PayPal (PYPL.O) says it is working to resolve any lingering issues following a widespread outage that disrupted payments across Germany this week, sparking concern over the reliability of one of the country’s most popular online payment apps.
In a statement to Reuters on Friday, the U.S. payments giant apologized to customers and emphasized security as its top priority. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the current events. Safety remains our top priority,” the company said, adding that the disruption had since been resolved.
PayPal also confirmed it is working with banking partners to address account discrepancies, assuring customers that “all legitimate merchant transactions will be fully remunerated.” However, the company declined to comment on the root cause of the problem.
According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung, German banks had blocked around €10 billion ($11.7 billion) worth of transactions earlier in the week after PayPal’s fraud detection system reportedly stopped screening them. Meanwhile, Bild reported on Friday that some users were still experiencing issues despite the company’s assurances. PayPal did not address those reports directly.
The disruption has fueled debate in Germany about overreliance on PayPal for digital transactions. A spokesperson for the German finance ministry declined to comment on whether Europe should push for its own alternative to the U.S. company, but stressed the importance of maintaining resilient and secure payment systems.
