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What to do when your PayPal payment to a Creator is unclaimed, pending, or declined

Here at Ko-fi, your support goes right to the Creator's own payment account—quick and direct. 🚀 If you spot a payment marked as 'pending', it usually means the payment's still on its way or PayPal couldn't process it.

  Note

PayPal advises that payments that are not able to complete within 30 days will usually be be automatically canceled or returned to your account.

 

How to check your payment status

Visit the Payments & Orders tab to see your payment status. Look for a grey status note at the bottom left of your transaction details.

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A 'pending' status indicates your transaction isn't complete yet. Tap the “i” help dot for more info on your pending payment.

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Check out this PayPal guide to understand different statuses and any actions you may need to take. PayPal also provides details of how to cancel payments that haven't completed here.

If you wish to troubleshoot paying via PayPal again, our help center article is here to assist you.

 

Unclaimed or pending status

A payment status of “unclaimed” or “pending” most likely means an issue with the Creator’s PayPal account. This often occurs when the Creator is not yet fully verified on PayPal.

Possible reasons include being new to PayPal, not confirming their email address, or providing an incorrect email address on Ko-fi. They might also need to accept payments in a new currency if your payment differs from what they've received before.

If you can reach the Creator via direct message, you can share this article to assist them in resolving their PayPal account issues. Learn more about Unclaimed or Pending payments directly from PayPal here.

If you have any questions, feel free to send any our way.

 

Declined payments

A declined payment usually means there’s a problem with your PayPal account or funding method.

You might need to confirm your bank, verify your card, or switch your funding source on PayPal. Learn more about declined payments and how to resolve them here from PayPal. We also have a help article here to help troubleshoot when you cannot pay with PayPal.

 

We're here if you need us. Feel free to send any questions our way. 💌