PAYPAL is introducing new fees on EU orders that could hit shoppers. The hiked fees will come into force in November this year just as the busiest shopping time of the year ramps up. British businesses will be charged a 1.29% fee when the changes take place. At the moment the average fee is 0.5%, […]
PAYPAL is introducing new fees on EU orders that could hit shoppers.
The hiked fees will come into force in November this year just as the busiest shopping time of the year ramps up.
British businesses will be charged a 1.29% fee when the changes take place.
At the moment the average fee is 0.5%, which was the same as before Brexit too.
It’s still still lower than PayPal’s standard 1.99% for the rest of the world though.
Details were released this week in a document on merchant fees PayPal has published.
PayPal said it is incurring extra costs, like the rise in interchange fees between the UK and EEA and is “simplifying” its cross-border fees.
Before Brexit, European rules capped fees at 0.2% and 0.3%, but since the UK left the EU customs union and single market, the caps no longer apply here.
It comes after Visa revealed it is hiking fees for purchases ordered in the UK from Europe, and Mastercard too sparking fears shoppers will pay more for goods in the long run.
The fees are paid by businesses but struggling companies could decide to pass the cost on to shoppers.
It could hit small businesses the most as the rise is rolled out in two months time, and just before Christmas, when wallets will be stretched anyway.
A PayPal spokesperson said: “PayPal is simplifying its cross-border fees for European commercial payments.
“In a highly competitive market, this will make it easier for these businesses to compare PayPal’s pricing with that of other providers, and to better appreciate the value we provide.
“PayPal will incur some additional costs processing customer payments following some industry fees for payments between the UK and the EEA being increased.
“For example, some industry interchange fees between the UK and EEA are increasing later in 2021.”
Earlier in the year the firm was a little more generous as it gave out £5 for free to 20,000 customers.
But it is also worth taking note of how the site can be impersonated and fraudsters use PayPal’s name to scam victims out of their money – from fake emails to making shoppers panic.
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