PayPal Business Accounts Will No Longer Be Able To Make Payments Using The Friends And Family Method

JAKARTA - PayPal is rolling out two changes to its peer-to-peer pricing structure in the United States by simplifying the cost structure of goods and services and changing the way US business accounts accept payments.

In a press release, the company said, starting July 28, only personal PayPal accounts will be able to get funds through Friends & Family. This transaction is intended for trusted recipients.

As a PayPal user, you must already know that there are two ways to send money on PayPal, the first is Friends & family (Family & Friend) and Goods and Services (Gods & Service).

According to The Verge, F&F is meant to pay to someone you know who the beneficiary is and what you're paying for. In this way, payments are usually not subject to additional fees, but there is still protection for issues that arise, such as refunds or fraud.

Whereas G&S is for purchases, and money sent this way is subject to PayPal fees. With G&S, if the item you purchased is not as described, damaged on arrival, or never reaches the buyer, you can easily get a refund for the purchase.

Many businesses make transactions using PayPal business accounts and accept payments for goods and services via F&F, to avoid seller fees.

But now, the company forbids it. "In the coming weeks, US customers will now only be able to send Friends and Family peer-to-peer payments to consumers' PayPal accounts," the company wrote.

Further, the company explained that this update helps ensure that purchases of eligible Goods and Services will be protected for both parties and will encourage consistency on the platform, while eliminating confusion around which payments are eligible for buyer and seller protection.

“It will also enable PayPal to help businesses properly reconcile data stores and manage personal and business income. Business account holders can continue to access business-specific features such as automated reporting, invoicing, multi-employee access, and more.”

In the same announcement, PayPal also said the transaction fee structure for goods and services will change from the end of this month. Currently, sellers are paying 2.89 percent plus $0.49 per transaction, but starting July 28, that will change to 2.99 percent with no additional flat fees.