6 best alternatives to PayPal in Singapore: for business and personal use.

PayPal is a giant in electronic payments, with services for individuals, entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporate customers alike. It’s grown to be such a popular provider thanks to its fast, convenient and easy access service options - but it’s not always the perfect fit. PayPal can have some downsides, including high fees when transacting internationally or paying by card. If you’re a merchant, it may also not be compatible with your preferred platforms or POS solutions.

This guide walks through a range of PayPal alternatives, including Wise, Payoneer, Stripe, OFX, Airwallex and Remitly. Because the best alternatives to PayPal for your needs will depend on exactly how you need to use the service, we’ll cover providers for both personal and business payments. Let’s dive right in.

Alternative providers:

1. Wise account
2. Payoneer
3. Stripe
4. OFX
5. Airwallex
6. Remitly

1. Wise account

Wise accounts can be opened online or in the Wise app, to hold and exchange 50+ global currencies, and get a linked international debit card for spending and withdrawals in 170+ countries. If you need to get paid in foreign currency as an individual or business owner, Wise can also help, with up to 9 different sets of local bank details which let you get paid fee free from 30+ countries.

Where Wise wins as a PayPal alternative is on international transactions and currency exchange. While PayPal uses a currency conversion fee on top of any transaction charges, Wise always uses the mid-market exchange rate, keeping costs low. For business owners, Wise comes with extra perks, too, like cloud accounting integrations, a powerful API and batch payment options.

Learn more about how Wise vs PayPal measure up in this handy guide.

Learn more about Wise

Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing: Only Pay for What You Use for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.

2. Payoneer

Payoneer¹ is a specialist in accounts for digital business owners, and entrepreneurs in industries like digital marketing, online selling and vacation rentals. You can open a Payoneer account online and use it to get paid directly in a selection of currencies by ecommerce platforms and marketplaces.

So: Payoneer or PayPal? Payoneer might be a good alternative to PayPal if you want a merchant account to get paid for ecommerce transactions. PayPal charges 3.9% + fixed fee² for domestic payments, and 4.4% + fixed fee for international payments, while Payoneer has lower costs overall, including a 3% flat fee³ for getting paid by credit card.

Payoneer has a range of fees you’ll want to check out before you sign up, including a receive fee of up to 1% for USD payments⁴, and some account dormancy fees. However, they are still a good selection of services which are fee free, making this a good PayPal alternative to check out.

Get a full Payoneer Singapore review here.

3. Stripe

Stripe⁵ is one of the world’s biggest payment processing services, with a broad range of complementary services for online and in person merchants in a huge number of different industries.

One reason why Stripe is better than PayPal for some customers, is the range of ways you can use it to create and tailor checkout flows, reporting and payouts. There are plenty of ways to optimise your set up to make sure your ecommerce site is working as well as possible, with fees⁶ which are in most cases similar to PayPal, or lower.

Get all you need to know about Stripe Singapore in this guide.

4. OFX

OFX⁷ is a specialist in currency services and international payments, which can offer international payments to both business and personal customers here in Singapore. You can also get more complex currency solutions like forward contracts which can help you lock in a rate for a future payment, and avoid uncertainties linked to FX market movement. The OFX Global Account suits business owners and online sellers who need to get paid in foreign currencies, too.

Where OFX stands out as a PayPal alternative is in its service level. With a range of offices around the world, OFX prides itself on offering a 24/7 personal broker service by phone, so you can always call and ask about your options or get help if you need it.

Learn more about OFX for personal customers, and OFX for business here.

5. Airwallex

Airwallex⁸ is an online account provider for businesses and online sellers, which has a range of tools to help entrepreneurs deal with some of the other aspects of business life, such as minimising fraud and chargebacks. There’s a good range of integrations on offer, and lots of ways to scale the services you access as your business grows.

We’ve picked out Airwallex as a PayPal alternative which may be good to look at if you want to compare tools for identifying suspicious transactions and trading online in different international markets. Depending on your business type and specific requirements, Airwallex can be a good choice to help your business grow.

There’s a full guide to Airwallex Singapore here if you want to read more, too.

6. Remitly

Remitly⁹ is our last pick as a PayPal alternative. Remitly is a specialist in payments set up online or by app, to be sent on popular remittance routes around the world. There are a couple of different ways to pay - usually by card or bank transfer - and you can then pick to have your money deposited in your recipient’s bank account, sent for cash collection or home delivery, or other payout options which are popular in the specific local area.

Not all services are available in all countries - but Remitly is a good choice if you’re sending money to someone who can’t easily access a bank account, ATM or PayPal account. In this case you can have the money sent to an agent close to them, for cash collection - or even, in some destinations, sent for home delivery.

Get a full Remitly Singapore review here.

Summary

As PayPal has such a broad range of services, it's inevitable that there will be a huge number of PayPal alternatives out there, depending on the transactions you need to make. Whether you’re a personal customer sending payments overseas, an ecommerce seller looking to combat chargebacks, or an in person merchant who needs payment options which span physical and virtual markets, there’s a PayPal alternative for you.

Use this guide as a starting point to pick the right provider for your needs - and don’t forget to open a free online and in-app Wise Account to get local bank details for 9 currencies and help you send, hold, exchange and spend 50+ currencies all in the same place.

Sources checked on 02/11/2022