Personal Finance

How to transfer money from PayPal to a bank account

Zorica Lončar

11.11.20 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 3 minutes

Got money in your PayPal account that you want to transfer to your bank account? We’ve got you covered.

However, before you start moving your money from PayPal to your bank, it’s worth checking out the fees you’ll have to fork out for the PayPal services you need.

Use this handy PayPal fee calculator to see how much it will cost you to transfer your money from PayPal to your bank account, including the premiums you’ll pay for withdrawing foreign currency balances.

We’ll also cover how you can use Wise as an alternative to PayPal to send, receive and hold foreign currencies. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees which can be an average of up to 19x cheaper than PayPal.

Now let's find out how to transfer money from PayPal to a bank account…

How to transfer money from PayPal to a bank account

Here are the basic steps you’ll need to take to withdraw your money from PayPal to your bank account using the PayPal online service:¹

Log into PayPal online
Go to Wallet and select Transfer money
Click on Withdraw from PayPal to your bank account
Confirm the balance amount you want to withdraw from, and the bank account you’re sending the money to
Enter the amount you want to withdraw
Hit Next, to review and confirm the transfer

How to transfer money from PayPal to a bank account on app

If you have the PayPal app it is even easier to withdraw your money from PayPal.

All you need to do is open the app and tap your PayPal balance. Select the option to Withdraw money. You’ll then be able to follow the onscreen prompts to set up the payment you want.

PayPal fees

If you have a UK based PayPal account, and want to withdraw a balance in GBP to your linked UK bank account or card, you can do so without paying an extra fee.

However, the picture starts to get a bit more complicated if you want to send money to an account overseas, or if you hold a PayPal balance in a different currency and want to withdraw it to your UK account. The exact fee amount you pay will depend on the specifics of the transaction and whether you’re transferring money to a linked account or to someone else.

Here are the fees you need to know about - we’ll cover the currency conversion fee in more detail in a moment.² ³

Transfer type	PayPal fee
Withdrawing a GBP balance to your linked UK bank account or card	No fee
Withdrawing a foreign currency balance to your linked UK bank account or card	PayPal currency conversion fee of 2.5% if you convert the balance and then withdraw it PayPal currency conversion fee may be higher at 3.75% if you carry out the conversion at the same time as withdrawing your money
Sending a personal domestic payment to someone in GBP (not to your own linked account or card)	No fee
Sending a personal cross border payment in a foreign currency	5% of the transfer amount + currency conversion fee of 3% - 4% if relevant

PayPal currency conversion fees

When you carry out any PayPal transaction which involves currency conversion the exchange rate used will not be the same as the exchange rate you find on Google, or the one you’ll find using a currency converter. Instead, PayPal uses their own exchange rate which includes a currency conversion fee of 2.5% - 4% depending on the type of transaction and the currencies involved.

PayPal’s currency conversion fee is in addition to any other fees already levied for your particular transaction - and can push up the costs of cross border payments significantly. If you want a simpler way to send and receive international payments, without the tricky fees, check out Wise. More on that, coming right up.

Use Wise and get the real, mid-market exchange rate

PayPal is a handy service for shopping locally online and making domestic payments to friends and family. However, the fees start to stack up quickly whenever you use PayPal for transactions which are in a foreign currency or which involve someone based overseas.

For international payments you could stand to save if you choose a specialist provider like Wise. Wise uses the real, mid-market exchange rate with no markup and no currency conversion fee. All you pay is a low transparent charge per transaction which can be up to 19x cheaper than PayPal - and just as convenient.

You could save even more time and money - and shop with your favourite international retailers online for less - with the Borderless multi-currency account.

You’ll be able to hold dozens of different currencies, and convert between them online or via the Wise app whenever you need to. You’ll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees to worry about. Send payments to friends and family, or shop online with the linked Wise debit card, and stop worrying about high costs of currency conversion entirely.

See if you can save with Wise, today.

Join Wise for free

Sources:

PayPal - withdrawing money
PayPal - fees
PayPal - user agreement

All sources checked on November 11, 2020

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.