New Zealanders' money transfers affected by Paypal glitch

Some people have had thousands of dollars disappear. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Numerous frustrated Kiwis have not received money transferred to their bank account from online payment company PayPal.

Around 20 New Zealanders have posted to the American company's Facebook page complaining that they haven't received their money for over a week.

Owner of Hamilton food company Muscle Fuel Hamish Coulter said the problem is more than an "inconvenience" as he has had to organise an emergency loan after he transferred $25,000 through the site 10 days ago.

Hamilton photo retoucher Allison Crene has had to dip into her savings to pay her mortgage after her transfer still hasn't come through seven days later.

She uses the service to collect money from her American clients. The clients transfer the money to PayPal and then Crene moves the money to her personal bank account. She transferred two amounts totalling $1200 seven days ago but hasn't seen the money in her bank account. She said the money normally turns up after two days.

Crene feels sorry for those who don't have savings.

"Some people are concerned with how they're going to put food in their kids' mouths.

"Up until this point I thought it was a good business and that my money was safe.

"I've always trusted them and now I'm wondering if I should go to my bank and get something linked through a website."

Crene was the first one to realise the issue was just affecting New Zealanders. She said they haven't clearly communicated what the problem is.

"All PayPal are saying to us is it's the bank's problem check with your bank, but everyone is from different banks. How can that be the problem if the only common thing is PayPal?"

PayPal posted their sincere apologies for their clients' troubles on their Facebook page.

"We do apologize for the obvious frustration this is causing. We have recently been made aware of a processing issue with some withdrawals, however it is being looked into and we're hopeful that a resolution will be forthcoming soon.

"We understand that this has been an inconvenience and apologize for that. We recommend sending our teams a Facebook private message with your account's email address and the details so we can investigate this matter further."

PayPal had not responded at the time of writing.