PayPal reaches legal settlements, to pay millions

PayPal has agreed to settle on claims brought forth by more than half of the states in the U.S. The online payment site also announced that it has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit filed last year.

Claims were brought against PayPal, alleging that the communication to consumers about their financial information, as well as the company’s controversial protection programs, was insufficient. In total, PayPal has set aside over $5 million to handle all the claims.

A federal class-action lawsuit, which spawned attorney general investigations from 28 states in the US, was filed in 2005 to seek damages from PayPal. According to the suit, the user agreement and easily available information about protection of their account was intentionally vague and led to misunderstanding of the terms of the agreement.

Between the 28 state-led settlements, PayPal will pay a total of $1.7 million. In the class action lawsuit, the company will set aside a $3.5 million settlement fund. According to the terms of the settlement, PayPal is not admitting liability for any of the aforementioned allegations.

Attorneys General that were involved in the investigation were from the following states : Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.