You paid someone through PayPal, or someone paid you, and instead of 'Completed' the transaction says 'Pending'. The buyer can't see why it hasn't gone through. The seller can't see the money and doesn't know whether to ship.
Pending doesn't mean the payment has failed. It means the payment is waiting on something: a bank, a person, a review or a merchant. Work out which one and you'll know how long to wait and whether either of you can do anything about it.
Open the payment first: the details point to the cause
Log in to PayPal directly and go to 'Activity', then click the transaction. PayPal's help says this is where you can see the payment's status and, for an eCheck, its expected clearing date. Use this as a rough guide to what you are looking at:
- You paid from a bank account, or the details mention an eCheck: see cause one.
- You sent money to an email address or phone number, or the status says 'Unclaimed': see cause two.
- The status mentions a review, or a seller sees 'Wait - don't ship yet': see cause three.
- You bought from an online shop, or the entry says 'Authorization' or 'Order': see cause four.
- The money reached the seller but the status says it is held or on hold: see the section after cause four.
Cause 1: The payment is an eCheck clearing from a bank
PayPal describes an eCheck as an electronic funds transfer from your bank account to another customer's PayPal account. It says a bank-funded payment can be sent this way for risk reasons, for example when a payment is unusual compared with your account history, or to make sure your bank account has enough money.
PayPal says an eCheck usually takes 4 to 7 business days to clear, and sometimes longer. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays don't count as business days, so a payment made on a Friday can look stuck when it is on schedule. If the bank account doesn't have enough money or the bank declines the transaction, PayPal tries again within 3 business days. If it is declined a second time, the payment is canceled, and your bank may charge a fee.
- Buyer: keep enough money in the bank account until the payment clears, and check the expected clearing date under 'Activity'.
- Buyer who needs to cancel: PayPal says only the sender can cancel a pending eCheck, by contacting their bank. Once it has cleared, it can't be canceled, but you can ask the seller for a refund.
- Seller: don't ship or provide the service yet. PayPal's warning is direct: if the eCheck doesn't clear, you won't get paid.
- Both: don't pay a second time to speed things up. If the first eCheck clears as well, the buyer has paid twice.
Cause 2: The recipient still has to accept it
Sometimes the money has left the sender but is waiting on the person it was sent to. PayPal lists two situations. The payment went to an email address or phone number that isn't registered to a verified PayPal account, or the recipient has chosen not to automatically accept certain payments, such as those not in their preferred currency or from buyers with unconfirmed addresses.
Either way, there is a clock on it. PayPal says the recipient has 30 days to accept or deny the payment. After that, it is canceled automatically and the money goes back to the original payment method. Refunds to a bank account may take up to 5 business days, and refunds to a credit or debit card may take up to 30 days.
- Recipient without an account: PayPal says you need to open an account and confirm your email address to accept the money.
- Recipient with an account: go to 'Activity', find the payment and accept or deny it.
- Sender who wants the money back: on the web, go to 'Activity' and click 'Cancel' under the payment. In the app, open the 'Wallet' tab, tap 'Activity', open the payment and tap 'Cancel'.
- Sender with no 'Cancel' option: PayPal says you can't cancel the payment yourself in some cases, so it stays open until the recipient responds or the 30 days run out.
- Sender who mistyped the address: double-check it against the details the recipient gave you, then cancel if you can and send the payment again to the right one.
Cause 3: PayPal is reviewing the payment
PayPal's status guide describes a pending payment on the sender's side as a transaction it is reviewing, which it will send once the payment source is verified. For sellers, PayPal says it reviews some payments to help protect them from risky or fraudulent ones. While that happens, the funds are temporarily held and shown in the 'Pending Balance'.
An older PayPal seller page says most reviews take about 24 hours, so treat that as a guide rather than a promise. It's a fraud check, so there is no way to skip it, and you shouldn't try. Sending the same money through another route, or shipping early to keep a buyer happy, only adds risk.
- Buyer: look for an email from PayPal and open the transaction details under 'Activity'. If PayPal asks for something, such as confirmation of your payment source, respond there. If the status says 'Held', PayPal's guide points you to the Resolution Center.
- Seller seeing 'Wait - don't ship yet': hold the item. PayPal says it will email you when the payment clears.
- Seller seeing 'Stop - Don't Ship' or a canceled status: PayPal treats the payment as likely fraudulent or unauthorized, cancels it and takes the funds back out of your pending balance. Don't send the item. PayPal's page notes that because you still have the item, you aren't out of pocket.
- Both: check the status in 'Transaction Details' before acting on an email. It is the one to trust.
Cause 4: The merchant hasn't captured the order
When you buy from some online shops, the entry in your 'Activity' isn't a finished payment. It is an authorization or an order, a promise of money the merchant collects when it processes your purchase. PayPal says your account shows a 'Pending' authorization until the merchant captures the payment.
PayPal says orders and authorizations typically expire in 29 days, though one regional page gives 30, so treat it as typical rather than exact. Pay in 4 works differently: PayPal says a pending authorization can be a temporary hold, and it is voided if the order isn't completed within 72 hours.
- Buyer: contact the merchant first. PayPal says neither you nor PayPal can cancel an order, but the merchant might be able to.
- Seller: if you use authorizations, capture the payment once you're ready to fulfil the order, and before the authorization expires. If it does expire, contact the buyer before you ship.
When it isn't really 'Pending': holds and bank transfers
Two similar-looking problems have their own rules, so don't apply the timelines above to them.
If the payment has reached a seller's account but the money is held or unavailable, that is a hold. PayPal may hold payments to new sellers, or sellers who haven't sold in a while, for up to 21 days as cover against buyer complaints. Adding tracking can help release one sooner. If the pending item is money you're moving from your PayPal balance to your bank, that is a transfer, not a payment from a customer, so check the transfer's own status under 'Activity'.
How to make it less likely next time
None of this removes PayPal's checks, and PayPal can still send a payment as an eCheck or review it. These steps remove the avoidable delays:
- Buyers: check which payment method is selected on the review page before you pay. To set a default, go to 'Wallet', click the method and choose 'Set as preferred'. PayPal says your balance is generally used first, and a backup method may be used if your preferred one can't cover the full amount.
- Buyers paying from a bank: keep enough money in the account until the payment clears, and allow about 7 business days when you have a deadline.
- Senders: confirm the recipient's PayPal email address or phone number before you send. A typo is one of the easiest ways to end up with an unclaimed payment.
- Sellers: review your settings for automatically accepting payments, especially if you sell in more than one currency. PayPal's business pages explain the options under your payment preferences.
- Sellers: make 'Completed' in 'Transaction Details' your rule for shipping, and tell buyers in advance that bank-funded payments can take several days.
If you don't want everything riding on one processor
A pending payment is usually just a wait, but it's a stressful one when all your sales go through one account. A OneSol page on Pro can take payments through your own Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay or Square account, so all your money doesn't have to come through one processor, and OneSol takes no cut. Each processor's own reviews and rules still apply.