Yes, PayPal Here was officially discontinued in the US and stopped working on April 3, 2023. It has been replaced by PayPal Zettle (also known as PayPal Point of Sale), which offers similar, updated card reader hardware and software.
NOTE: In April 2023, PayPal Here was discontinued and became PayPal Zettle or Zettle by PayPal. We're leaving this comparison here for historical purposes, but it will no longer be updated and PayPal Here is no longer available.
Effective 29 September 2025:
The section titled “Your liability to us” and Annex 1 of the PayPal Alternative Payment Methods Agreement are being updated to clarify that reversals can include missing funds. Annex 1 is also being clarified to indicate which payment methods could be subject to missing funds.
Alternatives include Square, Venmo, Cash App, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet, Apple Pay, Skrill, Payoneer, Stripe, Amazon Pay, and a few others — like Shopify Payments.
Right now, PayPal is generally operational with no widespread outages, but users are discussing specific issues like changes to their "Pay in 4" program (including a "nerf" or reduction in benefits), potential payment declines (often due to card issues or account limits), and general customer experiences on platforms like Reddit, alongside business changes like the rebranding of Zettle to PayPal Point of Sale (POS) and financial market volatility affecting their stock.
Popular PayPal alternatives for personal and business use include Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, Skrill, Payoneer, Square, and Wise, each offering strengths like ease of use for friends (Venmo), robust e-commerce integration (Stripe, Shopify Payments), global features (Payoneer, Wise, Skrill), or mobile convenience (Apple Pay, Google Pay). For businesses, options like Tipalti, Revolut, and Braintree cater to specific needs like mass payouts or platform payments.
We strive to provide our customers with seamless and user-friendly services. Unfortunately, sometimes, we are unable to offer services to an account for various reasons, including local laws, our policies, or the policies of our partners.
We keep all your information secure. For example, when you use PayPal to send a payment, the recipient doesn't receive sensitive financial details like your credit card or bank account number. You don't have to worry about paying someone online.
The PayPal "$600 rule" refers to an IRS requirement for third-party payment apps (like PayPal, Venmo) to report payments for goods/services over a certain threshold to the IRS via Form 1099-K, a rule delayed multiple times but originally set to become $600, though recent legislation has scrapped the low $600 threshold, replacing it with a much higher one (around $20,000 and 200 transactions for 2025), meaning most casual users won't get a 1099-K for personal payments, though all business income must still be reported.
We may limit your account to protect you from potential losses and review any fraudulent activity. This can happen if your: Account was accessed without your authorization. Bank informs us there have been unauthorized transfers between your PayPal account and your bank account.
Yes, PayPal is a secure platform that uses encryption and fraud detection to protect your personal information. It also offers buyer protection, which helps resolve disputes with merchants and secure refunds for certain purchases.
“After April 3, 2023, all elements of the PayPal Here product including devices, the app, and SDK will no longer be supported in the US and will stop working.”
If your account is locked, we usually need some information about your account or recent payments. Please call us and have the following information available to confirm you own the account: Your telephone number. A statement for the credit card or bank account linked to PayPal.
User Backlash and Trust Crisis: Public sentiment has turned, with social media and consumer forums riddled by complaints about poor customer service, unexplained account limitations, and confusing or punitive policy changes. Trustpilot now records PayPal with an abysmal 1.3-star rating from over 28,000 reviews.
Zelle is owned by Early Warning Services, LLC, which is a joint venture between seven of the largest banks in the U.S.: Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.
Yes, someone can access your bank account through PayPal if they gain control of your PayPal account, usually via phishing or malware, which gives them access to linked funds; however, PayPal uses strong security (encryption, firewalls) to protect your data, and the merchant doesn't see your bank details, so the risk is primarily from your own account security being compromised. Key is to enable 2FA, use strong unique passwords, and be vigilant against scams.
Top 10 PayPal Alternatives for Sending Payments
For a $100 domestic transaction in the US, PayPal typically charges sellers around $3.49 (2.99% + $0.49 fixed fee) for goods/services or $3.29 (2.9% + $0.30 fixed fee) if using a linked card for a friends/family payment, though sending to friends/family from a bank or balance is free, while international or different payment methods (like cards for personal) incur higher fees.
PayPal generally holds funds from shut-down accounts for 90-180 days after closure.
PayPal's users - tracked by way of active registered accounts - increased into the second quarter of 2025, after several quarters of decline in early 2024.
Resolve pending transactions or disputes
PayPal won't let you close your account if you have pending transactions, open disputes, or unresolved chargebacks. This policy helps prevent issues like lost funds, incomplete transfers, or unresolved buyer-seller claims.