Vulnerable customers are defined as “someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate care”.

We’re committed to supporting our customers where they display vulnerability traits - whether temporary or permanent - that adversely impact their ability to access or use PayPal’s services or cause hardship or financial difficulties from the use of PayPal’s products and services.

Anyone can become vulnerable at any point in their lives and this can include physical disabilities, long-term health issues, mental health issues, addictions, family breakdowns, or job losses. Vulnerability also includes people excluded from financial services because of their personal or financial circumstances.

We encourage you to let us know if you feel you’re vulnerable and need extra support. We’ll try to understand your circumstances and how they affect your relationship with PayPal. We’ll treat you with respect, empathy, and kindness and take all reasonable steps to support you. Anything you tell us will be strictly confidential, handled securely, and will not be shared with any third parties.

Here are some additional questions and answers on this topic:

• Is the PayPal website designed for accessibility?
• How might PayPal help someone with physical disabilities?
• How might PayPal help someone with a Long-Term Illness?
• What if I don’t have the identity documents needed to use PayPal?
• What can PayPal do for a non-English speaker?
• What happens if I get into financial difficulty?
• What are other sources of support for managing my finances?
• What are additional sources of support for other life challenges and well-being?
• What is Power of Attorney and when would I use it?

Is the PayPal website designed for accessibility?

We work hard to ensure our services are accessible to all. We do this in various ways, including:

• Using descriptive links and providing alternative text on our website. This is to help people who use assistive technology, such as screen reader software
• Designing features and pages on our website for accessibility
• Contrasting the fonts and backgrounds to make pages on our website easier to read
• Designing our website to easily navigate without using a mouse

We’re always looking to understand how we can improve this experience. If we haven’t addressed your specific issue, let us know and we’ll do our best to support you further.

How might PayPal help someone with physical disabilities?

Physical disabilities relating to your vision, hearing, or speech, may affect your ability to use our website, access our services, or manage your account. If you have a disability of this type, we can offer you extra support to improve your experience with us

How might PayPal help someone with a Long-Term Illness?

If you’re experiencing mental health issues or a long-term illness, we want to understand how your condition affects your ability to access or use PayPal’s services. We’ll work with you, or your carers, to minimise the impact of this on your use of PayPal.

What if I don’t have the identity documents needed to use PayPal?

There are laws to prevent services like ours from being used to launder the proceeds of crime and to combat terrorist financing. To satisfy those laws we must verify every customer’s identity and address. We usually ask for standard documents, such as a passport, driving licence, or utility bills. We understand that, for a variety of reasons, some people will not have those standard forms of ID or proof of address.

We can provide extra support if you don’t have the documents needed to access PayPal’s services. We’ll help to identify which documents we can accept that will allow you to open and operate an account with us.

What can PayPal do for a non-English speaker?

If English is not your first language and you need a translated version of documents, such as our terms and conditions, we can arrange to do this in the language of your choice.

Most web browsers can automatically translate our webpages into a different language which would help you to more easily navigate the website.

What happens if I get into financial difficulty?

If you’re having trouble meeting your payments, we can help you. This is known as forbearance and we have specially trained teams who will understand your unique circumstances and support you to get back on track.

What are other sources of support for managing my finances?

If you need support managing your finances, there are many free sources of help and support available from organisations such as:

• Moneyhelper (Government-backed financial guidance provider)  
• Citizens Advice Bureau (Living costs, bills & benefits advice) 
• StepChange Debt Charity (Debt solutions & advice) 
• Debt Advice Foundation (Free confidential support) 
• National Debtline (Debt solutions & support) 
• AgeUK (Legal, benefits, scams, & money advice) 
• Business Debtline (Free business crisis advice) 
• Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (Free tax advice) 
• Taxaid (Tax problem help) 
• Gamble Aware (Free confidential support)

What are additional sources of support for other life challenges and well-being?

There are also many free sources of help with other life challenges and well-being:

• The Samaritans (Offer Emotional Support) 
• NHS Mental Health Services (Offer mental health support services) 
• Refuge (A 24-hour UK national domestic abuse helpline for women and children suffering from financial and domestic abuse) 
• Women's Aid (Support and information for women experiencing domestic abuse) 
• Men's Advice Line (The helpline for male victims of domestic abuse)  
• Galop (Emotional and practical support for LGBTQIA+ people experiencing domestic, emotional, or financial abuse) 

What is Power of Attorney and when would I use it?

If you’re having problems managing your financial affairs either through mental incapacity or for some other reason, a Power of Attorney could be a viable option. It‘s essential to get legal advice so you know what type of power attorney is right for you.

Allowing someone control of your finances gives them permission to:

• Open an account on your behalf
• Use your account(s) in the same way that you had done previously
• Access your account(s) online and by telephone, should you wish

Depending on the type of access you’ve granted, your representative may not be able to do all of these things. For example, there may be restrictions on the power of attorney.

The most common types of Power or Attorneys are:

• General / Ordinary Power of Attorney
• Lasting Power of Attorney
• General Power of Attorney
• Enduring Power of Attorney (Continuing Power of Attorney in Scotland)

The powers under different powers of attorney vary and depend upon whether you live in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.