PayPal is the most popular digital payment platform and eWallet in the world. One of few digital payments that allow foreign exchange payments unlike Zelle, Venmo and CashApp which don’t enable international transfers. 

As a business owner, or personal seller, you’ve probably had a customer ask if they can pay you via PayPal and you’ll wonder how to withdraw money from PayPal to your bank account. It’s an easy process that only takes a few clicks and usually results in money in the bank a few minutes later. The only catch? For sellers, PayPal is as expensive as they come – you really would struggle to find a more expensive option anywhere on the market. In this article we provide a step-by-step guide on how to get money out of PayPal and into your bank account, including a break down on the complex fee structure.

Withdrawing money in different currency than stored?

PayPal’s international payment fees are very high. There are cheaper alternatives out there, less instant, but a lot more customer friendly and cheap. You will pay up to 10% in international payment fees with PayPal!

(Get virtual bank accounts in multiple currencies that you can connect to PayPal)

Quick Guide – How to Get Money out of PayPal into your Bank Account

First of all, you need to ensure your bank account is linked with PayPal, this is covered as part of our guide on how to transfer money from PayPal to Wise (TransferWise). You can then follow the simple steps below, which also explain how to get money out of paypal without a card. 

To withdraw money from PayPal to your bank account using the online platform:

1. Once logged in to your PayPal account, go to your PayPal Wallet.
2. Within the PayPal Wallet, click ‘Transfer money’.
3. Click ‘Withdraw from PayPal to your bank account’.
4. Select the bank account you’re transferring money to, there could be just one option if you’ve linked just one bank account or a choice of many if you have linked multiple accounts.
5. Enter the amount you wish to withdraw and click ‘Next’.
6. Review the details of your request, ensure they’re correct and then confirm the transfer.

To withdraw money to your bank account using the PayPal money transfer app:

1. Tap on your PayPal balance.
2. Tap the button ‘Withdraw Money’.
3. Enter the amount you wish to withdraw and continue.

As you can see the process to withdraw money from paypal to your bank account is really simple. Linking your bank account with PayPal in the first instance can be a bit niggly – it involves confirming the reference on a tiny test penny transaction – but it’s not uncommon in the industry and once your bank account is linked, withdrawals are easy to process.

Withdrawals to UK bank accounts are free and PayPal stipulates 1 business day to complete the transfer but in practice funds are usually available in your bank account within minutes, or even seconds.

A Cautious Word on PayPal Fees 

If you’re wondering how to get money out of PayPal, you must be using PayPal to receive payments. This isn’t such a bad thing when you’re sending and receiving money between personal accounts as there are no PayPal fees, but when you are selling a good or service, or you’re receiving a payment from abroad, PayPal fees soon start to rack up.

There are many different types of PayPal fees and they can be tricky to understand – we do our best to explain them all here!

Withdrawal Fees

Withdrawal fees vary depending on the territory you operate and are as follows:

Goods or Services Fee

If you sell a good or service (even through a personal PayPal account) this transaction is deemed a commercial transaction. PayPal’s commercial transaction fee for selling a good or service is as follows:

The fixed fee depends on the currency involved but for GBP payments the fixed fee charge is £0.30. We won’t outline the complete fixed fee structure for all currencies as they are relatively modest but be sure to reference the PayPal payment fees section on their before choosing PayPal as your payment acceptance platform – the key takeaway here is the variable 2.90% receiving fee that is likely to easily eclipse the fixed payment fee. That’s £29 for every £1,000 received. 

International Transaction Fee (Even when same currency)

If you receive a payment from outside your own country/territory PayPal will levy a fee for this. That’s even if the sender is making a same currency payment, for example a US buyer sending you a USD payment into your USD PayPal account.

International Transaction Fees are as follows:

Europe I = Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, France (including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and Mayotte), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Vatican City State.

Europe II =Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine.

Northern Europe = Aland Islands, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.

Currency Conversion Fees

Lastly, if you trade internationally and are required to conduct a currency conversion when repatriating your overseas earnings, PayPal will add a markup on the base (or interbank) exchange rate. 

The base exchange rate is what you see on Google when you search for a currency pair – whilst no business or individual is able to achieve the base exchange rate except for banks themselves (see our guide to ‘free international money transfers’) the spread or fee applied to the end customer should be reasonable and fair.

PayPal currency fees are as follows:

That means each time you make a cross-currency payment with PayPal or convert between currencies in your PayPal wallet, PayPal charges you 3% for doing so. The improved clarity from PayPal around currency conversion fees (they used to be somewhere between 3-4% based on a number of different factors) is welcome. A flat 3% is clear and concise but in our opinion, still way overpriced. Particularly for major currencies such as GBP, EUR and USD. 

In your worst-case scenario, where you sell a good or service to an overseas buyer and have to conduct foreign exchange you could be looking at total fees of 7.9% – truly some of the most expensive of any provider in the world!

Please view our list of money transfer companies to find relevant alternatives.

We also created this specific guide to withdrawing money from PayPal to Wise that can save the prospective customer up to 80% of those currency conversion fees.

How to Withdraw Money From PayPal – Last Considerations

The process to get money out of PayPal is slick and easy. Just as you would expect from one of the largest tech companies in the world. Our only concern is the cost. Whilst withdrawing money from PayPal to your bank account is free in the UK (US withdrawals are charged at 3%) there are a whole host of fees that come with accepting payments via PayPal. If your buyer is really dragging their heels and would prefer to send money via PayPal then it’s something to be looked at, otherwise it would be wise to consider alternatives.

Nowadays, there are plenty of multicurrency account solutions that allow you to open local bank accounts, held in the country of your customers. Reducing friction and offering significant savings vs PayPal. For example, they certainly do not charge a 2.90% ‘commercial transaction fee’ for receiving payments. There are also a wide-range of currency brokers that will almost unanimously provide a cheaper rate than 3% on currency conversion too.