Contents:
1. Why is my cashout button greyed out?
2. Why do I still have a 72 hour wait between cash outs?
3. Why does it say I have already cashed out today?
4. I no longer have access to my PayPal account
5. I’m seeing a PEC-U-0001 error
6. My payment was returned
7. My payment was unclaimed
8. When should I contact PayPal?

Related topics:
• Do I need to configure my PayPal account to receive USD or GBP payments?
• Accepting payments without a multi-currency setup
• I've cashed out to the wrong PayPalMy payment hasn’t arrived or has been returned

Why is my cashout button greyed out?

There are a few reasons why the cash out button may be greyed out:

  1. You don’t have the minimum withdrawal amount in your approved balances: You must have at least £6.00/$6.00 in order to cash out
  2. You’ve already cashed out today: You can only cash out once every 24 hours, resetting at Midnight UTC (72 hours if you are currently on a 72 hour cool-off period.) Once these wait periods are over, you should be able to cash out again
  3. Your payment details are not set up correctly: To help with this, please make sure that:
    • Your PayPal account is fully verified
    • The name on your Prolific account and your PayPal account match
    • The residential address registered to your PayPal matches the address on your Prolific account
    • The email address linked to your Prolific account must be your PayPal account's primary email, not a secondary email attached to the account
    • Your PayPal is configured to accept both USD and GBP payments
  4. If the button is not greyed out but the PayPal window doesn't appear, try disabling any ad blockers or pop-up blockers that might prevent it from opening. You can also try using a different browser or device

Why do I still have a 72-hour wait between cash outs?

A 72-hour wait time in between cash outs will trigger if:

  1. You’ve recently added or updated your PayPal address. Any updates to your PayPal will reset the 72-hour wait
  2. You have made fewer than four cash outs on Prolific

The 72-hour cool-off is in place as a security measure and cannot be expedited or lifted. Once you’ve made four full multi currency cash out requests, from the fifth cash out onwards you can then cash out daily, re-setting at midnight (UTC).

If, after your fourth cash out, the 72-hour wait is still there, it’s likely that the full 72 hours haven’t fully passed yet from your last request, or it has not yet reached midnight. If, after a further 24 hours, the wait time is still present, please reach out to support through the link at the bottom of this article.

☝️ Good to know:

• If you’ve updated your PayPal address, reverting it to the previous PayPal address will not remove the 72-hour wait. Every update will reset the 72-hour wait

• When Prolific moved to Hyperwallet in 2024, all accounts were reset to the 72-hour cool-off period. You'll need to make four new cash out requests through Hyperwallet before returning to daily cash outs, even if you had previously made more than four cash outs.

Why does it say I have already cashed out today?

Participants can only cash out once a day, resetting at midnight (UTC).

If you’re receiving this message and you haven’t cashed out in the past 24 hours, it is likely that you’re on the 72-hour cool-off and you’ve cashed out in the past 72 hours. You’ll need to wait until the full 72 hours have passed before you can cash out again.

I no longer have access to my PayPal account

If you've lost access to your PayPal account, you'll need to either regain access through PayPal's customer support or link a new PayPal address on your 'Account' page. For complete guidance on updating your PayPal, see How do I cash out on Prolific?

I’m seeing a PEC-U-0001 error

This error usually pops up when cashing out if:

1. You’re not currently in your listed country of residence: If you’re currently abroad, you won’t be able to cash out until you return to your country of residence.

2. Your country of residence details are not up to date: If you’ve moved countries, make sure to update all of your details before attempting to cash out again.

3. A VPN is being used: If you’re using a VPN or similar, this could be causing a difference in the country being identified. If you’re in the correct country and your details are up to date, we’d recommend disabling any VPNs to help with the error.

My payment was returned to my account

There could be a few reasons why a payment has been returned to your Prolific account. We suggest walking through our troubleshooting checklist to help you receive Prolific payments successfully.:

  1. Check and/or configure your currency settings in PayPal
  2. Check for unclaimed funds in PayPal
  3. Check for any account issues or limitations with PayPal

Also, check that the PayPal address linked on your 'Account' page is correct and connected to an active, verified PayPal account.

If you continue to have issues with returned payments after checking these points, please contact support using the link at the bottom of this article.

My payment was unclaimed

If you've configured your PayPal account to manually claim payments, or if it's not set up to receive multiple currencies, you'll need to claim your payments in PayPal.

To claim a payment in PayPal, go to Summary > Pending and follow the claiming process.

If you don't claim a payment within 30 days, it will automatically return to your Prolific account for you to cash out again.

For further details on claiming payments, see my payment hasn’t arrived or was returned

☝️ Please note: we can't speed up this return process, and you won't be able to make another cash out until you've either claimed the pending payment or it has been returned to your Prolific account.

When should I contact PayPal?

If you're having issues with your PayPal account settings or functionality (such as currency options), you'll need to resolve these directly through PayPal's help center or customer service.

PayPal Help Centre resources

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