PayPal is an Internet payment service that allows you to make online transactions simply, quickly and, above all, securely without having to reveal your bank account details or credit card number to anyone. Precisely for this reason, it is used every day by millions of people around the world, both to send and receive payments. In fact, it is particularly useful for making online purchases but also for receiving sums of money from friends and relatives as well as from strangers.
How do you say? Were you already aware of all this but you still aren’t very clear on how to sign up, make and receive payments on PayPal ? In this case, you would do well to read this guide of mine dedicated to the topic: in addition to the detailed procedure for opening a new account, you will also find the necessary instructions for requesting and sending a payment, proceeding both from your computer and from smartphones and tablets.
At that time? May I know what you’re still doing there stuck there? Come on, take a few minutes of free time for yourself and immediately start focusing on reading this tutorial. I am convinced that in the end you will have finally understood how to best use PayPal and that you will also be willing to provide explanations to all your friends who need to receive some similar advice. Are you ready? Yes? Optimal! So let’s stop talking and let’s get started!
Index
- How to sign up for PayPal
- How to make payments with PayPal
- How to receive payments with PayPal
How to sign up for PayPal
The procedure for signing up for PayPal is quite simple regardless of the type of account to be opened. In fact, you simply need to select the option to create a new account and specify your personal data.
To proceed from your computer , connect to the official PayPal website and click on Register at the top right. In the new screen that appears, place the check mark next to the type of account you wish to create: Personal Account is intended for private users and allows you to use all the basic functions for making and requesting online payments, while Business Account is intended for companies and allows access for up to 200 users, offering additional features such as the ability to send pro-forma invoices to customers.
If you have chosen to create a Personal account , click on the Continue button , specify your email address and telephone number in the appropriate fields and press the Next button to receive an SMS containing a verification code: then enter the code in question in the field on the Confirm your phone screen to verify your identity.
Now, create a secure password that you will use to log in to PayPal by entering it in the Create password field and click on the Next button . In the Personal data screen , enter the required data in the Nationality , Name , Surname and Date of birth fields and press the Next button again .
Finally, specify the data relating to your residence in the Address , Postcode , City and Province fields , place the check mark to accept the conditions of service and press on the Accept and create account item , to create your personal PayPal account. At this point, you can immediately add a credit/debit card to the newly created account and, by selecting the Set up account option , start the procedure to verify your PayPal account .
If, however, you have chosen to open a PayPal Business account , all you have to do is enter the required data in the Name , Surname , Telephone Number and Email Address fields and specify the password to be associated with your account in the appropriate field.
Once this is done, place the check mark to accept the conditions of use and the privacy policy , choose whether or not to activate the service newsletter and click on the Accept and create an account button to complete the registration. For the detailed procedure, you can refer to my tutorial on how to create PayPal account.
If you prefer to open a personal PayPal account from your smartphone or tablet , you can use the service’s app for Android and iPhone/iPad devices . After launching the app in question, tap on the Register button and proceed to open your account: the procedure is similar to that for opening an account from a computer.
Through the PayPal Business app for Android devices and iPhone/iPad , however, you can access and manage a business PayPal account. Even though the Register option is available on the main screen of the app in question , by pressing it and choosing the country you are interested in (e.g. Italy ), you will automatically be redirected to the official PayPal website and you can open a new account by following the instructions I have given you. provided in the previous lines of this guide.
How to make payments with PayPal
Once you have opened a new account, if you haven’t already done so, you need to add a payment method to PayPal so that you can use your account to make payments and send money.
To do this, simply access the Wallet section by pressing on the appropriate item located in the top menu and select the option you are interested in between Link a bank account , to link PayPal to a bank account , and Link a card , to link a card to PayPaL
Once this is done, you can use PayPal to pay for your purchases and make online payments on all sites that accept this payment method: in this case, all you have to do is select PayPal from the available payment methods, specify the credentials associated with your account and proceed with payment.
It will be useful to know that in some cases you may have the possibility to make the payment in installments thanks to PayPal’s Pay in 3 installments service . For more info on this, you can take a look at my guide on how to pay in installments with PayPal.
If, however, you wish to send money with PayPal , click on the Send button on the main screen of your account or access the Send and request section by pressing on the appropriate item located in the top menu.
Then enter the data of the user to whom you intend to send money in the Name, username, email, mobile phone field or select it from your contacts and click on the Next button . Now, specify the amount to send in the appropriate field, enter any message in the What is it for? field. and press the Next button again .
On the How do you want to pay? screen. , place the check mark next to the bank account or credit/debit card associated with your PayPal account that you wish to use to send the money (if available, you can also use your PayPal balance ) and click on the Next button again .
Finally, select the Friends and Family option if you’re sending money to acquaintances or family members so you don’t pay any transfer fees. If, however, you are making an online payment, choose the For goods and services option to take advantage of PayPal’s purchase protection and have the possibility to open a dispute in case of problems and possibly receive a full refund. In the latter case, commissions will be applied to the seller on the money received.
Regardless of the option you select, click the Send button to immediately send the money to the person indicated above. For the detailed procedure, you can refer to my guide on how to pay with PayPal .
The procedure is almost identical even when proceeding from a smartphone or tablet . In fact, once you have started the PayPal app and logged in to your account, all you have to do is press Send , select the contact you are interested in or enter the details of the person to whom you want to send the payment in the Name field , username, email, mobile phone visible at the top and specify the amount to send.
After possibly adding a message to send together with the payment in the Write a message field , tap on the Next button , select the payment method to use from those associated with your account and press on the Next item again . Finally, choose the option you are interested in between Friends and family and For goods and services and tap the Send button to send the payment.
It will be useful to know that you can use the PayPal app to make payments even at physical stores that allow it. In this case, press on the QR code icon , at the top right near your photo, select the Scan item and frame the QR code of the shop where you intend to make the payment. Once this is done, specify the amount to pay and press the button to confirm the operation .
In the same way, you can also make pagoPA payments : just select the Payments tab , press on the QR icon and frame the QR code of your pagoPA notice.
Alternatively, you can proceed from your computer by going to the website of the organization on which you need to make the payment, choose other payment methods > PayPal , indicate the organization with which to make the PayPal payment (e.g. Intesa Sanpaolo or Mooney ) and follow the instructions on screen. Commissions are 1.50 euros for amounts under 500 euros. More info here .
At any time, by accessing the History section of your PayPal account, you can view all your transactions with the possibility of opening a dispute in case of problems with a payment and obtaining a refund. In this regard, my guide on how to cancel a PayPal transaction might be useful to you .
Finally, I would like to underline that the instructions I have provided so far are also valid for paying and sending money with a PayPal Business account. The only difference is that to send money from a computer you will have to select the Make and receive payments option located in the top menu and then select the Send money item .
How to receive payments with PayPal
If your intention is to receive payments with PayPal , all you have to do is access the section to request money, specify the payment amount and send the request to the user you are interested in.
Before showing you how to do it, I want to underline that it is also possible to accept spontaneous payments from other people if they know the email address or telephone number associated with your PayPal account. Alternatively, you can also get paid by providing the QR code of your PayPal account, which you can view and download by pressing on the More item and selecting the Get paid with QR codes option .
That said, if you intend to send a payment request, click on the Request button on the main screen of your account. Alternatively, you can access the Send and request section by pressing on the appropriate item located in the top menu and selecting the Request tab .
If you have a PayPal Business account, however, press on the Make and receive payments item and select the Request money option from the menu that opens.
At this point, enter the name, username, email address or telephone number of the person to whom you intend to send your request in the Name, username, email, mobile phone field (you can request the same amount from multiple people at the same time up to a maximum of 20 users at a time) and click on the Next button .
In the new screen that appears, specify the amount to request in the appropriate field and, if you wish, enter any message in the What is it for? field. . It will be useful to know that also from this screen, by selecting the Do you want to add someone else? , you can add other people to whom you can send your payment request.
Finally, press the Request money now button and the message You requested [amount] EUR from [username] will confirm that you have successfully sent your request.
If you prefer to proceed from a smartphone or tablet , launch the PayPal app and, after logging in to your cone, tap the Request button . At this point, select the contact from whom you want to request money or specify the data of the person you are interested in in the Name, username, email, mobile phone field and indicate the amount to request in the appropriate field.
Once this is done, enter any message to send together with your request in the Write a message field and tap the Next and Request money buttons to send your payment request. For more info, I leave you with my tutorial on how to receive money with PayPal .
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