Paypal Policy Update - intellectual property and surcharges

For those using Paypal as a method for customers to pay for your art...

Have you read the Policy UpDate published this month by PayPal? If not you might like to take time out to do so.  There are two important paragraphs

The first relates to their use of the intellectual property of your business i.e. their use of your brands and logos. It applies to relates to all businesses (e.g. your art business) which use PayPal. I'm guessing that they want this right to use brandnames and logos for marketing purposes.

​The new paragraph at section 1.3 reads as follows: “You grant the PayPal Group the worldwide right to use and depict your business name, trademarks and logos on our website and in our mobile and web applications for the purpose of displaying information about your business and its products and services.”

The second is a requirement that you neither disparage PayPal nor use surcharges in excess of those relating to other forms of payment.

Note in particular the last sentences of the second and last paragraphs - which I've highlighted in bold!  I can only think there has been a legal case which now means they need to highlight that they're not going to be liable for anything which is a criminal offence!

The issue for you is do you know how to avoid committing a criminal offence?

2. Non discouragement
We are amending section 4.4 (Non discouragement) to outline the standards that businesses must adopt at their points of sale in respect of their customers’ use of PayPal. Section 4.4 now reads as follows (with added/amended wording underlined):

​“4.4 Non discouragement. In representations to your customers or in public communications, you shall not mischaracterise or disparage PayPal as a payment method.

At all of your points of sale (in whatever form):
a. you shall not dissuade or inhibit your customers from using PayPal; and
b. if you enable your customers to pay you with PayPal, you shall treat PayPal’s payment mark at least at par with other payment methods offered.

​PayPal does not encourage surcharging because it is a commercial practice that can penalise the consumer and create unnecessary confusion, friction and abandonment at checkout. You agree that you will only surcharge for the use of PayPal in compliance with any law applicable to you and not in excess of the surcharges that you apply for the use of other payment methods. You further agree that if you do surcharge a buyer, you, and not PayPal, will inform the buyer of the requested charge. PayPal has no liability to any buyer where you have failed to inform the buyer of any surcharge. You acknowledge that you could be committing a criminal offence if you fail to disclose any form of surcharge to a buyer.”

There are also several amendments to the  several amendments to the PayPal Buyer Protection policy

​You can download PDF version of the Policy Update.