PayPal automatically takes money from the bank account due to several reasons. You must reconfigure some settings, such as deactivating active subscriptions, removing the bank and so on, to overcome this problem.
Deductions from the authorized bank account in PayPal are a common scenario. Such issues sometimes cause a lot of hassle, as it directly impacts bank account balance.
Let’s discuss and look into this issue thoroughly.
Can PayPal Take Money From Bank Account Without Permission?
You may remain clueless about money being taken away from your bank balance. But such things don’t happen without prior authorization.
It is a common scenario when a bank account transaction is made, or previously a purchase was initiated. The negative PayPal balance doesn’t mean it will hold all the transactions that have been authorized.
PayPal always attempts to balance the credit for the seller. That said, you must remember that you provide consent to PayPal to initiate transactions when you agree to the terms and conditions.
Moreover, your bank account should always have a sufficient balance so that you stay clear of overdraft fees. That means if you use a debit card as a fund source, PayPal will deduct the amount from the card to balance the overdraft.
Why Is PayPal Deducting Money From My Bank Account?
There are several reasons behind PayPal taking money from your bank account. It can be authorized or unauthorized. Let us know a few of those reasons in the sections below:
Active Subscription
These are some continual subscriptions that you had set up with various merchants. You already authorize such subscriptions, enabling any merchant to charge directly from your account periodically.
You can always check what types of subscriptions are active and what have been active in previous days. That said, the current subscriptions associated with your PayPal account directly bill from the bank account for the payment.
Insufficient PayPal Balance
When your PayPal balance is insufficient to pay, the fund source is your bank account. Purchasing through a PayPal account requires initial usage of the PayPal balance.
When there is a deficit in your PayPal balance, as a rule of thumb, the payment is carried out through a bank account linked with your PayPal.
System Issue
There are often internal glitches in the system gateway that might cause the money withdrawal mistakenly. Mostly, your money is safe in such cases as no unauthorized party takes your money.
If you report such issues immediately, you’ll eventually get the money back into your account. The time frame for returning the money will be a few business days.
Unauthorized Withdrawal
This is purely someone hacking or having access to your account. PayPal’s internal glitches aren’t an issue here. In this situation, both PayPal and the bank can help you out.
Primarily, the hackers replace your email with theirs, which causes such unwanted scenarios. To restore your mail, you should contact PayPal customer service immediately.
How Can You Stop PayPal Taking Money From The Bank Account?
Your bank account is the primary source of funds for your PayPal balance. But you may swap it with another bank or block the channel for insufficient balance.

We have curated some steps to help you stop fund transfers from your bank account. Let us have a look at those.
Step 1: Sign in to your PayPal account with your username and the correct password

Step 2: Navigate to the “wallet” at the top dashboard

Step 3: Choose the option for “Bank Account”

Step 4: Check all of the options you see under the “Bank Account”

Step 5: Delete the bank option from which you don’t want to transfer funds by clicking on “Remove Bank”

Step 6: Click on “OK” to any type of warning prompts shown to you at the time of account removal

Which PayPal Transactions Can Be Canceled?
While using PayPal, you’ll have the option to cancel payments. But remember, not all types of payments are cancellable. That’s why we’ll help you to figure out the type of transactions you can cancel on PayPal. Let us check out those!
Pending Payments
A payment not delivered after initiating the price is pending payment. It happens when you send it to the wrong mail address or phone number. You can cancel it simply by going to the option for pending transactions, and you’ll see the option for cancelling it.
Unclaimed Payments
It’ll be unclaimed if you have sent payment to an email address with no email account associated. The payment can only be received if the recipient opens a new PayPal account with that mail.
That said, you can cancel this unclaimed payment anytime before the recipient opens and receive the payment from the account.
Unauthorized Transactions
It is possible to settle disputes and cancel/recover the payment made by someone unauthorized. You should sign in to your account and navigate to the resolution center when such things happen.
Then, you have to open a dispute for the faulty transaction, not from your side. Afterwards, you must select the unauthorized transactions and proceed to the next steps. The successful claim being filed will let the PayPal team investigate and cancel the payments made to resolve the issue.
What Will Happen After A PayPal Payment Transaction Is Canceled?
If you cancel a payment using PayPal balance, it’ll take one business day to get the refund. The source of funds dictates how you’ll get the rebate for canceled payments.
For instance, the funds won’t return to the credit card balance for credit card payments. It will directly go to your existing PayPal balance. Primarily, within 3-5 business days, the money gets into the buyer’s account.
On the other hand, canceled payments due to the buyer dispute claim will take a lengthy resolution process. But the funds will eventually be returned to the buyer’s account.
Moreover, the funds that have already been transferred will take time to return. Several factors impact the time frame; you can get an overall idea by contacting customer assistance regularly.
Tips To Avoid PayPal Taking Money From Bank Account
Automatic withdrawals from your bank account can be a shock at times. That’s why we have curated some tips for you which can help you avoid PayPal taking money. Let’s explore those below:
- Go to the wallet section of your PayPal account, and from there, turn off the automatic withdrawal option
- Make the bank account balance null, which will eventually withdraw no amount
- Adopt alternative payment means like credit or debit card instead of the direct link to the bank account
- Always try to turn off active subscription payments
No PayPal Account, Get A Verified Account
To ensure trustworthiness, it is required of you to get a verified PayPal account. If you ponder about purchasing a PayPal account, we have you covered.
At Merchantta, we sell business and personal accounts that are 100% verified. Therefore, place an order now to avail of verified accounts.
FAQ’s
The automatic withdrawal of money from the bank account linked with PayPal causes panic and confusion. We have added a few relevant common queries to this, which will help you.
Can I block PayPal payments?
When you don’t want to receive payments from another PayPal user, you can simply block them. You can navigate either to the app or PayPal website to stop them.
What does a negative balance mean in PayPal?
The negative balance in the PayPal account means you have recurring debt. Any further payments you make with the account increase the negative balance.
What happens if my PayPal Payment bounces?
When your PayPal payment fails, payment will be retried again in the next five days. Even after that, if payment isn’t successful, it is considered a failure.
Final Thoughts
Money getting withdrawn automatically from your account is a headache sometimes. As a mitigating measure, you must block all automatic subscriptions or recurring transactions.
But we recommend you avoid having a negative balance on PayPal. It’ll be better for you to get verified and avoid unauthorized payments.