PayPal Holdings (PYPL 2.26%) is stepping in to assist with financial relief efforts in the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, the company unveiled a set of measures aimed at helping small businesses cope with the deleterious economic effects of the pandemic.
PayPal will allow its business clients to request deferral of payments they owe; if granted, the company won't charge additional fees for the privilege.
It is also widening the period of time during which business clients must respond to a customer dispute; it is now 20 days long instead of 10. Customers filing disputes with payment card issuers will not be liable for chargeback fees from PayPal. The company is also waiving fees for its instant withdraw service, under which its users can withdraw funds from one of its business accounts to another bank account or certain debit cards.
Image source: PayPal Holdings.
These measures, plus PayPal's doubling of its instant cash back rewards on the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard (MA 1.27%), will be in force through at least April 30. All were effective immediately save for the Mastercard cash back doubling, which takes effect on Wednesday, April 1.
In the press release detailing these moves, PayPal promised that "[t]his is just the beginning. We all need to step up to support our small businesses. We are actively working with governments and private sector partners to help support businesses in this time of need."
On Tuesday, PayPal's stock price dipped by slightly over 1.3%, which was a better performance than several traditional banking stocks, not to mention the broader equity market. Partner Mastercard fell more steeply than said market, declining by 4.6% on the day.
