--- title: "Is PayPal Stock Halal?" canonical: https://www.halalwallet.ca/is-it-halal/paypal-holdings-stock publisher: HalalWallet license: CC BY 4.0 verdict: not_halal verdict_label: Not Halal entity_type: stock ticker: PYPL exchange: NASDAQ last_reviewed: 2026-06-14 data_as_of: 2026-03-31 --- # Is PayPal Stock Halal? **Verdict: Not Halal** (Not permissible) PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) does not pass Shariah screening: its core business fails the activity screen (PayPal's 10-K discloses that other value added services revenue includes interest and fees earned on its portfolio of lo). It is not held by Shariah-screened ETFs SPUS or HLAL. Screened alternatives exist in the same sector — see the halal stock screeners and ETF guides below. > HalalWallet is not a Shariah authority and does not issue religious rulings. We compile the most complete public record of what Shariah scholars, screening authorities, and mainstream standards say — reproduced from primary sources with dates and citations — and let you decide. ## How we read the evidence PayPal sits in a different category from Visa and Mastercard because it does more than run payment rails: it also operates credit products. The core business is clean in form, with about 90% of 2025 revenue ($29.8 billion of $33.2 billion) coming from transaction fees for processing payments. But PayPal's 10-K also discloses interest and fees from its consumer and merchant credit portfolio, including PayPal Credit, Pay Later (BNPL) products, merchant loans, and a revenue share on PayPal- and Venmo-branded credit cards funded by a partner bank, plus interest earned on assets underlying customer balances. The company itself quantifies the interest-linked slice: a 10-K footnote states that $2.1 billion of 2025 net revenues came from interest and fees on loans and interest receivable plus interest on assets underlying customer balances. That is roughly 6% of total revenue, which matters because common AAOIFI-style screens tolerate impermissible revenue only up to about 5% of total. PayPal therefore sits near or above the threshold where stock-level screeners draw the line, and its status can flip between compliant and non-compliant from one reporting period to the next depending on the exact screen and period measured. Neither SPUS (checked June 11, 2026) nor HLAL (SEC-filed holdings, February 28, 2026) holds PayPal. A Muslim investor who wants exposure to payments should treat PayPal as a borderline-to-failing name that requires a live screener check, in contrast to the pure network companies where the debate is about facilitation rather than the company's own interest income. ## Business activity screen Result: Fail PayPal operates a two-sided digital payments platform (PayPal, Venmo, Braintree) that processed $1.79 trillion of total payment volume in 2025 across 439 million active accounts. Per its FY2025 10-K, total net revenues were $33.17 billion: transaction revenues of $29.80 billion (about 90%) and revenues from other value added services of $3.37 billion (about 10%). PayPal's 10-K discloses that other value added services revenue includes interest and fees earned on its portfolio of loans receivable (PayPal Credit, BNPL/Pay Later, PayPal Working Capital and business loans, including the revenue share from a partner institution on US revolving credit and PayPal/Venmo credit cards) and interest earned on certain assets underlying customer balances. A 10-K footnote quantifies the interest-linked piece: $2.1 billion of 2025 total net revenues (approximately 6.3% of $33.17 billion) related to interest and fees earned on loans and interest receivable plus interest earned on assets underlying customer balances. The roughly 90% transaction-revenue core is fee-based payment processing. ## Financial ratio screen (AAOIFI) Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Screen | Value | Limit | Result | |---|---|---|---| | Interest-bearing debt / market cap | 26.0% | < 30% | Pass | | Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap | 25.8% | < 30% | Pass | | Impermissible income / total revenue | 1.6% | < 5% | Pass | Screening basis: AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 — the most widely used and most conservative mainstream standard (interest-bearing debt and securities each < 30% of market cap; impermissible income < 5%). Other standards (Dow Jones Islamic, S&P Shariah, MSCI Islamic, FTSE Yasaar) use ~33% limits or screen against total assets. Full methodology: https://www.halalwallet.ca/halal-stock-screening-methodology ## Scholars' and screeners' positions - **SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia ETF (SPUS)**: Not held in SPUS as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/)) - **Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF (HLAL)**: Not held in HLAL as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm)) ## Sources - PYPL latest quarterly filing (balance sheet 2026-03-31) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&company=PayPal%20Holdings%2C%20Inc.&type=10-Q) - AAOIFI Shariah Standards (https://aaoifi.com) - PayPal FY2025 10-K (SEC EDGAR, accession 0001633917-26-000024) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1633917/000163391726000024/) - PayPal 10-K filings list (SEC EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001633917&type=10-K) - PayPal Q3 2025 earnings release defining interest on customer balances within OVAS (SEC EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1633917/000163391725000194/pypl3q-25earningsrelease.htm) - SPUS holdings (SP Funds) (https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/) - HLAL Schedule of Investments 2026-02-28 (SEC EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) stock halal? No. PayPal Holdings, Inc. fails Shariah screening — see the screen table and analysis on this page for the specific business-activity or ratio reasons. ### Does PayPal Holdings, Inc. pass the AAOIFI financial ratio screen? As of 2026-03-31: interest-bearing debt is 26.0% of market cap (limit < 30%); cash plus interest-bearing securities is 25.8% (limit < 30%). The impermissible-income line is verified against the annual filing where noted on this page. ### Is PayPal Holdings, Inc. held in halal ETFs like SPUS or HLAL? No — as of our last check, PayPal Holdings, Inc. is not held by SPUS or HLAL. 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