Many online financial transaction tools have been available to the public for quite some time now. Venmo, TransferWise, Stripe and Payoneer and many more. However, none of them managed to achieve the popularity of PayPal.
PayPal is useful for anyone who doesn’t want to add their financial information to every website or track every purchase they make online. PayPal is a great way to maintain financial privacy and make easy transactions without the security vulnerabilities that come with entering your credit card or bank account information for every purchase.
If this is your first time learning how to create a PayPal account, it won’t take as much time and effort as you might think. It’s actually pretty simple.
PayPal Account Types
First of all, when creating a PayPal account, you can choose from two main types of PayPal accounts: personal and business accounts. Each type of account has certain advantages. The choice of an account depends primarily on your considerations when creating an account.
A personal PayPal account is for the typical online shopper. If you only plan to use PayPal to send or receive payments from friends or to shop online, all you need is a personal account.
There used to be a Premier account upgrade option that has since been merged with a personal account. However, not everything that the Prime Account offered rolled into his personal account. Instead, these features have been incorporated into the business account.
The business account option is specifically designed for businesses. Selling products online and want to accept credit and debit card payments? A business account might be for you. A PayPal business account allows up to 200 employees to access the same account as well as other business-related benefits.
Setting up any type of PayPal account is much the same and takes very little time.
How to set up a PayPal Account
Before creating a PayPal account, have your credit or debit card or your bank account information ready. You should also take an alternative form of identification, such as a bank or credit card statement or government issued ID, for verification.
- First you need to visit the official PayPal website and click the “Register” button located in the upper right corner. The website we will be using is intended for US residents.
Note. PayPal has different home pages specific to your country. It will also affect your phone number and address capabilities when filling out the information required for your account. Make sure you are on the correct site / web page before you start creating your PayPal account.
- Then you need to select the type of account: personal or business, and click “Next”.
Each choice of account type will have a short piece of information about what that account type is primarily used for. It will also look slightly different from the image above if you are not currently in the US. In fact, after choosing a type, you may be asked what purpose the account is used for, as shown in the image below for an account in the Philippines.
- After selecting the account type, depending on the choice you made, the following window may be slightly different in your case.
PayPal Personal Account
- For Personal Accounts, the new window should look like this:
All information is required.
- After filling out the details on this page, click “Next” and you will be prompted to confirm your phone number.
PayPal will verify your account with a 6-digit code sent via SMS. This verification is only used to create an account and is different from the verification required to start money transactions.
- In the next window you will need to fill in more general information about your date of birth and address. They may also ask for proof of citizenship, which you will need to prove with your driver’s license, passport, or government ID.
- Once completed, click the Accept and Create Account button to complete the process.
From here, your account was created, but you will need to add a payment transaction option such as a credit card or bank account to start using it.
- All you need to start transferring money is an email address.
We will take a closer look at the process of verifying transactions and payments in the next section.
PayPal Business Account
- When setting up a PayPal for Business account in the first window, you only need an email address. But each press of the blue button will indicate a need for more information.
- Additional information required should include the name, number and address of the contact person for your company. There will also be a few policy agreements that you will need to read and mark before clicking the Accept and Create Account button.
- You will then be asked what type of business the account is for.
- Then you will need to provide personal information about yourself. The information you provide is your date of birth, your nationality and home address.
PayPal will require proof of your nationality with a government ID, passport or driver’s license.
If you do not want to divulge your personal address, you can select the Same as business address check box and then click Submit. Your business account has been created, but you need to set up a way to enable transactions and deposits.
Check PayPal account for transactions and deposits
For security reasons, PayPal requires verification before using a credit / debit card or bank account to shop online.
The personal account will contain the following verification options:
If the following options are available as a business account:
The personal account verification methods are completely different from the corporate account verification methods.
Personal Account Verification
You can link your credit card and / or bank account to complete transactions. For both methods, verification will require the address in your PayPal account to match your bank account address.
In the case of a credit card, you need to include the credit card number, card type, expiration date, three-digit security code on the back of the card, and address.
To verify a bank account, you will need the bank name, account type, bank routing number and account number. In some countries, a bank code may be required instead of a routing number.
Both verification processes will require additional steps.
PayPal will charge $ 1.95 from your account for credit / debit card verification. You will then need to obtain a 4-digit debit code, which can be found on your credit card statement. You will see PayPal next to the 4-digit code, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.
Once you receive your 4-digit code, you can return to your wallet to verify your credit card on file, enter the 4-digit code where applicable, and complete the verification process.
The $ 1.95 paid will be immediately refunded by PayPal, but it may take up to 30 days for it to be returned to your bank account. If you want to log into your bank account via PayPal, you can link it instantly. Once the information is entered correctly, PayPal will mark this as proof of ownership.
Those who prefer to enter information manually will be prompted to confirm it themselves. PayPal will send two small deposits of $ 0.01 to $ 0.99 to your account. They will appear on your bank statement within 3 business days. Once they have done so, you can complete the confirmation by going back to your Wallet and entering the exact amounts that were deposited into the account.
If you would like to add an additional card or account to your PayPal account, you can do so using the same methods.
Business Account Verification
Verifying a PayPal business account requires the same steps as for a personal one. The difference is that you can only send or receive money via email or invoice. As long as the recipient currently has or wishes to create a PayPal account, the transaction can take effect.
The security when creating a PayPal account may seem a little over the top, but isn’t that what you would like from a service that processes your money? Creating a PayPal account, whether used for personal or commercial use, is a great way to keep your online transactions secure.
You will no longer need to enter your personal credentials in every online store where you want to make a purchase. This will save you more time shopping and other things, and will also provide peace of mind in the long run.
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