How to use PayPal without a bank account

PayPal®¹ offers great features for US customers, including ways to shop online and send payments to others. But can you use PayPal without a bank account? This guide walks through your options if you’d prefer not to link your PayPal account to a bank or credit union.

Can you use PayPal without a bank account?

If you’re new to PayPal you might be wondering what you need to make use of the services available. Generally, when you set up a PayPal account you’ll be prompted to verify your email address, and to link a bank account or a card for security.

However, this process might not happen immediately when you set up your account.

If someone has sent you a payment to PayPal, for example, you’ll usually just be prompted to confirm your email to create a PayPal account and get your money. You can then leave the verification step - linking a bank account or card - until later.

If you do this you’ll find that you don’t necessarily have all the same features you would with a verified PayPal account, and your transaction limits are likely to be fairly low until you get verified.

Linking a bank account: is it necessary?

It is possible to use PayPal without linking a bank account. You could choose to fully verify your PayPal account by linking a credit card instead of a bank - or you could leave your account unverified.

Unverified accounts have lower transaction limits, and you may find you can’t access all services.

Can PayPal be used at all without a bank account or card?

You may be able to use PayPal to receive money without adding a bank account or card. You’ll simply need to verify your email to get your payment².

However, as the usual way you verify your account is by adding your bank, credit or debit card, you might find that your access to some services is limited in this case.

How to use PayPal without a bank account

Let’s walk through a couple of key options to use PayPal without a bank account.

Use a credit card

To fully verify a PayPal US account the most common option is to link a bank account, credit or debit card to your account³. This means that you could choose to link a credit card to PayPal, to access all the features and transaction limits offered to verified account holders.

Add a prepaid card

Instead of using a bank account, you may also be able to add prepaid or even gift cards to your PayPal account and spend the balance with PayPal. Not all prepaid cards are accepted, but cards issued on popular networks like Visa® and Mastercard® can often be applied to your account.

If you have an unverified account you can only add up to 4 cards to your PayPal, so you may need to add and remove cards as you spend the available balance on them.

Receive direct deposits to PayPal

In some cases you might also be able to use PayPal without a bank account, by receiving direct deposits to your PayPal account from your employer, government agency or payroll provider.

This service is only available where the organization paying supports direct deposit to PayPal, so you’ll need to check if this is an option for you. If it is available, it’s a simple process to get your money, which you can then use to spend later.

Open a PayPal Balance account and add cash

If you’re eligible for a PayPal Balance account you could also choose to use PayPal by adding cash to your account for future use⁶. You can add cash in person at 90,000+ locations around the US, such as CVS® and Walmart® stores.

Usually you can add up to 500 USD per day this way, which you can then use to send on to others, to spend with a PayPal debit card, or for online shopping.

Everywhere money. Meet Wise: the world's most international account

If you’re not living in the US — or if you simply want a more flexible account you can open from anywhere — check out Wise.

Wise isn’t a bank, but a money service business (MSB) that offers an account which allows you to hold, send and receive money. As well as getting an attached debit card — plus you’ll get some extra perks which suit anyone living an international lifestyle.

You’ll be able to hold 40+ currencies, and get local account details for up to 9 currencies including USD, to get paid easily by wire or ACH.

Wise offers linked debit cards for spending and withdrawals around the world, and all currency conversion uses the mid-market exchange rate.

That means that whenever you send a payment or spend in a foreign currency your dollars are converted with the mid-market rate with low conversion fees. Easy.

This way to easy
international payments

What are the alternatives for using PayPal if you don’t have a bank account?

If you don’t have an eligible US bank account you could use PayPal to receive money by simply verifying your email address. This might be handy if someone has sent you a PayPal payment, for example.

Other options to get the full feature access of a verified PayPal account include linking a debit card or credit card, or linking a credit union account if you have one.

Is it safe to use PayPal without linking a bank account?

PayPal is considered safe to use, subject to normal common sense precautions. If you don’t link an account or card to your PayPal account you might find there are extra limits on what you can do, but the services which are available to you should be safe to use.

What are the limitations when using PayPal without a bank account?

Linking a bank account is one of the ways you can verify a PayPal account to unlock all of PayPal’s features, and to raise the transaction limits which apply to your account. You can also verify your account by adding a credit card, which would mean you have the same account functionality as you would do by adding a bank account.

If you do not add a credit card and don’t verify your account by other means you’ll find the transaction limits applied to your account are significantly lower than with a verified account.

Linking a bank account to PayPal is a common option to verify your PayPal and get all the features available to verified account holders. However, you don’t have to add a bank account to use some PayPal services, such as receiving money.

You could also choose to verify your account using a different method like linking a credit card, giving a bit of flexibility if you want to use PayPal but would rather not link your account to your bank.