Press "Enter" to skip to content

AG Koster announces PayPal agrees to change user agreement regarding robo-calling of consumers 

 

–policy would have required customers to accept robo-calls in order to use payment service–

 

 

Jefferson City, Mo. – In a response letter to Attorney General Chris Koster, PayPal said it has agreed to change a controversial section in its user agreement that would have required all PayPal users to allow marketing robo-calls by the company.  Koster had sent aletter to PayPal last Thursday saying that policy would violate a Missouri law requiring companies to allow customers to opt out of receiving companies’ marketing calls. The New York Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Communications Commission also wrote PayPal expressing concern.

 

PayPal’s response letter, received today, said the company was modifying the terms of its User Agreement to clarify how they contact users and how users can inform them of their communication preferences.  The company said it was immediately withdrawing the previously proposed amendments that were set to go into effect July 1, and replacing them with new provisions that make it clear that PayPal will not “use autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts to contact our customers for marketing purposes without their prior express written consent.”  The company is also withdrawing a provision requiring customers to allow PayPal to contact them for surveys and questionnaires.

 

“We appreciate Paypal’s quick response to our concerns,” Koster said.  “Missourians deserve to have their privacy protected.  In this case, we were able to prevent a violation rather than have to prosecute one.”

 

Koster said this situation also reminds consumers of the importance of reading user agreements before signing—alert consumers questioned the proposed changes to the user agreement, leading to media reports that spurred Missouri’s action.