Paypal What is it, how does it work and where can I buy it?

Globalization has caused people to use new computer tools to carry out their economic activities. One is to send and receive payments electronically to different places. PayPal is a widely used tool around the world that helps with this type of task.

In this article we will teach you all about PayPal . We'll show you the steps to activate an account, as well as all the tools you have at your disposal.

But that's not all we'll see in the following paragraphs. We will also talk about other alternatives that you can find compared to PayPal. . We'll tell you what each person's commissions are and how you need to go about being a registered user.

What is PayPal and what is this popular payment processor for?

PayPal is a North American Internet platform that operates on five continents, through which the money can be sent and received online . It allows the association of a bank account and a credit card. It can also be used as alternative to electronic payment methods in e-commerce stores or in physical places such as supermarkets.

To use this computer tool, it is necessary that the sender and the recipient of the money are registered as users of this payment processor. Commissions are charged to whoever receives the money , but we'll see that in the next section.

How does PayPal work? Delivery times, commissions and all the rest

Many people are confused and see PayPal as a virtual bank , which is not correct as it is not governed by the regulations of international banking entities or of individual countries. Therefore, it is understood that this website is regulated by European Financial Services and the US Department of the Treasury in order to prevent money laundering and other criminal acts.

This means that users who deposit their money on this platform do not receive no profit for currency performance . Since PayPal is considered a virtual wallet where you can access the available balance without any restrictions and at any time.

It has a table based on the US dollar as a reference, in which each foreign currency is priced above or below par relative to the US currency . This allows the user to choose a specific currency for their account and when they receive money in a different value, the system will convert the amount according to the chosen currency, according to the details of the referenced table.

In addition, this table is also used to exercise the protection of the buyer, who has a limit of $ 2 or the equivalent of the chosen currency. Provided the conditions are met that the item has not been received or is significantly different from what the buyer requested.

The commissions charged by PayPal are the responsibility of the recipient of the money. Its variable rate varies between 1,9% and 3,4% of the transferred amount plus a fixed commission of € 0,35. It is necessary to clarify that when an account is opened for the first time or for different currencies and money is transferred, no commission should be paid.

The types of accounts you can open on this platform are personal and professional . What will determine the various obligations towards the user, in particular in the limits of the reception of money. In both classifications, sending and receiving money is done immediately.

PayPal functions What can I do from this platform?

We will show you all the functions you can perform with this payment platform below:

Link PayPal

You can receive payments through a link called "PayPal.me" . This way, it is much easier for anyone to send the link directly via SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram or email to the person you need to make the deposit.

To find this link, you need to click on your profile picture image. You will see your full name then the link that starts with "Paypal.me/▪your name]" . If you want to share it, you will have to click on it and then click on "Share your PayPal.me" and choose the means of distribution.

Request payments

Paypal offers the possibility that you can ask someone to send money to your account. This facilitates the process of certain business operations;

• To request payments from a person, all you need to do is enter the application and click on the option "Request" .
• Then you will need the depositor's email, so you will need to write it in the "Name or e-mail" field .
• When you have finished writing, you should click "Ask [name of person]" .
• Now you need to enter the amount you are asking for to send money. If you prefer, you can click "Add a message" then "Following" , to finish you must click on "Request now" .

This way, a message will reach your PayPal account and an email asking you to send you money for the amount you wrote down.

Receive payments

The payments you can receive can be normal or also from friends and family. By this we mean that it is not necessary to be in a business activity for you to be able to receive money. You will have the option of still receiving the same people or sporadic payments from other people. You should keep in mind that the commissions will depend on the amount and not on the frequency of trades.

Once you have registered as a user on the platform, you must share your email or your user link in order to receive currencies in your account. You will know that you have received money via an email that PayPal will send you and also by a notification, if the application is installed on your mobile.

Withdrawals from the bank account

Among the tools that PayPal offers you, you can withdraw money through a bank account. In other words, you can convert your balance that you have on the platform into bank balance , then you can have it just like you do with all of your bank accounts.

To send money to the bank account, you owe first the associate with your user (if you want to know how a bank account is linked, keep reading as we'll explain it to you later) and you will only be able to send money.

You should keep in mind that it is not necessary for the account you are linking to own it. , but it is always recommended that this be the case. The steps you will need to follow are:

• Go to "Wallet" then click "Transfer funds" .
• A list will appear with different options, search "Transfer to your bank account" and click on it.
• Enter the amount you want to deliver to your bank.
• To finish, click on "To send" .

Generate account statements

Bank statements are useful so that you have accurate information about all your movements, both those entered and the money you sent to other users.

In order for you to see this information, you will need to enter "Movements" , located in the top panel and click on the date range you want to see. If you prefer, you can search for a particular movement by typing in the search bar and then in the magnifying glass.

You can also view your account statement by clicking on the option « Statements of account" , located to the right of the screen. With it you can download the detailed status, after clicking on "Custom" . You will have the possibility to choose the type of format with which you want to download the report and the incidence in the scale.

Get various summaries

In addition to the movements of your account, you can also obtain a financial summary, find out about monthly sales , know all the profiles who made recurring payments to you in the previous year or have a detailed report on transactions via a specific settlement date and details of disputes and chargebacks.

To get this information, you need to go to "Movements" , then choose "Reports" and then, in the left panel, select the information you want to request.

See promotions

If you go to the tab "Promotions", you can find information about all the offers that different websites offer with PayPal. In this way, you can achieve significant savings on the purchases you make online.

Steps to Sign Up for PayPal and Send Your First Payment Quickly and Easily

The steps you can take to sign up for PayPal are as follows:

Recording

Access the PayPal site with your browser, then follow these instructions:

• Look for the option Opening an account.
• Click on Accept and create an account.
• Enter the Captcha code or select images according to the prompts.

Check mail

After completing the previous steps, PayPal has sent you an email to confirm that your email address is correct. You will need to enter with the browser, find the platform sender and click on the link which will redirect you to the account creation tab.

Full profile

In order to complete the profile, you will need to complete the form in which your country, first and last name, e-mail address and password will appear on the screen .

Associate a credit card

What remains to be done for now is to link the credit card to your account. This will allow you to make payments through PayPal when you shop online, even if you don't have a cash balance.

You will need to follow this step by step:

• When you are on the main page of the platform, navigate to Bank accounts and cards .
• Click on Link a card or bank account . A window will appear where you need to select whether you need to link a debit or credit card.

Then do the following:

• Write the card number and choose whether it is Mastercard, Visa, American Express or Discover.
• Enter the expiration date and security code .
• Enter the address of the ti card.
• To finish, click on the Associate card.

Then PayPal will debit a minimum amount from your card to check if it really exists. If everything is in order, accreditation will be done for the same amount.

Associated bank account

As with the association of credit cards, you should go to the option Bank accounts and cards. When you are in this section, you should follow this guide:

• Click on Associate a bank account.
• The system will redirect you to a window in which you will need to enter all the data you have available for the account. In other words, you will have to write the bank name, Swift code (if you don't know, you can pick up a check or a summary that you have or on the Internet), account type and number , Tax ID No. number or government, number of telephone number and billing address.
• When you are done, you will need to click Link a bank account .

After a few seconds, a sign will appear indicating that the process was successful. If you want payments to be made directly with accreditation to your bank account, you will authorize the box that the platform will show you below. For that, you will have to click on OKAY.

Send payment

You can send a payment by choosing the person's email or if they are one of your contacts, you can write their name directly. To perform this task, follow these steps:

• You will have to go to the section Send , write the mail (or the name of your friend or family member),
• enter the amount that you want to pay and choose the mode of paiement (Paypal balance, credit card or bank account).
• Finally, you must confirm sending .

List of all the places where you can buy with PayPal

If you want to save money and time using PayPal, you can shop in some of the places we will list below.

Tourism companies

You will benefit from a discount of up to 5% if you buy from this type of business. In addition, you can include promotions above 10% in hotels, as well as in airlines. AirFrance will surprise you with its rates for PayPal users.

Supermarkets

You can use PayPal in supermarkets, for this you must present your card in store and thus obtain significant discounts when paying. Carrefour, Día and Ulabox are a few examples of such companies.

Online stores

This is perhaps one of the most common uses of PayPal. You can pay on Amazon, eBay, AliExpress and any other e-commerce store all over the world.

Casinos and betting houses

In our country, there are these types of companies that accept electronic payment through PayPal. Its process is very simple, so you don't have to wait long for your credit to increase. You can use, for example, at Bet365, at William Hill and 888sports .

Home food

One of the most comfortable actions you can find on weekends is ordering food to enjoy with our friends in the living room. This way you can call Telepizza or Burger King and make your payment via PayPal.

Clothes shop

We have already talked about those online stores where you can buy any type of item, at this point we are referring exclusively to companies that sell clothes and receive payments through PayPal. This is the case of Corte Inglés, Hugo Boss, H&M or Zara.

These are the best PayPal alternative payment processors for paying online

PayPal is not the only option you have for sending money or receiving payments over the Internet. You can also find other payment processors which are alternatives to the platform we have analyzed so far.

These virtual wallets are also safe and have an operating system which we will explain below:

Neteller.com

With this tool you can send and receive money anywhere in the world, you can also pay wire transfers and any business transaction online.

Registration is free and you can add bank accounts via the bank withdrawal option, add a bank account, then empty all the necessary data related to the account.

It is a Canadian company that has been in the market for 20 years, its main activity being online betting. It has a prepaid debit card called a card Net+ with which you can buy anywhere physically using the platform balance.

Skrill.com

It is available for computers and mobile devices from the competition platform that we analyzed in the previous paragraph. You can sign up in minutes and choose from XNUMX currencies to trade around the world.

It has more than 20 million users who accept this alternative method of electronic payment as one of the main alternatives when shopping. You can link a bank account to instantly credit all income and expenses.

In addition, you can link a credit card to use it as a secure payment method. The accreditation is instantaneous and the commission is 1,9% on the amount.

Stripe.com

It is one of the easiest ways to send and receive money to family and friends who are in any country. It is linked to business accounts which are one of the most secure APIs in relation to processed user data.

It is characterized by constant innovation, allowing users to access greater advantages in relation to the ratios with which they can be obtained. In this way, we will know precisely which accounts have had the most movements over a given period.

For European cards, it is 1,4% + € 0,25 off fixed commission.