PayPal is globally popular, enabling customers to shop easily online, send money to friends and family, split bills, and more. If you’ve received a payment via PayPal - maybe because you’re a freelancer and billed a client using PayPal, or because a friend sent you over some money - you’ll want to know how you withdraw your funds to your regular bank account.

This guide walks through the options available to you, and the fees for withdrawing money from your PayPal account. We’ll also take a quick look at how you can save money - especially when sending or receiving payments from abroad - with Wise. Let’s dive right in.

What is PayPal?

PayPal is an online payment provider, offering payment solutions to customers worldwide. You can use PayPal to send and receive money globally, shop online, and take commercial payments for your business, on and offline¹.

When you create your PayPal account, you’ll link a payment card or bank account to facilitate easy payment when shopping online. This also means you can store funds in your PayPal account, and withdraw your money to your regular bank account when you need to.

It’s worth noting at this point that there are fees for some services available through PayPal. This guide will walk through the costs of withdrawing your funds once you have them. However, you may also pay a fee to send and receive money, or shop online with retailers based abroad.

Withdrawal fees

If you hold a PayPal balance in your account you have a few withdrawal options.

You can withdraw your money to your linked and confirmed bank account which must be either held in Australian dollars or US dollars². If you want a quicker option, you can also send money to your debit card. You can not withdraw funds to your credit card³. Here are the costs you need to know about for each option.

PayPal withdrawal fees - withdrawing money to a bank account

PayPal does not charge a fee to transfer funds to your linked and verified bank account in Australia, as long as the balance you hold is in AUD. It is, however, possible that your own bank may deduct fees or charges for receiving the payment. Check the terms and conditions of your account to avoid surprises.

If the balance you hold in your PayPal account is not in AUD, you’ll pay a fee to convert it to Australian dollars before you can withdraw it. We’ll cover that cost - and some ways to avoid it - in just a moment.

You can also send funds to a USD denominated bank account. There’s a fee of 2.5% of the transfer value if you choose this option. Again, if you need to convert the currency of your funds to do this, you’ll pay a currency conversion fee⁴.

PayPal withdrawal fees - withdrawing money to a debit card

Sending money to your local or US bank account will take a day or two, so PayPal also offers an instant withdrawal option which you can access for a fee. In this case your funds are transferred to your debit card.

If you want to withdraw money to your debit card, you’ll pay a fee of 2% of the value of the withdrawal, with minimum and maximum fee amounts set by currency. For AUD you’ll pay from AUD0.25 to AUD10 depending on the value of the withdrawal.

PayPal Exchange Rate

One of the great things about PayPal is that it allows you to connect with friends, family, customers and suppliers all over the world. You can receive payments in multiple currencies, and hold these currencies in your PayPal account until you need the funds.

However, when you come to withdraw your money, you’ll pay a fee if you want to withdraw foreign currencies you hold in PayPal to your AUD or USD bank accounts. In this case, you’ll pay a charge in the form of an exchange rate markup - 3% above the mid-market exchange rate.

This charge is applied when you convert the currencies in your PayPal account, back to AUD or USD ready for withdrawal. You can avoid exchange rate markups entirely by choosing to manage your money using a low fee multi-currency account which uses the mid-market exchange with no markup, such as the smart new account products available from Wise. More on that coming up.

How long does it take to withdraw money from PayPal?

If you withdraw money to your debit card it will arrive quickly. For PayPal withdrawals to a bank account you can expect it to take at least 1 business day².

Some other options

PayPal isn’t the right option for every transaction. Depending on what you want to do with your money, you might find a better alternative.

If you’re managing your money across different currencies, for example, check out the multi-currency accounts available from Wise. You’ll be able to hold dozens of currencies in the same account, and switch between them using the mid-market exchange rate. This avoids the currency conversion charge applied by PayPal. You just pay a low, transparent fee for each transaction, which can work out much cheaper than using alternative providers.

If you’re running a business and need to receive international payments from customers, or pay suppliers based abroad, take a look at Wise Business. You get the same great features as with the Wise multi-currency personal account, with some extra business friendly perks thrown in. There’s no minimum balance, no monthly fee, and you can integrate your account with Xero to make accounting easier, saving time as well as money.

If you’re using PayPal to send money to friends and family within Australia, you can get similar services without the withdrawal fees, from Beem it⁵. Check out the services available, which include sending and requesting money, and instant bank account deposits of funds - with no fees. This service can only be used by people resident in Australia with a local bank account, so it won’t help when you need to pay friends overseas.

When it comes to managing your money, it always pays to do some research into the features and fees of different service providers. Thinking about the specific transaction you need to make, and finding the best provider for you - rather than relying on one or two providers for all your money management needs - can save you money.

If you need currency conversion and want to avoid the high - and sometimes hidden - currency conversion fees you get with many providers, you’ll love Wise. There are no sneaky costs, just simple, secure international payments which use the mid-market exchange rates, with low upfront charges. See if you can save, today.

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All sources accurate as of 18 August 2020