PayPal To Waive USD 30 Million In Fees Under DOJ Settlement

PayPal has agreed to waive about USD 30 million in transaction processing fees to settle a probe by the United States Department of Justice into a 2020 investment programme aimed at minority-owned businesses.

Under the settlement, PayPal will introduce a programme that waives fees on USD 1 billion in transactions for eligible U.S. small businesses operating in sectors including farming, manufacturing, and technology, as well as veteran-owned firms. The Justice Department said the investigation examined whether the 2020 initiative gave unlawful preferences to Black and minority-owned businesses under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

The settlement does not include any monetary penalty to the government, and the department said it made no finding that PayPal violated the law.

PayPal denied liability related to the programme, which was part of a USD 530 million commitment announced in 2020 to support Black and underrepresented minority businesses and communities.