Can't remember if you've set up a PayPal account? Now might be the time to check, because the money transfer giant is about to start charging people who've left their accounts inactive for over 12 months.
In just two weeks, on 16 December, PayPal is set to charge a fee of £12 to those who have not used their accounts, in a crackdown on those who've left theirs dormant.
You would think the company might just be able to close down dormant accounts - but this way users will be alerted to the fact that they have accounts they may want to start using again. And, of course, it'll bring in some income to PayPal.
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Martin Lewis first highlighted the incoming charges back in September, but obviously there's been a fair bit going on since then.
All of a sudden the date is looming and, with Christmas round the corner, finding out you're £12 short would be a kicker.
The good news is that if you have an inactive account, but haven't linked it to a bank account at all, you won't be charged. This is because PayPal will be directly pulling the fee out of bank accounts so won't be able to do so if they have no details.
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If you have less than £12 in your account PayPal will simply zero it, and if you have no money or a negative balance you won't be charged.
PayPal is defining 'inactive' as meaning accounts where the owner hasn't logged in or sent, received or withdrawn money. The company will warn inactive users about the fee 60 days, 30 days and then seven days before they are charged.
It also won't apply to customers in Ireland, according to the terms and conditions of the penalty.
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"We are establishing an inactivity fee for accounts that have been inactive for at least 12 consecutive months," a PayPal statement said.
"This provisions does not apply to PayPal users registered in Ireland and to personal accounts registered in Hungary."
There are three ways to avoid a potential charge.
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Firstly, if you're not using your PayPal account at all, you can close the account by going to Settings and selecting Close your account at the bottom of the Account menu before 16 December.
A second option is to keep the account open but transfer any money you have there into another account, as you won't be charged in future if your PayPal account has a zero balance.
For irregular PayPal users who still want to keep an account open and maintain a balance, you can simply set a calendar reminder on a certain date every year to ensure you're not charged the fee in future.
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