PayPal Partners With Chase, Wells Fargo on Pandemic Relief Donations

PayPal will be working with Chase and Wells Fargo on its RED(EEM) initiative, which lets customers use credit card rewards to make donations toward vaccines and medical treatment, according to a press release. The initiative already included American Express and Citi.

The program allows donations to be made through the PayPal Pay with Rewards program to support equitable testing, vaccines and treatment in the countries that need them the most around the world, the release stated.

“Throughout the pandemic, PayPal has worked to help our customers and their communities navigate the impacts of COVID-19, aiming to provide easy ways for them to give to those in need around the world,” according to the release.

The money will go to The Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism and the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, the release stated. The Global Fund has fought AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, in addition to currently helping out with the pandemic. COVAX is a public-private partnership helping to vaccinate half of the world’s children against diseases.

In other news, PayPal and Venmo will be charging customers a flat fee for cryptocurrency trades up to $200 beginning March 21.

Read more: PayPal, Venmo Unveil New Charges for Crypto Trades

Previously, PayPal and Venmo took a percentage of any crypto transaction higher than $25 since they started last year. There was a minimum fee of 50 cents. Purchases or sales between $25 and $100 were charged 2.3%, and those between $100.01 and $200 were charged 2%.

Uunder the new rules, the fees will be higher for those who make smaller transactions, with people making payments between $1 and $4.99 getting charged 49 cents for a purchase, and $5 to $24.99 getting charged 99 cents.

“This change is part of our ongoing commitment to provide transparency, ease of understanding and clarity to our customers,” a PayPal spokesperson said.