PayPal will have to lose $30 million to settle a Justice Department investigation that alleged PayPal was guilty of discrimination.
The fair lending investigation said an investment program created in 2020 for only black and minority-owned businesses was discriminatory, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
PayPal is now forced to launch a new Small Business Initiative that does not use race or national origin as criteria for participating.
🚨Under the DOJ and the fantastic leadership of @AAGDhillon, the @CivilRights Division has reached “a 30 million dollar resolution with PayPal to end its DEI program and waive fees for America’s eligible small businesses.” @HarmeetKDhillon pic.twitter.com/BLUKHwAzHA
— NanLee Marie Carissimi (@NanLee1124) May 13, 2026
“As part of the initiative, PayPal will waive processing fees for $1 billion of transactions — a value of approximately $30 million — for eligible American small businesses that are veteran-owned or engaged in farming, manufacturing, or technology,” the release said.
“This Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s vow to root out illegal DEI from every corner of corporate America,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
“American corporations are on notice: you will face our aggressive enforcement if you use race or national origin to discriminate against qualified Americans,” he added.
BREAKING: PayPal capitulates to Trump admin over its June 2020-announced “Economic Opportunity Fund” to “support and strengthen Black and underrepresented minority businesses and communities,” agreeing to a new $30 million-valued “Small Business Initiative.” pic.twitter.com/xkIPA5SqaV
— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) May 12, 2026
Under the settlement, PayPal will name a director of the Small Business Initiative, assess how the company can meet the needs of American small businesses, and submit plans for carrying that out to the federal government.
“With this settlement, PayPal agrees that race and national origin should play no part in determining which small businesses deserve its investment and financial support,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.
“The Department will use the full range of its enforcement authorities to eliminate discrimination and ensure that all Americans have an equal opportunity to grow their small businesses.”
The DOJ just forced PayPal into a $30 million settlement over its “Economic Opportunity Fund,” a 2020 program that made $530 million in preferential loans available exclusively to minority-owned businesses.
The problem is straightforward: the Equal Credit Protection Act says you… pic.twitter.com/N5tUsfB8CS
— TFTC (@TFTC21) May 12, 2026
The release noted that when PayPal announced the Economic Opportunity Fund in 2020 to help only black and minority-owned businesses, it was not in response to past discrimination.
The settlement stipulated that the Department of Justice “has not made any determinations or findings regarding PayPal violating [the Equal Credit Opportunity Act] or any other federal law related to the economic opportunity fund,” according to ABC News.
“For more than two decades, PayPal has helped small businesses start, scale, and thrive by expanding access to digital financial tools,” a PayPal representative said in a statement.
Huge W.
Paypal’s woke DEI program is now dead.
Equal treatment under the law as it should be. https://t.co/1BU2DXPgaM
— Matthew Tragesser (@MatthewTrag) May 12, 2026
“We’re excited to launch the Small Business Initiative to infuse American small businesses with even more economic opportunity,” the representative said.
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