Paypal Sued For Frequent Freezing of Customer Funds

PayPal is one of the most popular money transfer services.

It is utilized all across the world, including Kenya, where freelancers, particularly online writers, use it to receive cash.

However, PayPal has faced outrage from users who have seen the platform withhold funds without providing any explanation. This has occurred in Kenya, as well as other underdeveloped countries.

PayPal has since been sued, and according to three customers who presented the case to the courts, the firm is accused of violating racketeering laws by blocking consumer funds without justification.

Frequently, the American corporation provides ambiguous responses, and customers do not receive their money on time. In other circumstances, clients get tired of following up on such difficulties and end up losing their money.

PayPal, which has over 325 million accounts, has the ability to freeze funds for up to six months.

The matter was raised in California, where the case was filed.

The freezing has been described as an illegal seizure, putting clients at a disadvantage at a time when they may be in critical need of funds.

According to the plaintiffs, they filed the lawsuit to represent everybody whose money was kept by the site.

The amount of damages sought by the plaintiffs from the wealthy corporation has not been published.

Kenyans have long used social media to air their grievances about the platform.

Others claim to have lost as much as USD 2000. Given that the firm occasionally fails to provide an explanation, that is a significant amount to freeze.

While the company faces competition, many users and businesses who send money to colleagues, family, and friends prefer it.

Some alternative platforms, such as WorldRemit, integrate seamlessly with Kenya’s M-PESA platform, removing the need to use another service to transfer funds.

PayPal allows customers to move cash from it to banks such as Equity and M-PESA.  

Depending on the amount, M-PESA is near immediate, while Equity withdrawals are settled in less than 24 hours.