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Paypal Feb 1st Policy Update - Heads up to fellow Artists
10 months ago
General
Hey!
I spoke to a representative of Paypal on the phone this morning about the Feb 1st changes to invoices.
The changes state that you have to have info on your invoices match info on your account. People are taking this to mean that you have to doxx yourself and put your full name out there.
You do not.
I put just my first name, and the rep affirmed that this would be okay so long as it matches the first name on my account. You can hide your address and phone number completely.
Just double check that the name matches + the business name matches and you're good to go for Feb 1st.
This change is unfortunate for anyone trying to keep their deadname off Paypal, but it has become necessary since invoices have been used lately to commit scams/fraud by putting false info on there. Mainly I've seen this used to impersonate other businesses by adding their name/info on the invoice and pretending to be them to collect money.
I hope this clears it up for anyone who was worried!
In general, please be cautious when reading about updates to services you use for business, like Paypal, Patreon, etc. People tend to misinterpret things and freak out on social media. The most reasonable takes about them are not the ones that go viral. Please look into Policy / ToS updates YOURSELF. And if you have questions or concerns, contact support instead of just leaving the platform.
EDIT - after investigating with a friends account too I discovered not everyone has the first name only option. BUT, it appears as though the name (full or not) doesn't even appear on the invoice. At least, downloading invoice PDFs and such from the example section I couldn't find it anywhere. So even with a full name listed in the invoice its not...actually listed. It might just be an internal thing? Who knows!
- Lamb
I spoke to a representative of Paypal on the phone this morning about the Feb 1st changes to invoices.
The changes state that you have to have info on your invoices match info on your account. People are taking this to mean that you have to doxx yourself and put your full name out there.
You do not.
I put just my first name, and the rep affirmed that this would be okay so long as it matches the first name on my account. You can hide your address and phone number completely.
Just double check that the name matches + the business name matches and you're good to go for Feb 1st.
This change is unfortunate for anyone trying to keep their deadname off Paypal, but it has become necessary since invoices have been used lately to commit scams/fraud by putting false info on there. Mainly I've seen this used to impersonate other businesses by adding their name/info on the invoice and pretending to be them to collect money.
I hope this clears it up for anyone who was worried!
In general, please be cautious when reading about updates to services you use for business, like Paypal, Patreon, etc. People tend to misinterpret things and freak out on social media. The most reasonable takes about them are not the ones that go viral. Please look into Policy / ToS updates YOURSELF. And if you have questions or concerns, contact support instead of just leaving the platform.
EDIT - after investigating with a friends account too I discovered not everyone has the first name only option. BUT, it appears as though the name (full or not) doesn't even appear on the invoice. At least, downloading invoice PDFs and such from the example section I couldn't find it anywhere. So even with a full name listed in the invoice its not...actually listed. It might just be an internal thing? Who knows!
- Lamb
The Rep I talked to also couldn't find more info on the policy change, hilariously enough.
i'm sure there are options to keep the appropriate level of privacy and connected information across purchasing and selling through PayPal.
You can access the (limited) info they have about this and adjust your invoice settings by clicking the banner about it in the invoice area on PayPal. (Website, not app)
From what I understand it has to be your legal first name (at least) on your invoices. Although from what I can tell it's not even visible to clients on the invoice itself so... 🤷