Paypal is a payment service that enables you to pay or send money, and also accept payments. You can add a credit card or link a bank account to your paypal account to fund online purchases. Its safer than sending a money order through the mail as long as you use Goods and Services when sending a payment you have buyer protection should the item not arrive or is different than what you ordered. Answer from Mybabyhadamullet on reddit.com
PayPal
paypal.com › us › digital-wallet › how-paypal-works
What is PayPal and How Does it Work | PayPal US
With PayPal you can send and request money, shop online or in stores with the PayPal Debit Card, manage bank and card info, get cash back offers, and enjoy flexible payment options. Please note PayPal services may vary from country to country.
Tipalti
tipalti.com › blog › what is paypal and how does it work in 2025?
How Does PayPal Work for Businesses and Consumers?
March 14, 2023 - How does PayPal work in 2025? Learn how to send, receive, and withdraw money, set up accounts, explore PayPal’s business tools, fees, security, and more.
What exactly is, and how do you use paypal
If you have not done so, Read our FAQ! which answers most questions. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
8
3
January 24, 2020How does PayPal work?
Please remember that all comments must be helpful, relevant, and respectful. All replies must be a genuine effort to answer the question helpfully; joke answers are not allowed. If you see any comments that violate this rule, please hit report. When your question is answered, we encourage you to flair your post. To do this automatically simply make a comment that says !answered (OP only) I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
4
1
October 27, 2021How does PayPal guest checkout work?
Yes, as long as that card has not been attached to an existing PayPal account. More on reddit.com
3
1
July 11, 2017ELI5: How does PayPal work?
PayPal is a mediator between people/businesses. It's pretty safe for transactions since you don't actually ever give anyone your banking info like account number or something like that. Especially when dealing with new/small businesses, people are often uncomfortable typing in their card info. The FDIC thing means that if you personally or PayPal itself gets hacked, your balance isn't insured. With your bank account, balances up to 50,000 (at least that's where I live) and insured by the government. That's why you shouldn't keep too much money on your PayPal. The relationship between PayPal and banks is non-existent far as I know. From your bank's perspective, PayPal is just a company you're paying (when you add to your balance). They have nothing to do with the transaction once the money leaves the bank account It's just an easy way to pay online without risking your card info. More on reddit.com
5
3
September 23, 2022What is PayPal?
PayPal is an online payment system that allows you to send and receive money around the world. You can link your credit card, debit card, or bank account. You can also set up a PayPal Balance account.
paypal.com
paypal.com › us › digital-wallet › how-paypal-works
What is PayPal and How Does it Work | PayPal US
What are the different ways to pay with PayPal?
PayPal offers a wide array of payment options for flexibility and convenience. You can use your popular debit and credit cards—including Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express—or your bank account. This includes options like the PayPal Debit Card and PayPal Cashback Mastercard. Additionally, PayPal Pay Later provides an option to split your payments, catering to various financial preferences and needs.
paypal.com
paypal.com › us › digital-wallet › how-paypal-works
What is PayPal and How Does it Work | PayPal US
How do I sign up for an account with PayPal
Here’s how you can sign up on the app:
Select Sign Up
Enter your email, phone number, and personal info
Link your bank or card to start sending, spending, and saving
paypal.com
paypal.com › us › digital-wallet › how-paypal-works
What is PayPal and How Does it Work | PayPal US
Videos
09:27
How To Use Paypal (BEGINNER TUTORIAL) - YouTube
15:19
How To Use PayPal | PayPal Tutorial for Beginners (Quick & Easy ...
09:16
What Is Paypal And How It Works? (2025) Complete Beginners Tutorial ...
15:25
How to Use PayPal - Full Course - YouTube
08:03
What Is PayPal & How Does It Work? (2025) - YouTube
05:18
What Is Paypal And How It Works? (2025) Complete Tutorial - YouTube
Wise
wise.com › us › blog › what-is-paypal-and-how-does-it-work
What is PayPal and how does it work? [Complete guide] - Wise
February 10, 2023 - If you don’t have a PayPal account already, you’ll be sent an email or message with a link, asking you to create an account. Click on this to get your account set up and receive your PayPal payment. Wise is an international a Money Service Business, working a little bit differently to other providers.
Investopedia
investopedia.com › terms › p › paypal.asp
Understanding PayPal: How It Works and Benefits for Users
October 1, 2025 - PayPal attempts to make online purchases safer by providing a form of payment that does not require the payor or payee to disclose credit card or bank account numbers to the website or store.
eSafety
beconnected.esafety.gov.au › topic-library › articles-and-tips › paypal-how-does-it-work
PayPal: how does it work? | Cyber safety tips | Be Connected
October 12, 2023 - You can learn more about the pros and cons of PayPal in our free short course. It doesn’t cost anything to create a PayPal account, and there are no charges when you buy something with PayPal. However, PayPal does charge sellers.
PayPal
paypal.com › ai › webapps › mpp › how-to-use-paypal
How to Use PayPal | PayPal Anguilla
Sign up for Free How PayPal Works ... Synonymous with security and accepted at thousands of websites and apps wordlwide. Buy direct from your computer, mobile phone or tablet. No need to expose your credit card info or fill out lots of forms. Just log in with your email address and password to complete your purchase. Your order is complete! No need to worry about your purchase. If an eligible item doesn’t arrive, Buyer Protection covers you.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/paypal › what exactly is, and how do you use paypal
r/paypal on Reddit: What exactly is, and how do you use paypal
January 24, 2020 -
I do realise that they have a website for this, however i’m hoping that someone here could explain to me, almost like ELI5, what paypal is and how you use it.
EDIT; I have read the FAQ, question still stands.
Top answer 1 of 5
2
Paypal is a payment service that enables you to pay or send money, and also accept payments. You can add a credit card or link a bank account to your paypal account to fund online purchases. Its safer than sending a money order through the mail as long as you use Goods and Services when sending a payment you have buyer protection should the item not arrive or is different than what you ordered.
2 of 5
2
Back in the day when I sold stuff on eBay I actually waited for people to mail me money orders or cashier check. PayPal came along and said link us to your bank account, let us verify you are real and we will be a "Switzerland" for your financial transaction. People can even pay with a credit card and we will convert to cash and give it to you. PayPal would decide (judge and jury) on fraudulent complaints. Today you can use PayPal without a full blown PayPal account. Meaning you can just create an account and link it to a credit card. Why do this though? Well PayPal gives the buyer 6 months to dispute a deal and some sellers only take PayPal because they aren't big enough to deal with a credit card processor on their website. This is becoming rarer though. Competition is making it easy to take credit cards without PP i.e. "Stripe" is a competitor. Venmo is the hipster Paypal. More about smaller personal transactions. Like a digital purchase or in person deal like paying someone back for lunch because people don't carry cash anymore. It works similar to PayPal. Hope that helps.
Capital One
capitalone.com › learn & grow › money management › how does paypal work?
How Does PayPal Work? | Capital One
PayPal® is one of the most popular ... PayPal works by letting you send and receive money as well as make purchases with your preferred debit or credit card without having to type in your personal information....
Dummies
dummies.com › article › business-careers-money › business › e-commerce › paypal › how-does-paypal-work-142881
How Does PayPal Work? | dummies
Instant transfer: Sending money this way means the money is immediately credited to the recipient’s account. That person can then immediately transfer the money to his or her personal bank account. If you want to send a transfer, you must have a credit or debit card registered with PayPal as a ...
NerdWallet
nerdwallet.com › banking › learn › what-is-paypal
How Does PayPal Work? - NerdWallet
July 21, 2017 - She previously worked as an editor, a writer and a research analyst in industries ranging from health care to market research. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago, with a focus on Soviet cultural history. She is based in Portland, Oregon. ... PayPal is a method for selling and buying things online and transferring money to friends and family in a convenient and inexpensive way, without requiring that you share financial information.
Jotform
jotform.com › how-does-paypal-work
How Does PayPal Work?
July 29, 2025 - Instead of trying to collect cash from each person, PayPal lets people use credit cards or funds from their bank accounts to send the money directly to an account. A corporate worker with a side hustle.
CNET
cnet.com › money › credit cards › how does paypal work?
How Does PayPal Work? - CNET
September 14, 2023 - PayPal lets you check out securely online, send and receive money, and also offers financing options.
PayPal
paypal.com › us › digital-wallet › ways-to-pay › about-payment-methods
About Payment Methods | PayPal US
PayPal allows you to make payments using a variety of methods including: balance with PayPal, a bank account, PayPal Credit, debit or credit cards, and rewards balance. This page does not address unauthorized transactions.
PayPal
paypal.com › us › cshelp › article › what’s-paypal-checkout-and-how-does-it-work-help302
What’s PayPal Checkout and how does it work? | PayPal US
PayPal Checkout offers quick and secure online payments with API access for any merchant. Set up in minutes with many options for different checkout flows.
Openbiz
openbiz.io › blog › how-paypal-works-and-its-benefits
Discover PayPal: How It Works & Benefits - Openbiz
In this blog post, we provide a comprehensive guide to help you understand its inner workings, explore its key features, and discover how to leverage its benefits for your international transactions. PayPal is an online payment service that acts as a “virtual wallet,” enabling users to send and receive money securely without having to repeatedly share sensitive information—like credit card or bank account details—with every transaction.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/answers › how does paypal work?
r/answers on Reddit: How does PayPal work?
October 27, 2021 -
Hi all, I'm sorry if this is too broad of a question or too basic. But I live in world (idk it's the country or my social group or whatever) where PayPal is not common among people and I see others on the internet talk about PayPal all the time. I'm aware it's used for money transfers, but how exactly? What is the difference between PayPal and my bank's app where I just put in all the info and the other person/company receives the money? Why is it safe (is it even?) and is it safer than just using my bank('s app)? Or what js the "unsafe" alternative one would compare it to?
Thanks in advance for not judging, I really want to know and studying PayPal's own website didn't quite help.
Top answer 1 of 4
2
Well, you only need e-mail of a person to send them money. Even less now, a person could generate a paypal link you just click, and they get money. No need to deal with banks, IBAN numbers, nothing of the sort. Also, your money isn't tied to that one bank anymore in Paypal. You could have accounts in 10 banks, and Paypal unifies them to simply to your one Paypal account. It's also secure, say you want to put up a donation system on your website or whatever, you wouldn't want to put your full name and bank details on it for public to see, right? Paypal helps here. Also, people don't want to go through the hassle of bank-to-bank money sending anyway, and bank fees for international transaction could be pretty big. Paypal also collects fees, though, so there's other similar things now too, like Wise (formerly Transferwise) and whatnot, with possibly cheaper fees.
2 of 4
2
What is the difference between PayPal and my bank's app where I just put in all the info and the other person/company receives the money In the US, A problem being that many people aren't aware of third party services like Zelle that are available from the bank's website or have never used it before, or want something faster than a check mailed to the recipient. Transfers between people using PayPal are instant even if drawing from a checking account
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › PayPal
PayPal - Wikipedia
1 week ago - On January 31, 2018, eBay announced "After the existing eBay-PayPal agreement ends in 2020, PayPal will remain a payment option for shoppers on eBay, but it won't be prominently featured ahead of debit and credit card options as it is today. PayPal will cease to process card payments for eBay at that time." The company will "instead begin working with Amsterdam-based Adyen".
U.S. News
usnews.com › home › money › banking › advice
How to Use PayPal | Banking Advice | U.S. News
June 18, 2025 - PayPal is the most popular digital payment system in the world, mostly used to send and receive money or make online purchases.
Quora
quora.com › How-does-PayPal-work-I-wanna-make-a-payment
How does PayPal work? I wanna make a payment. - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): To send a payment with paypal : 1. Click Send & Request at the top of the page. 2. Select the type of payment. 3. Enter'ur recipient's email address & the amount. 4. Choose the payment type & click Continue. 5. Review the details. 6. Click continue. 7. Review'ur payment & ...
Quora
quora.com › Can-you-explain-how-PayPal-works-and-why-people-use-it-for-sending-money-How-much-does-PayPal-charge-for-transactions
Can you explain how PayPal works and why people use it for sending money? How much does PayPal charge for transactions? - Quora
Answer: You can register at paypal using a gmail id. It will verify your identity and will open an online account for you to make transactions without anyone letting know about your personal bank account. You can pay anywhere in the worl also get payments from different website who does not offer...