Extra fees for payment via Paypal and Sofortüberweisung - verdict passed

The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe has issued a ruling with serious consequences for consumers: Companies can charge extra fees if customers pay via PayPal or instant transfer.

Karlsruhe - Many people use PayPal or instant transfers for payments.

This form of cost settlement is often felt to be quick, easy and secure.

For the users of these payment services, however, a momentous judgment has now been made.

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe decided on Thursday (March 25th) that companies can demand an additional fee from their customers for online payments via PayPal or Sofortüberweisung.

No fees may be charged for payment by bank transfer, direct debit or credit card.

This is stipulated by law.

With the now confirmed additional fee, however, money is required for the involvement of a service provider.

This - in this case PayPal or Sofort GmbH - takes on additional services such as checking the buyer's creditworthiness.

Therefore, according to the judgment, the charging of an additional fee is allowed.

Lawsuit against Flixbus as the trigger for the judgment

The procedure was initiated by the competition headquarters.

This should basically clarify the question of extra fees in the case of payment with PayPal or instant transfer.

The competition center had sued the Munich long-distance bus company Flixbus, which charged additional fees for payments via PayPal and instant transfers.

The BGH dismissed this action.

However, the company currently no longer charges any additional fees for the payment methods mentioned.

Both with PayPal and with Sofortüberweisung, the merchant has to pay first.

According to the new ruling by the BGH, the latter is now free to pass the fee on to the customer who uses the service.

PayPal doesn't want this to happen, otherwise the company will fear fewer users of their services.

PayPal defends itself: no fees should be incurred in the future either

Therefore, PayPal changed its general terms and conditions accordingly at the beginning of 2018.

Since then, merchants have been contractually prohibited from charging surcharges for the use of PayPal.

According to the company, it should stay that way: "In the future, there will be no surcharges for payment with PayPal," the company announced.