’t have to wait for 21 days.
“Your PayPal account is limited until…” This is every PayPal user’s nightmare. The reasons why your PayPal account can get limited are literally unlimited. So what do you do? Go to the resolution center or your primary PayPal email address and see what they are requesting from you. Normally they will request for stuff like your ID, bank statement, proof of business registration, explanation of your mode of business, utility bill etc. Get all this information and upload it within the given time. In most cases, your account access will be restored.
“You need to confirm your identity.” This one is easy to solve. Log in to your account, go to the dashboard and upload the required information. In most cases, this will be your identity card and bank statement or utility bill.
“Add a funding source.” This happens when you are trying to send more money than is available in your account balance. Ensure the amount you are sending is less than your balance. Secondly, the recipient’s account must be set to accept the type of currency you are trying to send. The default currency is USD. So if for instance you have CAD and the recipient only accepts USD, you will get this error. The other reason may be that your account is new and you first have to accept the payment you were sent for it to reflect in your account and be available for use.
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