PayPal reached a settlement valued at approximately $30M with the Department of Justice after the DOJ alleged the company's Economic Opportunity Fund unlawfully gave preference to Black and minority-owned businesses based on race, color, and national origin, with the fund launched in 2020 as part of a $530M commitment to support Black businesses. The settlement requires PayPal to launch a new Small Business Initiative that excludes race, national origin, and other protected characteristics as eligibility criteria, instead waiving processing fees on $1B in transactions (an estimated $30M value) for eligible small businesses in farming, manufacturing, or technology including AI. The settlement states that the DOJ made no finding that PayPal violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and that PayPal expressly denies liability.
