What are PayPal’s transfer limits?

If you need to make a PayPal¹ money transfer to a friend, family member or for your small business, you’ll need to know about the maximum limit for PayPal transfers.

This guide tells you all you need to know. And as PayPal may not be the cheapest way to send payments overseas, we’ll also introduce Wise as an alternative option for your cross border transfers.

What is a PayPal transfer limit?

Let’s start with the basics. If you’re just learning how to pay someone with PayPal - either domestically, or by using PayPal to send money overseas, you’ll face limits on both the minimum and maximum amount you can send.

However, these limits do vary based on the type of payment, and also the type of account you have.

To lift your PayPal limits, you’ll need to get your account verified² - which isn’t difficult to do.

It just involves adding a linked bank account, and proving that you have access to the account using your online banking or by completing a manual verification step.

Why do PayPal accounts have transfer limits?

This is actually pretty simple. PayPal applies limits to accounts to keep customers and their money safe, and to comply with US and global financial regulations.

In order to make financial transactions, regulations require companies to double-check and verify the identity of their customers. That’s why PayPal limits transfers from unverified accounts.

The fact there’s a limit in place even on verified accounts also means that even in the unlikely event a criminal got access to your account, there’s a limit to the amount of money they could transfer.

What’s the maximum PayPal sending limit?

If you don’t have a PayPal account, you can send one PayPal payment of up to 4,000 USD³. That can be handy if you’re looking for a way to make an instant transfer to someone, but don’t want to register for a PayPal account immediately.

If you then register a PayPal account, you’ll find there are maximum limits set based on the type of payments you make and the way you use your account - these are set until you get verified.

Verify your account, and you’ll see your limit rises to up to 60,000 USD. Each individual transaction may be limited to 10,000 USD - but you’ll be able to make multiple transfers if you need to, until you hit your maximum PayPal limit.

If you’re sending payments on behalf of your small business, you might find that PayPal’s limits are simply too low. It can also be an expensive way to go if you’re sending cross-border transfers, as PayPal applies fees and also currency conversion costs.

In this case, you might be better off with an alternative like Wise - we’ll look at that in more detail a little later.

What’s the minimum PayPal transfer limit?

You can make a PayPal transfer from as little as 1 cent - which mean effectively there’s no minimum PayPal transfer limit.

For domestic payments there’s also no fee to send money from a linked bank account, PayPal balance or an Amex Send Account⁴ - making this a cost effective option.

However, it’s worth noting that there’s a PayPal fee for international payments, and anything funded by credit card, which can mean it’s pretty costly.

Send money overseas with Wise

PayPal isn’t necessarily the best solution for sending money internationally - instead, you might be better off with Wise.

Wise international payments are made online and in-app - just like PayPal - but all currency conversion is done using the mid-market rate. That avoids PayPal’s international transfer fees - which sit at 5%, plus a 4% currency conversion charge.

And just like PayPal, you can usually make a Wise payment using just an email address.

Plus, the Wise account lets you hold 40+ currencies (including EUR and USD) at once , and switch between them when you need to.

For a fee⁵, you can also order a Wise international debit card for use in 150+ countries, which automatically converts currency at the best rate whenever you spend.

It takes just a couple of minutes to open a Wise account. Why not try today?

Get a Wise account today

All sources checked on 8 September 2022