For those who don’t poke around their Paypal account as much as I do, Paypal has been releasing various features to keep up with the social nature of payments and our impatient culture.
As a side note it’s worth mentioning that Paypal has become more consumer friendly over the past year, both with regards to processing payments with fewer error messages, as well as less shut down stories.
Instant Withdrawal
Paypal now supports instant withdrawal via debit card. ACH transfer are never instantaneous, but crediting your Visa card can be done instantly. This feature was announced more than a year ago, and implemented a number of months ago – with a $.25 fee (a detail conveniently left out of the initial press release).
Personally, I find the free Paypal withdrawals to go fast – maybe the next business day (?) – and I haven’t used the instant withdrawal option. Could be useful for large sums of money or if you’re afraid your checking account is getting overdrawn.
Split the Charge
Paypal puts ‘Split the Charge’ next to most payments. Initially, I thought this would be a cool way of splitting the actual purchase with friends by putting part of the charge on your card and part on a friend’s, but when you click the option it brings you to a pre-filled Request Money page. Basically, it’s nothing new, just another way of requesting money. It’s surprising that Paypal uses up so much screen real estate for something like that.
Money Pools
Another new feature we’re now seeing in Paypal is a Money Pool option. You’ll name the pool and optionally add a goal and end-date, along with some other personalization options. The pool is something similar to a GoFundMe page, and is an easy way to share expenses with a group or request funds from friends for a cause. This nifty feature is only available on Paypal personal accounts, not business accounts. Â More Details
