Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

[WendyB]

Just a warning to any VISA debit card holders using Paypal......

so there I was, mooching through my bank statement, as you do, when I noticed that a £1.25 fee had been charged on a £22.00 Paypal transaction.(something I'd bought on ebay) So I phone Snatchwest, and it turns out that it's not really their fault (for once).

Natwest have recently started issuing new debit cards, these are no longer Maestro, but VISA. I'd added this new debit card to my Paypal account and set it as the default. it turns out that Paypal are treating Visa Debit as credit cards not debit cards, hence every transaction will incur a fee. Okay, I know it's only £1.25, but that £1.25 multiplied by however many times you use Paypal could add up to a lot.

I have fired off an email to Paypal requesting the refund of the charge and an assurance that this will not happen again.

Apparently natwest have already taken this up with Paypal "going forwards" so I presume i'm not the first one to query it with them

Let's wait and see what happens.

[shas]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Thanks Wendyfor making me aware of this.
First Direct have changed their debit cards from being maestro to being visa aswell & like you I have changed my card details in my paypal account.

[MIKE770]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

NATIONWIDE use VISA on debit cards as well, I will look out for on my statement.

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

An amazingly quick reply from Paypal. I've copied the relevant bit below

we recently learned that RBS (and its NatWest subsidiary)
have started charging a £1.25 fee for payments made in sterling by holders
of the banks’ new UK Visa debit card via PayPal. RBS and NatWest are
issuing these new Visa debit cards to their Maestro debit customers, and
this new fee is featured in the terms and conditions RBS and NatWest send
to their customers.

We are in discussions with RBS regarding these changes. You will need
contact the bank concerned regarding any fees charged.


I am sooooo not happy about this. I am off to look at the T&Cs now to see who i should be ranting at.......

[pinknico]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

I have today used paypal with Alliance and leicester visa debit and no extras have been added.

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

I have today used paypal with Alliance and leicester visa debit and no extras have been added.

the charge wasn't added on when I paid via paypal I only noticed it when I checked my bank statment. paypal account just shows the origianl £22 payment.

But in the meantime I have spoken again to natwest who state that they are charging ceertain businesses, paypal being one of them. So it seems to me that Paypal are then passing this charge back to the customers. either way, it;s costing RBS/Natwest custoemrs an extra £1.25. I have sent the following email to Paypal. No reply as yet

thanks for your prompt reply. However I am not entirely satisfied with your explanation. I have again contacted my bank, who state that the charge is a charge from Natwest to Paypal, not to the customer.I can therefore only presume that Paypal are passing this on to the customer in order to offset the charge to yourselves. If this is the case I feel that it is obviously not in the best interests of Paypals customers as obviously it will increase their costs. For example, ebay customrs who bank with Natwest/RBS and use Paypal on a regular basis will be charged an extra £1.25 for each transaction, in effect discrimainating against a whole group of custoerms purely because of who they bank with.

If, as you state, this new fee is featured in the terms and conditions RBS and Natwest send to their customers would you please advise exactly where so that I may read it and interpret it myself.
If i bought 10 itmes a month and used Paypal that would be £12.50. Thats quite a lot of dosh if you multiply by the vast amount of Paypa. transactions via RBS?Natwest debit cards. Someone is pocketing it somewhere....

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Well I am going all round the houses here...the latest reply from Paypal

Thank you for contacting PayPal. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you
with your questions.

As for your query, you can kindly contact your issuing bank for the
clarification why there is a £1.25 GBP charge on top of the amount of the
payment that you have sent.

I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We are committed to making your
experiences at PayPal pleasant and rewarding.


so I've replied

I have already contacted my bank, as detailed in my previous reply to yourselves. I repeat, Natwest told me on 2 occasions that they do not charge the customer, the charge is from Natwest to Paypal.

You state that it is detailed in their terms and conditions - again i ask could you please tell me exactly where in the Terms and Conditions as I have been unable to find it.

I will be passing copies of this email correspondence to natwest complaints department.

[Guest]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

It appears that PayPal are routing transactions via Europe and the fee is as a result of this international transaction.

Take a look at this link Use your debit card abroad- RBS - The Royal Bank of Scotland

[scoobydoo]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

I use a visa debit on my paypal and so far have no extra charges ( cahoot) but i will double check.

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

I use a visa debit on my paypal and so far have no extra charges ( cahoot) but i will double check.

It only seems to be RBS/Natwest that are applying this charge

It appears that PayPal are routing transactions via Europe and the fee is as a result of this international transaction.

Take a look at this link Use your debit card abroad- RBS - The Royal Bank of Scotland

Funny you should mention that Cet cos I had the thought earlier that this is what could be happening as Paypal are based in Luxembourg aren't they? And also my latest reply from Paypal seems to bear that out

"Thank you for contacting PayPal. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you
with your questions.
In relation to the £1.25 that is charged by your bank to your card
everytime you made a transaction in PayPal, the terms and conditions should
be discussed to you by the bank and Ms. Beardmore there is a possibility
that the bank is detecting the transaction as International that is why
they charged you by £1.25 GBP. Kindly contact your bank because this fee is
not from PayPal as I know that this is now causing you inconvenience and it
is only the bank who can settle it on their end.
Please email us back if you need further assistance and we will be more
than happy to help you.
It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.
Sincerely,
Joanna
PayPal European Services
PayPal, an eBay Company
It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.


Well needless tro say I will not be letting this rest. I am going to email complaints department - nay idea of an email addy to use Nattie?

I know Paypal might be in another country but the bloke who I bought my stuff from was in Barnsley for God's sake!!

[scoobydoo]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Let us know how you get on. I bet a lot of people will miss this completely on their statements.

[john r page]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Just a warning to any VISA debit card holders using Paypal......

so there I was, mooching through my bank statement, as you do, when I noticed that a £1.25 fee had been charged on a £22.00 Paypal transaction.(something I'd bought on ebay) So I phone Snatchwest, and it turns out that it's not really their fault (for once).

Natwest have recently started issuing new debit cards, these are no longer Maestro, but VISA. I'd added this new debit card to my Paypal account and set it as the default. it turns out that Paypal are treating Visa Debit as credit cards not debit cards, hence every transaction will incur a fee. Okay, I know it's only £1.25, but that £1.25 multiplied by however many times you use Paypal could add up to a lot.

I have fired off an email to Paypal requesting the refund of the charge and an assurance that this will not happen again.

Apparently natwest have already taken this up with Paypal "going forwards" so I presume i'm not the first one to query it with them

Let's wait and see what happens.

i,m so glad i,m not the only one that has noticed this. paypal have charged me £1.25 over 35 times. i,ve spent over £50 in phone calls to paypal. but its like talking to a brick wall
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
i use ebay a lot & since i,ve been useing my new visa debit card. natwest/paypal have charged me £1.25p 35 times. this is well over £40. i,m getting no where. natwest wrote to me & blamed paypal. i have spent well over £50 in phone calls to paypal. when u phone paypal its like talking to a brick wall. this is so unfair.

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

yes you're right it's like talking to a brick wall. But having thought about this a bit more,I don't actually think it is Paypal. Having looked at my Paypal account, it's obvius they have only charged the original £22 against my debit card, there's no mention of the £1.25 fee anywhere on my paypal account, and on reflection, I would have thought that only Natwest can debit a charge on my account. I have emailed Paypal already as detailed above, so my new plan is to email the complaints department at Natwest. I want it in writing from them exactly where the charge has come from, on what grounds it is being applied etc. Payplan state the charge is definitley not from them. Then my plan is to email the CEO of Snatchwest/RBS and see if he can provide an answer as to why Natwest customers are being ripped off and made to spend even more time and money trying to get back these charges. As far as I can see it's not happening with any other banks so it's like I'm being discriminated for being a Natwest customer. I will be trying to avoid Paypal in future until this is resolved.
Haven't done the email yet as I need to concentrate so will be doing it at work tomorrow where it's nice and quiet and uninterrupted

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Right then, phoned Natwest Customer Relations at Borehamwood. have to say that whenever I've phone dthem they have always been very polite and helpful. Explained to a very nice girl, she says she'll look into it and come back to me. Have forwarded the emails sent and received between me and Paypal, with the following:

Jill,

I spoke to you today regarding a transaction charge of £1.25 which was recently applied to my account folowing payment by Visa debit card through Paypal.
below are the emails exchanged between myself and Paypal. There is a further one which I will also forward.

As you can appreciate, there are many customers of RBS/Natwest who have been affected by this transaction charge, indeed 1 person i know of has been charged £1.25 on 30 transactions. As you will appreciate, these seemingly insignificant amounts when added together over time can mount up considerably. I have done some preliminary research over the last few days and it appears that RBS/Natwest are the only banks to be applying this charge. This would in effect seem to be discriminating against a very large group of customers.
My telephone calls to natwest and emails to Paypal have produced no resolution to this matter, which both Natwest and paypal blaming each other for the charge.

I would be grateful if you could look into this as a matter of urgency.

She says she will come back to me over the next few days, and has taken my mobile number.

Will update if any new developments

[WendyB]

Re: Paypal and Visa Debit Cards

Latest update.

The girl from natwest customer relations rang me back. She says that apperently its Paypal routing ALL Visa transactions through Luxembourg which is making it show as an international transaction, hence attracting the £1.25 charge. She says its all VISA debits, not just RBS/Natwest grouyp. Apparently Paypal have got a notice on their website about this. I haven't seen the notice but will have a look. She also stated that Paypal have told her that we can pay by dd instead of debit card?? Not sure if that would work on an individual transaction but will check it out on paypal site.

I have asked her to put the above in an email to me which she has agreed to do, so will wait for that to arrive then post it up.