PayPal has become in recent years, and on its own merits, one of the essential tools to make payments comfortably over the Internet. Those of us who have been using PayPal for many years have known it since even before the 2000s. PayPal began to be used together with eBay (one of the first online sales platforms), but over the years it has evolved and is now present in practically all online stores.
The idea that PayPal proposes is to act as an intermediary between the online store and your bank so that you can pay comfortably. What does PayPal get out of it all? They take a small commission ranging from 1.9 to 3.4% of the total amount. This amount is charged to the person or company that receives the money. They also charge a variable percentage for currency conversion. In exchange PayPal allows you to recover your money in case you have a problem with the item or service received in case the previously agreed conditions are not met. On the other hand, PayPal also allows you to make payments between family members at no cost (at least in Spain), but these types of payments are not protected.
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PayPal does not declare what you enter into the Treasury
On the other hand, since it is not a bank, PayPal is not subject to the same laws that govern them. But to avoid money laundering it is subject to the Rules of the United States Department of the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority of the European Union and the USA. For example, if you reach 2,500 euros in benefits in less than a year, you will have to provide personal information such as a scan of the national identity document and an invoice with direct debit. After that, they will re-enable your account, and as long as you don’t it will remain blocked. The process usually takes no more than a few days. Finally, to say that PayPal is not obliged to provide any tax information – its European headquarters are in Luxembourg – unless required by a court order.
Main features of PayPal
- Creating a PayPal account to receive payments is free.
- It allows you to pay quickly and easily in online stores around the world.
- You don’t pay when you buy and the commission is minimal if you sell.
- It allows free money transfers between family members (Spain and the rest of the European Economic Area). Available if you have a PayPal balance or pay with your bank account associated with that account. If there is a currency conversion or the payment is made by credit card, you pay a small commission.
- Protection of up to 2,500 euros in the purchase of items that either do not match the description or do not work properly. They also reimburse you for shipping costs.
- You can send money to more than 202 countries.
- If you sell you will have to pay a fee but the more you sell the less fee you will have to pay.
- It has mobile applications compatible with Android and iOS operating systems.
Requirements:
- A computer with an Internet connection and a browser.
- Online access to your bank account and debit / credit card.
- Email or mobile phone.
How to open a PayPal account
The first thing you have to do is go to the PayPal home page. There, in the upper right corner, you will find an option called Create account
Next, you have to choose the type of account you are going to use. If you are an individual and want to make an account to buy items, receive money, or return it to a friend, choose the Personal Account. The other option is designed for businesses, companies, SMEs, or freelancers who need to accept payments and send invoices to their clients, if this is your case choose the Business Account. Once you have made your choice, click Continue.
Personal account
If you have chosen the personal account option, you have to enter the country where you live, your email, and your password twice. After this click on Continue
Then you must fill in the following fields about personal data, telephone number, and address. Once you have it ready, accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and click on Accept and continue.
Next, you must select if you want to pay with a bank account or with a credit/debit card. Once you are clear, click on Continue.
If you click on Pay with a bank account, a screen will appear where you can enter their numbers or choose to configure it later. You can also use the Enter IBAN option instead.
If you decide to link your card, you will get a screen like the following. Enter the full card number, the expiration date, and the three numbers that appear on the back of the card. Then click on the Link card.
In both cases, they will make a small charge/charge to your bank account that you must enter in your PayPal account so that they can verify that you have access to that bank account. After that, your PayPal account will be perfectly operational.
Business Account
If you have opted for the Business Account, the first step is to simply enter your email.
Next, you must fill in the information regarding your email, password, and information about your company. The data must be real as this information will have to be verified. Remember to give your consent to the conditions of use and privacy policy. Then click on Accept and continue.
In the next step, you have to select the type of company that is yours. Then you have to select its category, subcategory, and finally the URL of the company if it exists. Then click Continue.
Now enter your Nationality, date of birth, and click on the Continue button.
Then you can access your PayPal account. You will see an image like the following and it is recommended that you click on Go to settings.
In this section, you will be given two options. One to work with a partner that already has PayPal integrated and another to create your own custom PayPal buttons. If you choose the first option, you will simply have to choose the instructions of your Partner to enter your data and you do not need programming knowledge, PayPal does a search for the Partners that are near you. For the second option, you will need basic HTML programming knowledge and it is indicated for all those who want to process all payments directly through PayPal. I will not elaborate on the configuration of these two options.
Set up Paypal account
This step is valid for both a personal and business account. If you look in your Profile, you will see that a red circle appears with the number 4. That indicates that you have 4 pending notifications. You have to Confirm the email Link, and confirm debit or credit card, Remove account limits and Add bank account.
To confirm your email, simply access your email account and click on the verification email that PayPal has sent you. Click on the blue button Confirm email.
The next step is to link a credit or debit card by filling in the required fields. After that, they will charge you 1.95 USD in your account to verify it, they will reimburse you within 24 hours. When you have everything ready, click on Continue.
To remove the limits from your account, you simply have to have done the previous step: link and verify your bank card. Or the next, link your bank account. Then click on Continue.
The last step you have to do is link your bank account number. Then click on Continue and you will have finished.
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