If you are looking for alternatives to PayPal, for either personal or business use, it’s important to understand what you want from it. Key takeaway: PayPal is a digital wallet that allows you to quickly and securely accept and make payments online. It’s a versatile platform used by many, as the merchant account numbers indicate. According to its website, 19 million merchants use PayPal to help grow their business. The business features of PayPal are widely used, which is part of what makes a PayPal account valuable for consumers. We consider PayPal a great credit card processor for low-volume transactions. PayPal also has diverse uses for businesses, which can accept PayPal as a payment method on their e-commerce sites and even implement PayPal invoicing features if needed. PayPal can help you exchange cash with other individuals or donate to charity. PayPal also offers in-store payment options for users. Your bank account information is also secured within PayPal, decreasing the likelihood your information will be stolen. As the video linked above explains, that’s safer than providing your name, email address, living address, and credit card information on all the sites you purchase from. PayPal emphasizes its high security when you give your information to it, and how it keeps your personal information secure when you make online payments. The security aspect is especially important. Security, speed of transactions, and PayPal rewards are three of the biggest selling points for the company. These different payment methods are stored in your account, and you can use them in online shopping. You can also pay by storing bank account information in your PayPal account.
You can store credit card and debit card information in your account to make payments online. Understanding its basic functions allows us to better evaluate alternatives. We’ll look at a few of the best alternatives available.Įditor’s note: Looking for the right credit card processor for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.īefore we get into the best alternatives, it’s important to have a working knowledge of what PayPal is and how it works.
While hundreds of millions of active PayPal accounts exist globally and many retailers accept PayPal, there are alternatives out there. It eliminates inconveniences associated with using paper money or checks, as you can do a lot through its online payment system. This article is for business owners who are looking for an alternative to PayPal for their online payment needs.įounded in 1998, PayPal has become one of the most commonly used online payment systems in the past two decades.You should focus on the fees when determining if a PayPal alternative is right for your business.Stripe, Skrill, and Square are some popular alternatives to PayPal.PayPal is a popular online payment system, but there are other options with similar services.Instead, if you're planning on sending money abroad, then we recommend you make an ordinary bank transfer to one of the many international money transfer specialist services out there - most of which allow you to take advantage of fees and exchange rates that come in at a fraction of the cost of PayPal or the high-street banks. The bad news is that both options are expensive because you will be charged a highly variable, nontransparent exchange rate margin fee of anywhere between 2.5% and 4.5% for PayPal (and often even higher with the bank) for converting currencies.Īt Monito, we generally recommend against using PayPal when exchanging currencies, especially when sending money to a different country and currency. Alternatively, you can deposit the money from your PayPal account into your bank account in US dollars, in which case your bank will make the currency conversion. (Venmo accounts are always in US dollars as the service is only available in the US.) First, you can convert funds into US dollars in PayPal directly using your balance, in which case PayPal will make the currency conversion. This can happen in one of two ways if your PayPal account is in any currency other than US dollars. However, if you're planning on making a currency conversion at any point along the way, then the costs can stack up very fast. If you're planning on sending money from PayPal to Venmo in the same currency, then the process should be totally free. Sending From PayPal To Venmo: What To Avoid