This user agreement will be effective for all users as of September 15, 2020.

This user agreement is a contract between you and PayPal, Inc. governing your use of your PayPal account and the PayPal services. It applies to U.S. PayPal accounts only. If you are an individual, you must be a resident of the United States or one of its territories and at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your state of residence to open a U.S. PayPal account and use the PayPal services. If you are a business, the business must be organized in, operating in, or a resident of, the United States or one of its territories to open a U.S. PayPal account and use the PayPal services.

By opening and using a PayPal account, you agree to comply with all of the terms and conditions in this user agreement. The terms include an agreement to resolve disputes by arbitration on an individual basis. You also agree to comply with the following additional policies and each of the other agreements on the Legal Agreements page that apply to you:

Please read carefully all of the terms and conditions of this user agreement, terms of these policies and each of the other agreements that apply to you.

We may revise this agreement and any of the policies listed above from time to time. The revised version will be effective at the time we post it, unless otherwise noted. If our changes reduce your rights or increase your responsibilities we will post a notice on the Policy Updates page of our website and provide you at least 21 days advance notice for personal accounts and at least 5 days advance notice for business accounts. By continuing to use our services after any changes to this user agreement, you agree to abide and be bound by those changes. If you do not agree with any changes to this user agreement, you may close your account.

Opening a PayPal Account

We offer two types of PayPal accounts: personal PayPal accounts and business PayPal accounts, both covered by this user agreement.

All PayPal accounts let you do things like:

  • Send and receive money.
  • Buy things online, using mobile devices or in stores.
  • Make payments using your credit card, debit card, bank account, or other payment options, including funds held as balance in a business PayPal account (if we have verified the required identifying information you provide to us) or funds held in a PayPal Cash or a PayPal Cash Plus account linked to a personal PayPal account if you choose to open a PayPal Cash or a PayPal Cash Plus account. The term “Cash Account” in this user agreement will be used to refer to either a PayPal Cash or a PayPal Cash Plus account. More information about Cash Accounts can be found in the PayPal Cash and PayPal Cash Plus Account Terms and Conditions.
  • Accept credit card, debit card, bank account, Cash Account and other payment methods from others.

You are responsible for maintaining adequate security and control of any and all IDs, passwords, personal identification numbers, or any other codes that you use to access your PayPal account and the PayPal services. You must keep your mailing address, email address and other contact information current in your PayPal account profile.

Personal PayPal accounts

If you primarily need to make purchases and send money to family and friends, a personal PayPal account is probably right for you. With a personal PayPal account you can do things like:

  • Send and request money from friends and family.
  • Buy goods and services.

You can also use a personal PayPal account to receive money for the sale of goods and services and hold that money in a linked Cash Account or transfer it to a linked bank account or debit card if you do not open a Cash Account, but if you plan to use your personal PayPal account primarily to sell things, you should open a business PayPal account. You can also convert your personal PayPal account to a business PayPal account should circumstances change.

Business PayPal accounts

We recommend business PayPal accounts for people and organizations that primarily use PayPal to sell goods or services or accept donations, even if your business is not incorporated. With a business PayPal account, you can do things like:

  • Use a company or business name as the name on your business PayPal account.
  • Allow employees access to some of the features of your business PayPal account.
  • Sign up for PayPal products that meet your business needs.

Business PayPal accounts may be subject to fees that differ from the fees applicable to personal accounts.

By opening up a business PayPal account or converting a personal PayPal account to a business PayPal account, you certify to us that you are using it primarily for a business or commercial purpose. You also consent to PayPal obtaining your personal and/or business credit report from a credit reporting agency at account opening and whenever we reasonably believe there may be an increased level of risk associated with your business PayPal account.

 

Commercial Entity Status

If the activity through your business PayPal account reaches certain thresholds or involves certain business segments or activities, you are required by the card networks to agree to a Commercial Entity Agreement to allow you to continue accepting Visa and MasterCard payments. In this case, these Commercial Entity Agreements will apply to any payment processed by PayPal on your behalf and will form part of this user agreement.

Closing Your PayPal Account

You may close your PayPal account and terminate your relationship with us at any time without cost, but you will remain liable for all obligations related to your PayPal account even after the PayPal account is closed. When you close your PayPal account, we will cancel any scheduled or incomplete transactions. If you have a Cash Account linked to a personal PayPal account, you must withdraw or transfer any funds held in your Cash Account before closing your personal PayPal account, and closing a personal PayPal account will result in PayPal automatically closing any linked Cash Account. If you have a business PayPal account, you must withdraw or transfer any balance from your business PayPal account before closing it, and if you have not provided the required identifying information to us, or if we are unable to verify the required identifying information you provide, you must transfer any balance in your business PayPal account to a linked bank account or debit card. You cannot withdraw or transfer digital gift certificates/cards that are purchased through PayPal Digital Gifts and linked to your personal or business PayPal account as payment methods. However, even without your PayPal account, you can still use the codes you received by email when you purchased the gift certificates/cards to make purchases.

In certain cases, you may not close your PayPal account, including:

  • To evade an investigation.
  • If you have a pending transaction or an open dispute or claim.
  • If your PayPal account has a negative balance.
  • If your PayPal account is subject to a hold, limitation or reserve.

Link or Unlink a Payment Method

You can link or unlink a credit card, debit card, a U.S. bank account or PayPal Credit to your PayPal account as a payment method. You can also link a Cash Account to your personal PayPal account as a payment method and unlink the Cash Account by withdrawing all funds and closing it. Please keep your payment method information current (e.g. credit card number and expiration date). If this information changes, we may update it using information and third party sources available to us without any action on your part. If you do not want us to update your card information, you may remove your payment method from your PayPal account. If we update your payment method, we will keep any preference setting attached to such payment method. You may choose to confirm your card, so that we can verify that the card is valid and that you are the card owner. To do this, we will charge $1.95 to the card. After the card is confirmed, we will immediately refund this amount to the card.

Receiving Funds, Holding a Balance or Transferring Funds

Personal PayPal accounts

Money sent to your personal PayPal account cannot be held as a balance in your personal PayPal account. When you receive money to your personal PayPal account, you can:

  • transfer the money via a standard transfer to your bank account linked to your personal PayPal account for free;
  • transfer the money via an Instant Transfer to an eligible debit card or bank account linked to your personal PayPal account, subject to the fees applicable to such transfers that can be found on the Fees for Transferring Funds (for personal PayPal accounts) table and that will be disclosed to you in advance each time you initiate such a withdrawal;
  • request PayPal to send the money to you by check (subject to a non-refundable fee of $1.50, which will be deducted from the amount of the withdrawal). If you request a paper check from us, you must cash it within 180 days of the date of issuance, or we will return the funds to your linked Cash Account if you have one or hold the funds on your behalf and retain the non-refundable fee of $1.50. We will not send a check to a post office box, and we will only send a check to an address once we have confirmed that it belongs to you;
  • open a Cash Account to hold the money as a balance in your Cash Account for purchases or to transfer funds to friends and family members. A Cash Account is separate account from your personal PayPal account. If you open a Cash Account, we will automatically link your Cash Account to your personal PayPal account. More information about Cash Accounts can be found in the PayPal Cash and PayPal Cash Plus Account Terms and Conditions.

You also cannot transfer money to your personal PayPal account to be held as a balance in your personal PayPal account. You will need to open a Cash Account to hold the money as a balance in your Cash Account, which can be used for purchases or to transfer funds to friends and family members. More information about Cash Accounts can be found in the PayPal Cash and PayPal Cash Plus Account Terms and Conditions.

Except as provided below, any balance in your Cash Account and any funds sent to you which have not yet been transferred to a linked bank account or debit card if you do not have a Cash Account represents an unsecured claim against PayPal and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

PayPal is not a bank and does not itself take deposits. You will not receive any interest on the funds held with PayPal. PayPal combines your PayPal funds with the PayPal funds of other PayPal users and invests those funds in liquid investments in accordance with state money transmitter laws. PayPal owns the interest or other earnings on these investments. These pooled amounts are held apart from PayPal’s corporate funds, and PayPal will neither use these funds for its operating expenses or any other corporate purposes nor will it voluntarily make these funds available to its creditors in the event of bankruptcy.

If you have a PayPal Cash Card debit card as part of a Cash Account, have enrolled in Direct Deposit, or have established Goals in PayPal, such funds will have pass-through FDIC insurance as further detailed in the PayPal Cash and PayPal Cash Plus Account Terms and Conditions.

 

Business PayPal accounts

Money sent to a business PayPal account can be held directly as balance in the business PayPal account. The balance functionality in your business PayPal account will differ depending on whether we have been able to verify the required identifying information that you provide to us.

The required identifying information is:

  • For sole proprietorships: name, physical address, date of birth and taxpayer identification number; or
  • For other types of business legal entities: business name, business address, taxpayer identification number, and proof of business existence.

If we have not verified the required identifying information, a balance in your business PayPal account can only be held in your business PayPal account and transferred to a linked bank account or debit card or you can request PayPal to send you the money by check (subject to a non-refundable fee of $1.50, which will be deducted from the amount of the withdrawal). Your balance may also be used to fund payments or money owed to PayPal, such as payments on your PayPal Working Capital account or monies owed for refunds or chargebacks.

If we have verified the required identifying information, a balance can be held in your business PayPal account, transferred to a linked bank account or debit card, used to make purchases or send money to others.

If you have a business PayPal account and we have verified the required identifying information that you have provided to us, you may transfer money to the balance of your business PayPal account from any bank account linked to your business PayPal account by requesting an electronic transfer from your bank account. If we have not verified the required identifying information that you have provided to us, you cannot add funds to your balance in a business PayPal account.

You can withdraw balance from your business PayPal account by:

  • transferring it via a standard transfer to a bank account linked to your business PayPal account for free,
  • transferring it via an Instant Transfer to an eligible debit card or bank account linked to your business PayPal account, subject to the fees applicable to such transfers that can be found on the Fees for Transferring Balance (for business PayPal accounts) table and that will be disclosed to you in advance each time you initiate such a withdrawal,
  • withdrawing it from an ATM (automated teller machine) if you have a PayPal-branded debit card (fees may apply), or
  • Requesting a check from us (subject to a non-refundable fee of $1.50, which will be deducted from the amount of the withdrawal). If you request a paper check from us, you must cash it within 180 days of the date of issuance, or we will return the funds to your balance in your business PayPal account and retain the non-refundable fee of $1.50. We will not send a check to a post office box, and we will only send a check to an address once we have confirmed that it belongs to you.

Any balance you hold in your business account represents an unsecured claim against PayPal and is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

PayPal is not a bank and does not itself take deposits. You will not receive any interest on the funds held with PayPal. PayPal combines your PayPal funds with the PayPal funds of other PayPal users and invests those funds in liquid investments in accordance with state money transmitter laws. PayPal owns the interest or other earnings on these investments. However, the claim against PayPal represented by your PayPal funds is not secured by these investments and you do not have any ownership interest (either legal or beneficial) in these investments. These pooled amounts are held apart from PayPal’s corporate funds, and PayPal will neither use these funds for its operating expenses or any other corporate purposes nor will it voluntarily make these funds available to its creditors in the event of bankruptcy.

 

Restrictions on transfers or withdrawals from PayPal accounts

To protect us and our users from loss, we may delay a withdrawal, in certain situations, including if we need to confirm that you have authorized the withdrawal or if other payments to your PayPal account have been subject to a reversal (for example, as a result of a chargeback, bank reversal or dispute by a buyer). If we place a limitation on your PayPal account, a payment is subject to a hold, or your account or an associated account has a negative balance in any currency while a withdrawal from your PayPal account is pending, you will have to reinitiate the withdrawal once the limitation or hold has been lifted, or negative balance is fully paid off.

We may set limits on your withdrawals, and you can view any withdrawal limit by logging into your PayPal account. Completing two out of three of the following steps can help us verify your PayPal account, which may allow us to remove any withdrawal cap:

  • Verifying your bank account.
  • Linking and confirming your credit or debit card information.
  • Providing your social security number.
 

Holding currency other than U.S. dollars

Your balance in your business PayPal account or in your Cash Account, if you have one, may be held in currencies other than U.S. dollars.

If you hold a balance in your business PayPal account or in your Cash Account:

  • We may allow you to convert the funds to balance in another currency. If you convert funds in your account, PayPal’s transaction exchange rate (including our currency conversion spread) will be used. We may, at our discretion, impose limits on the amount of money you can convert or the number of conversions you can perform.
  • You may only withdraw the funds in U.S. dollars. In order to withdraw funds in your account held in another currency you will have to convert the currency to U.S. dollars, or it will be converted for you at the time of your withdrawal. PayPal’s currency conversion rate, including our currency conversion spread, will be used.

To receive money in a currency your account is not currently configured to accept, it may be necessary to create a balance in your business PayPal account or in your Cash Account, in that currency or convert the money into another currency. Certain currencies can only be received by converting the money into another currency that PayPal allows you to hold. If the money is converted, PayPal’s transaction exchange rate (including our currency conversion spread) will be used.

You are responsible for all risks associated with maintaining multiple currencies in a PayPal Cash Account or business PayPal account. You may not manage or convert multiple currencies for speculative trading purposes, conversion arbitrage, conversion options, or any other activity that PayPal determines is primarily for the purpose of gaining or making money based on currency conversion rates. PayPal may hold, cancel, or reverse any transaction we determine to violate this policy.

 

How we convert currency

If PayPal converts currency, it will be completed at the transaction exchange rate we set for the relevant currency exchange. The transaction exchange rate is adjusted regularly and includes a currency conversion spread (described below) applied and retained by us on a base exchange rate to form the rate applicable to your conversion. The base exchange rate is based on rates within the wholesale currency markets on the conversion day or the prior Business Day; or, if required by law or regulation, set at the relevant government reference rate(s).

For some uses of your PayPal accounts, PayPal may determine currency conversion is necessary. For any of the following transactions that involve a currency conversion, the currency conversion spread is 3.75% or such other amount as may be disclosed to you during the transaction:

  • Paying for goods or services in a currency other than the currency the goods or services are listed in.
  • Sending money to a friend or family member such that they receive a different currency from the currency you pay in.
  • Sending money using PayPal’s Payouts or MassPay products such that your recipients receive a different currency from the currency you pay in.

For all other transactions involving a currency conversion, the currency conversion spread is 3.0% or such other amount as may be disclosed to you during the transaction.

Currency conversion choices

When your payment is funded by a debit or credit card and PayPal determines a currency conversion is necessary, you consent to and authorize PayPal to convert the currency in place of your debit or credit card issuer. You may have the right to have your card issuer perform the currency conversion, if applicable for that card issuer and network. Currency preference selections may be presented to you in various forms, including a choice of which currency is used for the transaction, whether PayPal or your card issuer performs the conversion, or which conversion rate is used for the transaction, and may be made available individually for each card and for each automatic payment agreement. If your card issuer converts the currency, your card issuer will determine the currency conversion rate and what fees they may charge.

PayPal will always perform the conversion for transactions where your Cash Account balance, business PayPal account balance or linked bank account is the payment method.