How to withdraw money from PayPal in Hong Kong: Fees and process

Use PayPal to invoice clients, or get paid by friends? If you hold a balance in your PayPal account, you’ll want to know how to withdraw money from PayPal - and what fees you’ll need to pay.

This guide walks through how to withdraw from your PayPal balance, including the options and costs. We’ll also touch on a cheaper way to receive an international money transfer to your bank account, using Wise.

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How do I withdraw money from PayPal in Hong Kong?

If you’ve made money from selling online, or have received a PayPal money transfer, you may want to withdraw your balance to make it easier to access. You’ll be able to withdraw your PayPal balance to¹:

• A linked local bank account, in HKD
• A linked US based bank account, in USD

You can not withdraw your balance to a credit or debit card². It’s also good to know that there are fees for withdrawing your money to a bank account, including the costs of currency conversion if you hold a foreign currency balance.

How long does it take to complete the withdrawal?

If you withdraw your money to a Hong Kong based account, you can expect it to take 3 to 6 business days³. Payments made to a US based bank will take 1 business day. You can also choose to pay an additional fee for an instant transfer - more on the costs of this option, below.

How to transfer money from PayPal HK to a bank account

You can make a withdrawal from PayPal to your bank account online or using the PayPal app.

Online, you’ll need to follow these steps:

• Log into your PayPal account
• Click on Wallet
• Select Transfer funds, and then Transfer to your bank
• Follow the online prompts to select the amount to withdraw, and the account you want to withdraw to

Or, use the PayPal app:

• Tap PayPal balance
• Select Withdraw funds
• Follow the online prompts to select the amount to withdraw, and the account you want to withdraw to

Is it possible to withdraw money from PayPal without a bank account?

You can not withdraw your funds from PayPal without a bank account.

Withdraw money from PayPal Hong Kong: What are the fees?

You’ll need to pay a fee when withdrawing your PayPal funds⁴. Here’s what you need to know.

Consider PayPal’s currency conversion fee when withdrawing money

You can hold many different currencies in your PayPal account - but you can only withdraw in HKD or USD⁵. That means you might need to switch the currency of your PayPal balance in order to withdraw it.

Whenever you convert currencies using PayPal, there is a fee to pay. This is in the form of an exchange rate markup, known as a currency conversion fee. The PayPal currency conversion fee when withdrawing money to a bank account is 3%⁴.

What this means in practise is that PayPal takes the mid-market exchange rate, and adds a 3% markup to this rate when performing currency conversion. This is in addition to other published fees, and can mean that you get less than you expect when you withdraw money to your bank account from PayPal.

A cheap, fast and transparent alternative: Wise

If you’re sending or receiving an international payment, PayPal might not be the best value service available. The currency conversion fee can push up the costs of using PayPal for cross border transactions, and leave you paying more than you expect for your transfer.

But PayPal isn’t the only way to make and receive digital payments. If you need to send or receive an international payment online you could be better off using a specialist service like Wise.

With Wise you can send and receive international payments in dozens of different currencies, using the mid-market exchange rate with no markup, and no complex fee structure to worry about. There’s just a transparent charge per transaction, and you can see upfront exactly how much the recipient will get. No surprises and no hidden costs.

Still not sure? You can see the difference in costs of sending money with a range of major providers, using the handy online comparison tool - or check out the worked example here:

Example payment - GBP1,000 from the UK, to an account in Hong Kong.

*Based on estimated PayPal exchange rate, calculated using PayPal’s terms and conditions, and available data⁶
Fees and exchange rates are correct at time of writing - 31 August 2020

Join Wise now and start saving! 🚀

PayPal Hong Kong contact - How to get in touch

To get in touch with PayPal Hong Kong, you’ll first need to head over to the Contact Us page on the PayPal website. Here you will first be guided through some self help options, including FAQs and community resources. If you don’t find what you;re looking for there, you can then select to send a secure message online to PayPal to get personal help⁷.

Managing your money is easier than ever now, with a broad range of online options to send and receive payments from around the world. PayPal is a good option for shopping domestically online, and for some local payments, but the fees for commercial and international transfers can be relatively high.

Sources used in the article: