Overview

• PayPal has started notifying impacted customers and automatically adding a €10, freely usable credit that appears as “Kredit von PayPal.”
• The payment is reserved for accounts directly affected by the disruption, such as those that previously received notices about failed debits, and requires no action from recipients.
• A faulty system update on August 23–24 triggered the disruption by undermining fraud controls, prompting German banks to block PayPal direct debits before services were restored.
• PayPal says fewer than 5% of German customers were affected—roughly up to 1.5 million—while widely cited figures of up to €10 billion in blocked transactions remain unconfirmed.
• Banks and consumer advocates report increased phishing emails and fraudulent calls linked to the incident, urging customers to verify messages and never share PINs or passwords.