The guide on how to sign up and use PayPal

PayPal: what it is and how to create an account. Source: shutterstock.com

It is almost impossible to find someone who hasn’t heard of PayPal. Maybe you have never used it, or tried it once or twice, maybe you just signed up, but don’t use your account, but one way or another, you’ve heard of it.

Today, PaySpace Magazine will consider PayPal. We will not write about its history, or success story (whatever it is called). We’ve tried to figure out how to sign up, how to use this system, and more.

PayPal is the largest debit electronic payment system. It allows customers to pay bills and purchases, and send, as well as receive money transfers. IN October 2002, it became a subsidiary of eBay, but in 2015, eBay spun off PayPal. Today PayPal has more than 286M registered users.

In other words, PayPal operates an online payments system all over the world. This system supports online money transfers and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like cheques and money orders.

How to create an account

PayPal has always had only one real official site: it is www.paypal.com. And if you see a different name (even if the difference seems to be subtle, like one letter and whatnot) in the address bar of your browser, then it is not a real PayPal site. Most probably it is a fake site, or a phishing site, which is intended to lure your username and password from the genuine PayPal. Always carefully check the address, when you type it in your browser. Therefore, it is better to enter PayPal through a direct link from your browser (www.paypal.com ). You can also add a bookmark, so you will not have to type the address every time you need to access PayPal.

Enter PayPal

You can access PayPal through both their website and the PayPal app (the process of creating an account is similar, so it works for both site and app). So, let’s suppose you’ve already accessed PayPal.

(that is how the homepage of the site is supposed to look like)

If you don’t have an account, you should click “Sign Up” button

If you need a business account, you should know that there are two different options, which have different cost structures and benefits. Standard accounts are free, but customers must route through PayPal in order to check out. The other one, which is called pro account, will cost you $30 a month. The latter gives you entire control over the design of the checkout process.

Then you’ll be asked to fill in a standard form. It requires your email, and a password (you should make a strong password).

The next form will ask your personal info, such as first/last names, address, country, and phone number. You have to fill in all the bars to create an account.

Now it’s time to enter your bank card (you can implement this later if you want):

Next step is entering your bank account data:

This is also not an obligatory step. You will need to link a bank account if you plan to receive funds and transfer them to your bank.

The next step is applying for PayPal credit, but it is also optional. You should carefully read the terms and conditions before applying.

Verify your account

Firstly, you’d have to confirm your email address. You will receive an email once you created your account. Click the “confirm” button in the email to reaffirm genuineness of your email.

Then link your bank account and debit or credit cards:

How to use PayPal

We have already compiled a guide on how to use a PayPal account, and how to buy on eBay (or other sites) using this payment system. Thus, you can find all the necessary info about the payment process there.

Where can I use it?

PayPal operates in 202 countries and allows customers to manage transactions in 25 currencies. Therefore, you can send receive, and hold funds safely, since PayPal is blurring boundaries between countries.

Here is the list of these countries:

Major issues

In spite of the fact that PayPal has millions of clients, not all customers are pleased with PayPal since they have had, to put it mildly, not the most pleasant experience. In reality, numerous individuals feel despised by PayPal that whole sites exist to talk about issues related to PayPal and taunt the way it runs its business. Most probably, that the most remarkable one is PayPal Sucks (paypalsucks.com).

One of the biggest issues related to PayPal is that it acts like a bank, but it is not regulated like one. Users claim that PayPal doesn’t offer the protection that a real bank offers. Thus, the company can neglect security, customer service, or dispute resolution issues, which an actual bank will never ignore. On the other hand, PayPal holds huge sums of clients’ money, performs an enormous number of financial transactions, and can even offer a credit or debit card.

In case you didn’t know, in 2002, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) declared that the company couldn’t be a bank because it did not meet the federal definition of a firm that is able to accept deposits as a bank, hold physical funds, etc. Thus, it is not a bank. To rephrase this definition, PayPal is not a bank because it does not call itself a bank. As a consequence, most states have licensed PayPal as just a “money service.”

Another major problem of PayPal is that the service can suddenly and inexplicably freeze the accounts of its users. You should know, that in case your PayPal account is frozen, you are not able to send/add/withdraw/etc money from your account. Furthermore, you will have to wade a long way through a difficult and intricate process to prove that you are the real owner of the account. Some clients say that PayPal has basically seized their money and never returned it. Other complaints against PayPal include rude customer service representatives, a long and confusing user agreement and loose hiring practices that may have led to account fraud.

Notwithstanding all this criticism, PayPal is still the most popular and widely adopted money transfer service, if we are talking about online transactions.

SEE ALSO:?How to buy on eBay – tips and tricks