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

An eCheck is an electronic funds transfer from your bank account to another customer’s PayPal account. It usually takes up to 7 business days to clear, but in some cases, it may take longer.

There are cases where your payment could be sent as an eCheck, even if you’ve linked both a bank account and a credit/debit card to your PayPal account because our internal security system has intervened.

We put security measures in place to review transactions before they’re sent out to ensure that all parties involved are protected.


The payment may show “pending” in your PayPal account. You'll be able to confirm it's an eCheck payment once you open the transaction details. Here you'll also find the expected payment clearing date. 

If there’s insufficient money 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.

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