PayPal review in 2024

Detailed review of PayPal

As of today, PayPal has the biggest experience among electronic payment systems. The service is trusted by hundreds millions of users; it has steady relations with all global banks; it provides services of online transfers and payments under loyal conditions. It is important that a PayPal account is opened for free with no subscription or additional fees charged. However, you do have to pay for a physical PayPal card (the amount depends on the country, as the shipping costs are taken into account).

PayPal in figures:

• 400 million clients across the world;

• 25 supported currencies without conversion;

• 0.60% APY on the savings account;

• 2-3% cash back on all purchases made with PayPal Card;

• 0 – the cost of account opening and subscription fee.

Convenience of working with PayPal is determined by the intuitive interface of Personal Account. You can access it from the app installed on a mobile gadget or from the official website of the service. You can access the website from any device with a browser and internet connection.

Useful features by PayPal:

• Instant transfers. The clients of the service can transfer money to other clients all across the world; the transactions are processed as quickly as technically possible.

• Online purchases. Today, the majority of online stores accept payments with PayPal. All a client needs to do is to enter their email and pay for the order within seconds and without additional fees.

• Savings account. You can open a savings account with a reliable partner bank at 0.60% APY. No commissions are charged, the funds are not frozen.

• Pots and targets. You can create pots inside the account and distribute your savings among them, and also specify the targets (milestones) upon reaching which you will get an alert.

• Detailed statistics. All transactions are saved to the account archive. A user can learn how much, when and to whom he/she paid at any time (the same applies to received payments).

• Complete anonymity. An online store or another user of the service you transfer money to will never learn anything about you. Bank data is 100% confidential.

• Interest-free installment. When making an order at an online store, a PayPal client can select the payment by installments option and break the amount to 4 parts. If the order is paid in full within 6 months, no fees are charged.

• Cash back on purchases. Every time a client pays with a PayPal Card, he receives 2% or 3% cash back. Almost all major stores offer this cash back.

• Automatic conversion. PayPal supports 25 currencies, but if the currency on the linked card does not correspond to the payment currency, the payment will be automatically converted at the market exchange rate.

It is also worth noting that the service recently introduced the feature of buying and selling cryptocurrency. A user has access to the global cryptocurrency market from his mobile app; he can freely buy and sell any cryptocurrency available at the exchange. Market exchange rate is used, and additional fees are charged (depending on the amount of cryptocurrency).

Benefits of PayPal payment system:

• Simplicity. In order to register in PayPal, all you need is your email. There is no need to provide proof of identity by sending scanned copies of your identification documents.

• Universality. A client can link a card or account of any bank to a PayPal account.

• Mobility. Clients can access the account from PayPal mobile app (logging in from the website is also possible).

• Reliability. The service has never been hacked; it is secured by advanced cryptographic techniques.

• Quickness. An absolute majority of payment and transfer transactions are executed instantly or almost instantly.

• Loyalty. The service does not charge a subscription fee, or transfer fee. The fees that the service does charge are lower than average in the segment.

• Profitability. A Savings Account at 0.60% APY and 2%-3% cash back allows users to grow their capital.

• Adaptability. A client can defer payment for a product/service at any time without additional payment.

• Anonymity. The recipient of payment/transfer knows you’re your email and nothing more.

Types of accounts in the PayPal payment system

You can open one of two account types in PayPal: Personal or Business. Personal accounts are opened by individuals. It has all standard features. You can link a card/account of any bank to it. Payments and transfers all around the world, a savings account, cash back, buying and selling cryptocurrency is available.

Business account type is opened by legal entities, usually owners of online stores with online payments. A business account allows its owner to accept all types of remote payments from a debit or credit card. The fees charged on the recipient are lower than of the absolute majority of peer services (calculated individually). Also, this account type allows you to create and set up a separate email for communicating with clients.

You can connect up to 200 people to a business account, setting individual limitations for them in terms of available features. The owner of such an account can also use the additional solution offered by PayPal, for example PayPal Checkout.

Banking features

PayPal electronic payment system is not a mobile bank, but it does offer some banking features that are standard for neobanks. In particular, PayPal allows users to defer payments for their purchases. This means that a user places an order and receives the product or service, but pays for them later. You can split the payment into 4 parts you have to pay within 6 months. If the user fails to pay within this period, the service starts charging a fee (if the deadline is observed, no additional fees are applied).

PayPal users can also transfer funds from different client accounts to a savings account at Synchrony Bank. This partner bank is regulated by FDIC, which makes it a reliable one. 

The cash back feature is also related to online banking, as are the corporate features of the business account of the service. Therefore, PayPal considerably expands the boundaries of a standard electronic payment system, allowing clients to use a single account for aggregating their financial flows.

Social programs of PayPal

PayPal does not implement social programs. The mission of the service is to make interaction between individuals and service providers across the world as simple as possible through creation of a stable system of instant electronic transfers and payments. However, large charity foundations regularly use PayPal to raise money, as well as hold thousands of fundraising events every year.

How to open an account at PayPal

Go to the official website of PayPal and click Sign Up in the top right corner. Select the account type – Personal or Business. Enter your mobile phone number and click Next. A confirmation code will be sent to your phone. You will need to enter it in the next window. If you are creating a Business account, you can skip this step, but you have to provide your email in any case.

Enter basic information. The system will not require you to provide identification documents, only minimum information required for account ID. You will also need to come up with a password. You cannot disclose your password to anybody under no circumstance. At the final stage of the registration, you need to agree with the company’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Check the boxes and click Accept and Create Account.

Log into your account and click Wallet. Then click Link a card or a bank and choose the type of account: debit card, credit card or a bank account. Start entering the name of the bank and its information will appear in the pop-down menu. Select the bank or enter information manually, if it didn’t appear automatically for some reason. Next, provide information about your account (card or account), click Accept and Link.

You can do all of this also in the mobile app. For this, go to the app store on your gadget and find PayPal. Download and install the app, launch it and follow the above algorithm of actions.

Technical support

There is a Help tab on the official website of the service, at the bottom of the screen. There are three sections: Personal Support, Business Support and Technical Support. The first two are designed for the namesake accounts, while the third section features explanations to general questions related to the service operation. These sections are basically expanded and detailed FAQ, where the majority of situations a client of the service may face are discussed.

Also at the bottom of the website, there is the Contact tab that features practical advice grouped by topics, as well as channels of direct communication with the service managers. A client can send an email to the managers, contact the Support Center through their account or call the call center. It is also possible to ask a question on the forum. All channels of communication are available in the PayPal app. Customer support is available 24/7.