As the U.S. government shutdown drags on, a California tech giant is pitching in: PayPal is offering interest-free cash advances of up to $500 to each affected federal employee.
The San Jose-based payments company will make up to $25 million in cash advances available to any existing or new PayPal Credit customers, it said in an announcement Friday.
“No matter where you stand on the issues, the fact is that 800,000 of our fellow Americans suddenly find themselves without a paycheck,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said in a blog post linking to 211.org, which has a list of resources for federal employees who need help.
He also mentioned other companies offering assistance, including San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which is waiving fees for customers who have direct deposit among other things.
“We think that the private sector and the public sector need to come together to think about creative solutions, to be able to help,” Schulman said in an accompanying video. “In so many ways the public sector helps all of us as citizens.”
Government employees affected by the shutdown, which is in its record-breaking fourth week, can go to www.paypal.com/paypalhelps for details about the cash advances.
