ZDNET’s key takeaways
- PayPal and Venmo experienced an outage Friday morning.
- Affected accounts couldn’t send or receive payments.
- PayPal has acknowledged the problem and said a fix is in the works.
Did you have trouble with PayPal or Venmo this morning? You weren’t alone. The problem has been resolved, but millions of people were scrambling to find a fix.
Also: PayPal’s AI-powered scam alert system might intercept your transactions now – here’s why
Shortly before 9 a.m. ET, users began reporting that both platforms were down. They said the platforms would load, but they couldn’t send or receive payments. Some users said they couldn’t log in at all. PayPal owns Venmo, which would explain why both platforms were affected together.
Spike in outage reports
A graph on Downdetector, a popular outage-tracking site, showed a spike in reports of a Venmo outage at 9 a.m. A graph for PayPal showed the same. (Downdetector is also owned by ZDNET’s parent company, Ziff Davis.) PayPal’s service status page showed a disruption in online checkout and retail checkout services. A tab on the same page showed Venmo’s status as “Operational,” but that wasn’t the case.
Also: Think your Venmo is private? You should double-check this setting
PayPal’s status page stated, “We are still observing impact to Retail Checkout, Online Checkout and Braintree in our production Environment. Our Technical teams are actively investigating and working to mitigate the impact as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide updates as the situation progresses.”
By noon ET, the platforms were working again. A PayPal spokesperson responded to a query with a simple explanation of, “PayPal and Venmo experienced a temporary interruption this morning that has since been resolved.”
Both Venmo and PayPal are very popular payment platforms. PayPal has 434 million active users, and Venmo has more than 80 million.
Loading fine, but not working
When I tested the platforms for myself during the outage, both loaded fine, but neither worked. I used the Venmo app, which just kept spinning when I tried to send a payment to my wife (it sat spinning for at least 45 minutes). I tried PayPal through my laptop browser, and it sent $1 fine on my end, but my wife never received an email alerting her to a payment, and her balance didn’t reflect the payment (mine did).
When I tested again at noon, my Venmo payment went through without a hitch.
Also: The 10 apps I can’t live or work without – on Windows, Mac, and mobile
Money was accessible the whole time. I had a small Venmo balance that I was able to transfer to my bank with no trouble (or at least the app says it’s transferring).
Alternatives to try
If you’re still looking for other options, our list of the best Zelle alternatives (of course, you can use Zelle in this case) includes apps like Cash App and Revolut.
Also: Cash App just made it a lot easier to pool your money with friends. Here’s how
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