DOJ, PayPal Reach $30 Million Settlement Over Race-Based Lending Fund

The PayPal headquarters in San Jose, Calif., on April 9, 2018. Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThe Justice Department reached a $30 million settlement with PayPal Inc. on Tuesday, ending a fair lending investigation into a program the department said violated federal anti-discrimination laws.The fund at the center of the DOJ’s investigation—PayPal’s Economic Opportunity Fund—was introduced in 2020 with the stated purpose of channeling investment funds to black and minority-owned businesses primarily, the DOJ said. The program extended preferences to businesses on the basis of race, color, and national origin without being structured to remediate any identified, specific instance of past discrimination, the department said.