How to Cancel a Payment on PayPal

The world now relies on digital mode for everything. The digital world is dominant everywhere, from payments and shopping to bookings and online transactions.

You can send money, messages, and little bits of information anywhere with a single click. As technology advanced, a bunch of apps hit the market. One such payment app is PayPal. Learning how to use it can make online transactions easier for you. 

What is PayPal?

PayPal is a finance company that operates in most countries. You may find PayPal operable in every country where online payment is feasible. PayPal has successfully replaced money orders, cheques, and cash in most cases. Online vendors and commercial sites use PayPal and also pay money for their services. 

All you need to do to operate PayPal is link your bank account to your PayPal account. Afterward, you can use it to make payments to all the participating stores. You can also use PayPal to send money to your family members. 

Why should you use PayPal?

Easy and convenient to use

Anytime you feel like making a purchase, you may log in to your PayPal account and make the payment. You don’t always need to carry your card or remember your card number and other banking details. You need to give your PayPal login information, and that’s it. Money will be easily transferred to the receiver without any hassle.

Secure transactions

Using a debit card to make online payments may be risky. You may be at a higher risk of online fraud and may also encounter various other banking issues. The best way to solve this problem is to make a payment through PayPal. It provides you with an option of a secure transaction so that your data remains confidential. 

What are the cases in which you need to cancel a payment on PayPal?

There may be many instances when you make a payment through PayPal and later realize that it was a mistake. Therefore, you may wish to cancel the payment and get your money back. These situations may include:

Sending money to the wrong person

It happens to everyone, including you, me, and almost all the users of the digital payment ecosystem, that you end up transferring money to the wrong person. This may occur when you accidentally enter the incorrect account details or any other details such as mobile number or email id. This may happen if you transfer money when you are in a hurry. 

Entering the wrong amount

Imagine you had to make a transaction of $400 to someone, and you accidentally entered an extra 0. Your account is empty, and you want to cancel the payment before it reaches the other end. This can be bizarre because the recipient person might refuse to give that money back. 

Scheduled recurring payment

You may have set your account to make certain payments every month. Such payments may include your electricity bills, mobile phone bills, etc. There may be times when you wish to cancel these scheduled payments beforehand to avoid the wrong monthly payments. For example, if you and your family are moving out to a foreign country, it’s not feasible to continue those recurring payments.

Can you cancel payment from PayPal?

There is an immediate confirmation of payments made through PayPal in most cases. However, there are instances when the receiver needs to confirm the amount on the other end. Hence, if your receiver has not confirmed the payment, you still have some chance to cancel it. 

Which are the transactions you can cancel on PayPal? 

You can cancel any PayPal transaction that the receiver has not accepted. However, if the receiver has accepted the payment, the chances are that you will not be able to cancel the transaction. 

How to cancel a payment on PayPal?

While making payment through PayPal, you may need to enter the receiver’s email address. The receiver must have a PayPal account linked with their email.  The payment remains pending until the person links their email to their PayPal account. If the process of linking a bank account is not completed within 30 days, the money returns to the sender’s account.

Some people set privacy on their PayPal account that restricts money transactions unless they approve the transaction. If the receiver on the other end has done the same, you may be able to cancel the transaction and restore money into your account. 

The steps to cancel a PayPal payment are:

• Login to your account.
• Go to the activity button found on the top of your screen.
• Search for the pending payment which is to be canceled. 
• Click on the ‘Cancel’ button near the payment information.
• For confirmation, click on the cancel payment button. 

Your PayPal payment may be canceled if the receiver will not approve the payment. However, if you do not find the particular payment in the pending list, your payment will already have been cleared. 

How to cancel recurring payments on PayPal?

There may be times when you transfer money to someone at regular intervals. These transactions are similar to the normal ones. The only difference is that they are scheduled and are done at a fixed interval of time. 

The steps to cancel recurring payment on PayPal is the same as a regular payment. You may need to enter the activity menu and cancel the set recurring payment. 

These are the steps that will help you in the cancellation of future transactions:

• Log in to your PayPal account.
• On the top right side of the screen, you may find a button with your username. Click on this button. 
• Go to the account settings option.
• Click the Money, Banks, and Cards option from the account settings drop-down.
• In this option, you will come across the set automatic payments tab.
• Select the recurring payment that you wish to cancel.
• Confirm the cancellation of your recurring payment. 

You need to make sure that you cancel the recurring payment at least 24 hours before the scheduled date and time. This will provide you with sufficient time to cancel the transaction. 

How to get a refund if payment has already been cleared?

You may not be able to cancel a payment if the receiver approves the money transfer. However, you may log in to your PayPal account and request a refund. You may also contact the person you accidentally sent money to and ask them to return the same. You may also follow these steps to cancel the payment if the transaction has already been completed:

Log in to your PayPal account

Visit the summary page from the drop-down menu. 

Look for the transaction that was initiated accidentally.

You may find the contact details of the receiver there. Please send a mail to them asking for a refund for the initiated payment.

This option for getting a refund will only be available for 180 days. After that, you may not be able to contact the receiver through the PayPal app directly. 

Another case may arise when you accidentally transfer money, but the person on the other end still refuses to return it. In such a condition, you may open a dispute. Opening a dispute entitles you to chat with the receiver through the PayPal app and reach a conclusion.

The steps to open a dispute are:

• Login to your account
• Visit the resolution center
• Go to the report a problem option
• Under this section, you may select the payment you want to report a dispute over. 
• Continue with the selection
• Mention the reason for reporting the dispute.

Opening disputes is possible only for online purchases and not for personal transfers. You may finally submit a claim if your issue is not resolved even after raising a dispute. When you do so, the help and support of PayPal interfere with the payment and decide if the money will be refunded to your account or not. 

Conclusion

PayPal is a handy app that makes online transactions easier for everyone. However, there may be times when you initiate a wrong transfer. In such a case, you may need to check with the receiver. If they may not have approved the payment, you may get a refund. You may also file a dispute or claim if you do not get your money back. However, this makes us realize that getting money back after initiation is tough, and one must be very careful while initiating any payment.