Why was my payment sent as an eCheck and why is it pending?

Sometimes your bank-funded payment may be processed as an eCheck.

An eCheck is an electronic funds transfer from your bank account to another customer’s PayPal account. It usually takes between 4-7 business days to clear, but sometimes it may take longer.

To manage risk, PayPal may limit the payment methods available for a transaction. This can happen for a variety of reasons:

• PayPal detects a payment attempt that’s unusual considering previous account history.
• To ensure that there’s sufficient funds in your bank account.
• Any other reason we may find that indicates there’s possible risk associated with the payment.

We put security measures in place to review transactions before they’re sent out to protect all parties involved.

The payment may show as “pending” in your PayPal account and the recipient’s account. To view your payment status and the expected clearing date, visit your Activity and click on the transaction.

If there’s insufficient funds in your bank account or your bank declines the transaction when we attempt to complete the eCheck payment, we’ll try again within 3 business days. If the payment is declined a second time, we’ll cancel it. Remember, your bank may charge a fee for declined payments.