Ebay sellers will soon be forced to link bank accounts as PayPal divorce continues

Ebay sellers will soon be forced to link their bank accounts to their profiles in order to continue selling as it pushes ahead with its separation from PayPal.

In February last year Ebay announced that it was ending its deeply embedded relationship with PayPal and launching its own ‘managed payment experience’ for both buyers and sellers.

The once synonymous pair’s divorce has been ongoing throughout the last year, seeing Ebay roll out payment options alongside Paypal including credit cards, Google Pay, and Apple Pay via iPhones and iPads for the first time.

Ebay is now rolling out a raft of changes for sellers as continues its push into the payments space, including preventing sellers from listing items without linking their bank accounts.

READ MORE: Ebay UK to divorce PayPal and take complete control of sale and payments

Yesterday, The Verge reported that sellers had received emails from Ebay informing them that they would need to add a bank account by February 14 or else their “ability to revise or relist existing listings, or create new listings will be disabled.”

According to Ebay it is rolling out this transition in phases and doesn’t expect to complete until next year.

Meanwhile Ebay is also understood to be preventing sellers from paying their Store fees via PayPal or credit card.

Ebay UK’s vice president Rob Hattrell said last year: “By starting to manage payments in the U.K. this year, we’re taking another step to deliver improvements for our customers.

“We know that sellers and buyers expect smooth and seamless transactions, and this new payments experience is designed to offer exactly that. In the coming months, we will make the transition as smooth as possible for sellers so they can take advantage of this important update quickly.”