How To Change Currency On PayPal: Business and Personal Accounts

Mike Renaldi

15.09.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

5 minute read

Changing the currency of your PayPal account is a straightforward process. Whether you’re switching to a foreign currency or simply trying to update your domestic one, it can be done with just a few steps. Paypal allows for easy and secure transactions all over the world and makes changing currencies simple.

Read on to learn how to change your PayPal currency. You'll also learn how Wise and Wise Business can make currency changes even easier.

Hold 40+ currencies with Wise Business and Personal Accounts

Get a Wise Business Account >>

Click here for personal accounts
Trustpilot Rating: Great with 190,000+ reviews¹
Over 300,000 businesses use Wise every quarter
No monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements

How To Change Currency On PayPal Personal Account

The steps for changing currency depends on a few different factors. One is whether you have a Personal or Business PayPal account. We’ll start by looking at how to do so on a Personal account.

You’ll start by going to the “Wallet” section of your PayPal app or web page. You should come to a page that lists your funds. These will either be in only your native currency or in multiple currencies because you’ve added them to your account.
You will pick which currency you want to change and select the “More” icon next to it¹.
In the “More” menu, there will be an option to “Convert currency”. Click this and you will be directed to a list of currencies.
Find the one you’d like to convert to and select it. When you enter the amount you’d like to convert, PayPal will show you their currency conversion rate. If the rate and amount is ok with you, click the “Next” button¹.
PayPal will show you a “Convert Now” button. Click it and you will have your funds in your new currency shortly¹.

How To Change Currency On PayPal Business Account

PayPal Business accounts have slightly different features than PayPal Personal accounts. Therefore, their currency conversion process is also a little different.

You’ll want to start by going to the “Money” section of your PayPal app or web page. Look through your funds and find the currency you’d like to convert.
Next to the currency, click the “Convert Currency” button¹.
You’ll be directed to enter the amount of money you’d like to convert. You’ll also choose which currency you’d like to convert your funds to.
PayPal will show you their conversion rate for this currency. If everything looks right to you, click the “Next” button¹.
Then, you can click the “Convert” button. Once you do, you should have your funds in your chosen currency shortly¹.

Hold 40+ currencies with Wise Business

Get a Wise Business Account >>

Click here for personal accounts

How To Manage Multiple Currencies In The Paypal Personal Account

There are a few ways to manage multiple currencies with your PayPal account. You can do so by adding a new currency, changing your primary currency, and closing a currency. We’ll start by looking at how to do all these things with a Personal account.

To add a currency, start by going to the “Wallet” section of your PayPal app or web page.
Then, click the “Add a currency” button. You will be shown a list of all the currencies PayPal has to offer. Select the one you’d like to add and click “Add a currency”. The currency should now show up in your “Wallet” section².
To change your primary currency, go to the “Wallet” section of your PayPal app or web page. Find the currency that you would like to be your primary currency. If it is not there, go through the steps to add a currency.
Once you find the currency, click the “More” option beside it. Then click “Make Primary”. This will now be the main currency you make payments with².
To close a currency, open the “Wallet” section of your PayPal app or web page. Look for the currency you’d rather not use anymore.
Once you’ve found it, select the “More” optin next to the currency. Click the “Close Currency” option. Now this currency will no longer appear in your wallet as an option to use².

See the Best Banks for Small Businesses >>

How To Manage Multiple Currencies In The PayPal Business Account

You have the same three options for managing your currencies in your PayPal Business account.

To add a currency, start by going to the “Money” section of your PayPal app or web page. There should be an option on the page called “+ Add a currency”.
Click this and you’ll be directed to a list of the currencies that PayPal has to offer. Select the one you’d like to use and click the “Add currency” button. The currency should now show up in your “Money” section².
To change your primary currency, open the “Money” section of your PayPal app or web page. Find the currency you’d like to make your primary currency. If it is not already there, follow the steps for adding a currency.
Once you’ve found or added the currency you’d like, select the “Make primary” button next to it. Now your chosen currency will be your default currency for making payments².
To close a currency, go to the “Money” section of your PayPal app or web page. Look through the currencies you have and find the one you’d like to stop using. Next to the currency, you’ll have the option to “Close currency”. Click this and the currency will not be in you “Money” section anymore².

It’s important to note that both Business and Personal accounts can receive payments in different currencies than they have. This will automatically create a new currency balance in your PayPal account. Business accounts can change this setting in the “Money” page².

Looking to save while receiving business transfers?

Wise Business offers local account details that allow you to receive money transfers without any extra fees. After an initial one-time fee, you get account details in 9 currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, and more).

Hold 40+ currencies with Wise Business

Get a Wise Business Account >>

Click here for personal accounts

Looking For A Better Account For Multiple Currencies? Try Wise

PayPal offers plenty of options for managing and changing currencies. From conversions to additions and subtractions, you can do what you want with your funds when you want to. They have calculator for you to add up your fees.³ This includes your country/region, payment currency, transaction currency, transaction type, and transaction amount.

Wise offers transparent and competitive fees with the mid-market rate. Let's take a look at how much you could pay during your transfer.

This is where Wise and Wise Business come in. Wise usually offers a lower fee for sending and receiving money between currencies using both business and personal accounts. They offer their currency conversions at the mid-market rate. Currency conversions start at 0.43%. This means people performing international transfers on a regular basis can save a lot with Wise.

The main benefit of Wise over PayPal when it comes to currencies is the amount of currencies you can use. PayPal global supports 25 currencies⁴. Wise, on the other hand, lets you hold over 40 currencies for free. So if you’re connected to a lot of countries with different currencies, Wise is definitely more useful to you.

Hold 40+ currencies with Wise Business and Personal Accounts

Get a Wise Business Account >>

Click here for personal accounts
Trustpilot Rating: Great with 190,000+ reviews¹
Over 300,000 businesses use Wise every quarter
No monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements

Learn More:

A Simple Guide to Business Money Transfers (International Focus)

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

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks.

Sources:

*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.