Why are our PayPal / card payments 'Pending'?

PayPal and card payments are expected to complete immediately; it's not common to see these payments with a 'Pending' status, like you would with Direct Debit payments


If you find the status of PayPal payments pending in your account, then the likely reason is that PayPal are temporarily holding a payout for your payments, and waiting for you to verify some details on your account. This is common if PayPal believe there is an unusually high number of transactions going through a business account.

You can click "Show preferences" and "Show timeline" (above) to find  more detail on the message returned by PayPal.


In this situation, sign into into your PayPal account and check for any notification or alerts on your account. If you are still unsure, you need to contact the PayPal support team directly to help resolve the issue, and release your funds.

Further information on this issue can be found on the PayPal's help page here:

https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/why-is-my-payment-in-my-pending-balance-faq3297