What Is "PP*" on My Bank Statement?

PP* followed by a merchant name means a store or service used PayPal as its payment processor. The charge comes from that merchant, not from PayPal itself.

Plain-English explanation

When a business uses PayPal Checkout, the charge appears on your bank statement as PP* followed by a shortened version of the merchant's name. PayPal is acting as the payment gateway — the money goes to the merchant, not to PayPal. You can always verify by logging into your PayPal account and viewing Activity.

Most common reasons this appears

• Online checkout where you clicked 'Pay with PayPal'
• Recurring subscription billed through a merchant's PayPal integration
• Marketplace purchase (eBay, Etsy-style stores) using PayPal

How to verify this charge

• Log in to paypal.com → Activity → search the charge date.
• Match the merchant name shown after PP* to a recent purchase.
• If needed, open the PayPal transaction and contact the merchant directly.

When to be concerned

• No matching transaction found in your PayPal account.
• Multiple PP* charges on the same day you didn't authorize.
• Amount does not match any recent order.

Part of: Peer-to-peer payments →