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Last updated: June 26, 2026
Pay upon Invoice is an invoice payment method in Germany. It is a local buy now, pay later payment method that allows the buyer to place an order, receive the goods, try them, verify they are in good order, and then pay the invoice within 30 days. There is no PayPal account needed for the buyer to use Pay upon Invoice.
PayPal has partnered with Ratepay to provide this service. This payment method is also called as Rechnungskauf mit Ratepay in German.
Important: When adding Pay upon Invoice with Ratepay/Rechnungskauf mit Ratepay as a payment option to your checkout integration, you must acknowledge and accept these terms and understand they are part of the PayPal User Agreement.
| Buyer-relevant countries | Merchant-relevant countries | Payment method type | Minimum amount | Maximum amount | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany (DE) | Germany (DE) | deferred payment | 5 EUR | 2500 EUR | Within 180 days |
PayPal facilitates the interaction between you and Ratepay:
The buyer selects the Pay upon Invoice payment option. At the time of payment method selection, display the benefits of deferred payments and the payment due date.
The buyer provides their information to process the Pay upon Invoice payment, including their full name, email address, delivery and billing addresses, date of birth, and phone number.
Near the Buy Nowbutton, display the legal text provided in the integration instructions so the buyer knows the terms before any information is sent to PayPal.
Upon a successful transaction, Ratepay emails payment instructions to the buyer. On the Order Success page, provide transaction details and notify the buyer to wait for payment instructions from Ratepay. If Ratepay declines the transaction due to buyer risk reasons, display the error message as shown in the Error handling section.
The buyer receives an invoice with cart details and Ratepay's payment instruction details, including the payment reference number, which is returned in the API response. Always use the payment instruction details provided for each transaction to ensure accuracy. In the invoice, instruct the buyer to pay only using Ratepay. Here's a sample invoice:
Here's a sample payment instructions email from Ratepay:
The buyer pays Ratepay by logging into their bank account and making a bank transfer. If you have a simplified integration, you are obliged to ship the order within 7 calendar days.
If the buyer does not pay by the due date, they are subject to dunning fee charged by Ratepay. No action is required from you during the follow-up and dunning process.
Buyers can open a dispute with Ratepay. You must respond within 10 business days with evidence through the PayPal Resolution Center or the Disputes API. If you don't respond within the timeframe, you will be subject to an automatic reversal of the disputed funds.
When responding to disputes, you must, depending on the dispute type:
Carrier companies delete tracking information after 90 days, so ensure you have an image or PDF copy to respond to the dispute and avoid the reversal of funds.
As soon as a shipment is made, send tracking information to PayPal. Include the tracking ID and carrier name through either the:
notify_buyer to false for all Pay upon Invoice transactions.Providing this information to PayPal can help you respond to dispute cases later, especially in older cases where you can't get tracking information from your carrier.
You can access monthly VAT statements through your PayPal account. These statements provide a summary of VAT collected by PayPal for any fees charged by PayPal. You may use these statements to claim your tax credits or for self-assessment of VAT charges.