[kingu]

First and foremost, yes, there's no fees for Paypal to dip into your bank account to pay for debit card charges. I've been using my Paypal card for years without a single charge, you don't need to recharge your account (for debit card usage...) If you're gifting money to others through Paypal (not the card), there is indeed a fee, but again, none for them pulling from your bank account.

Now, as to the hold. Yes, this happens frequently and has for years, ever since the Patriot Act (err, well, anti-money laundering act wrapped in a flag.) It almost always applies to the type of transaction you were trying to do (refilling an account from a bank account) where there is no associated transaction.

I've seen it localized to particular areas as well as globally - a particular pain for me as I sell CDs on eBay with customers around the world, and there's always a ticking clock for them to pay for their items. In places like Russia and Spain, many times they'll refill their paypal account and come across these holds (and I get to do a whole lot of work to help them.)

Generally, these holds last a few hours. Worst I can remember was an 8 day period in 2014 where I lost a fair amount of money due to Paypal’s holds preventing people from filling their accounts. It is always described when pressed as ‘terrorist activity’ as it is a Patriot Act hold that causes it.

[Mad Dawgg]

Thank you for the info. I have been adding funds to my account for years. My Debit Card account is old, I opened it the first year Paypal had Debit Cards. I am grandfathered in at 1.5% cashback on it. And I never in all that time once was stopped from adding funds from my bank.