PayPal’s Buyer Protection For Digital Goods Goes Live

The April 30 announcement from PayPal about providing buyer protection for digital goods has finally gone into effect.

Starting yesterday (July 1), the payment processing company will expand its global buyer protection to intangible goods. At the time, the company’s Chief Risk Officer Tomer Barel remarked that “PayPal’s Global Buyer Protection has covered physical goods for many years, and our latest updates incorporate the feedback we’ve been receiving from [consumers].”

Customers who pay for a service or digital product via PayPal will now have the peace of mind that their purchases are backed by PayPal’s guarantee. If the item was different than described, or an item never arrived (digitally), PayPal will make sure the money is credited back.

The goods covered under the new protection include items like digital goods, digital music, digital books, digital games, travel tickets and software downloads. The program also provided consumers with fraud protection and the ability to dispute charges for services.

“PayPal can even cover the purchase cost in instances where there is no proof that the seller or buyer is at fault. We’re doing this to give customer’s confidence that when they shop online they are able to get protection for eligible purchases to get protected if there’s ever a problem. At the same time, the expanded program also benefits sellers, since it will bolster shopper confidence about making these purchases,” Sid Zarapkar, senior manager of resolutions and protections for PayPal, wrote in the company blog post.

For PayPal, these upgraded protection clauses come at a time when the digital goods market has surpassed the $57 billion mark, according to App Annie, an app analytics firm.

“Ultimately, it comes down to building a foundation of trust and security, so customers will have faith in the buying process. And it’s a global program, so shoppers can have the same confidence about placing an order using PayPal’s service whether you’re in the U.S. or in Brazil,” Zarapkar wrote.



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