PayPal Pay in 4 is a service that allows us to split our purchase into four payments, with an initial payment at the time of the transaction and three subsequent payments made every two weeks after that. However, we will learn today that there are different reasons why PayPal Pay in 4 is not working.
It is a buy now, pay later service that allows us to split our payment into four instalments, and does not charge any interest or fees. However, there are certain requirements we must meet for this service to work, so we may not be eligible.
Why doesn’t PayPal Pay in 4 appear or work?
There are several reasons why this service is not enabled in our account; among them:
Not being a U.S. citizen.
This service is only available to U.S. citizens, who must be 18 or older. If you are not 18 years of age or the age of majority in our state, we will not be able to apply for the service.
Our account is not eligible
One reason the service may not be available on our account is that PayPal has verified our account internally and decided not to approve it. No exact conditions will make our account eligible, but our history with the account and our credit score can have a significant influence.
The purchase is not within limits
PayPal Pay in 4 services is only available for items between $30 and $1,500. If our order is below or above these limits, we will not be able to choose to use this payment method.
The merchant does not accept it
Some merchants do not accept PayPal Pay in 4, and there are some products for which this option is unavailable. If the option does not appear for payment, likely, our product is not eligible, or the merchant does not accept this type of payment.
Restrictions on our account
It may also be the case that our account has certain restrictions, such as not being verified. We may also not have a good account history, or we may not have paid our last PayPal in 4 fees on time.
Capital One, American Express credit cards or a Chase Pay account
Due to the policies of these three services, PayPal does not currently accept them for its buy now, pay later service. With debit cards, we will not have any inconvenience; only the restriction for credit cards applies.
The order was cancelled
Sometimes, the order may be cancelled due to a technical problem in the PayPal platform. The PayPal Pay in 4 payment option will disappear when you try to order again.
Reasons for which our payment could be denied
There are different reasons why a PayPal Pay in 4 payment could be denied, among which we find the following:
Low credit score
It is a program that will not affect our credit score in any way, but this can be misleading if we think that our credit score will not matter for approval or rejection. For approval, the platform will check our credit score to determine who is eligible for this account.
This way, PayPal can access essential aspects of our financial health, which is one of the main reasons they might deny our payments. If we have a credit score that is too low and accounts that have fallen into a collection, we may be denied access to the service.
PayPal Pay in 4 denied for unusual activity
When the platform does not work as it should, and we have to process the payment several times, it may generate an automatic denial. The information will be linked to unusual activity on our account.
If our account is trying to process payments several times, they will close it to protect us from possible fraudulent activity or scams. In these cases, it can lead to authorizations being placed on our account, which can negatively affect our bank account balance and tie up some funds. In these cases, it is best to contact support directly to solve the problem.
Balance too high
If we purchase an item, we will normally not have any inconvenience with our payment unless it exceeds the limits of this service. However, we must keep in mind that these limits apply to the sum of all purchases pending payment.
Therefore, it does not matter how many items we wish to purchase because we will have to keep the balance below $1,500. Until we make the final payment, we will not be eligible to make another purchase using this as our payment method.
What to do if the option to pay in 4 disappears?
When access to Pay in 4 has been denied, we may find that the option will disappear when we go to checkout. It tends to happen often with people who have already used the service successfully, and the option disappears from one moment to the next.
PayPal customer service recommends waiting five to ten days and then trying again. For some customers, the option is available again about 72 hours later, so be sure to check back periodically to see if you will have the opportunity to use this payment method.
If our payments are not processed correctly, it is best not to keep trying but to wait a few days to try again. This way, we can avoid the unusual activity that often qualifies users as declined.
However, if the option disappears and the cause is that we have a poor credit score, we will have to improve it before we can get approved again.