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Yes, you can use PayPal to send money abroad, however, the method depends on whether the recipient has a PayPal account to receive the funds. If they do, you’ll be able to use your normal PayPal account, but if the recipient doesn’t use PayPal then you’ll need to use the PayPal money transfer service known as Xoom.
PayPal international money transfer fees
PayPal international money transfers incur a relatively high cost compared to other providers - see our breakdown of PayPal’s international money transfer fees below:
Payment method | Transfer fee | Minimum amount | Maximum amount |
|---|---|---|---|
PayPal Balance | 5% | $0.99 | $4.99 |
Bank account | 5% | $0.99 | $4.99 |
Cards | 5% transfer fee + 2.9% card payment fee + fixed fee based on currency received | $0.99 | $4.99 |
Amex Send Account | 5% | $0.99 | $4.99 |
The fixed fees based on currencies are below:
Currency | Rate | Currency | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Australian dollar | 2.00 AUD | New Taiwan dollar | 70.00 TWD |
Brazilian real | 4.00 BRL | New Zealand dollar | 3.00 NZD |
Canadian dollar | 2.45 CAD | Norwegian krone | 15.00 NOK |
Czech koruna | 50.00 CZK | Philippine peso | 100.00 PHP |
Danish krone | 12.50 DKK | Polish zloty | 6.50 PLN |
Euro | 1.50 EUR | Russian ruble | 60.00 RUB |
Hong Kong dollar | 15.00 HKD | Singapore dollar | 3.00 SGD |
Hungarian forint | 400.00 HUF | Swedish krona | 15.00 SEK |
Israeli new shekel | 8.00 ILS | Swiss franc | 3.00 CHF |
Japanese yen | 200.00 JPY | Thai baht | 70.00 THB |
Malaysian ringgit | Not Applicable | UK pounds sterling | 1.00 GBP |
Mexican peso | 20.00 MXN | US dollar | 1.95 USD |
Is it cost effective to send money through PayPal?
We’ve compared PayPal international money transfers to their Xoom service, as well as some other major money transfer providers below:
Provider | Fee | Exchange rate markup | Speed | Amount received on a $1,000 transfer from the US to Mexico* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PayPal | 5% ($0.99 - $4.99) | 3-4% | Instant | Log in to see the amount received |
Xoom (A PayPal Service) | $0 | 0.5-4% | Next-day bank deposit, minutes for cash pickup | $17,764.00 |
$0.99 - $2.99 | 0.5-1.25% on popular currencies, 3-4% on more exotic currencies | Minutes | $18,101.70 | |
$0 | 0.5-2% | 1-2 hours | $18.013.36 | |
$71.63 | 0.49% | 1-2 hours | $17,836.57 |
*Rates are subject to change, and accurate at the time of checking
PayPal international transfer conversion and exchange rates
As well as the PayPal international money transfer fee, you’ll also pay an exchange rate markup to send money abroad in a currency different to the base currency in your PayPal account. PayPal use their own exchange rate which includes this markup fee in the total amount you’ll see when you make a transaction.
According to their fees page, any transfers to a friend or family where they receive money in a different currency from the one you’ve paid in will see a markup of 4% - or another amount that you’ll see during the transaction.
It’s important to compare this rate to the mid-market rate, which you can search online - the difference will be the amount you are paying to PayPal, so you can use this to see if there are better deals elsewhere.
How to check PayPal's exchange rates
PayPal's exchange rates are available in the PayPal app, or online.
Log in
Go to your profile
View your currency balances
Calculate the rates
PayPal fixed fees
PayPal also has certain fixed fees for personal transactions depending on the currency used:
Currency | Fee | Currency | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
Australian dollar | 0.30 AUD | New Taiwan dollar | 10.00 TWD |
Brazilian real | 0.60 BRL | New Zealand dollar | 0.45 NZD |
Canadian dollar | 0.30 CAD | Norwegian krone | 2.80 NOK |
Czech koruna | 10.00 CZK | Philippine peso | 15.00 PHP |
Danish krone | 2.60 DKK | Polish zloty | 1.35 PLN |
Euro | 0.35 EUR | Russian ruble | 10.00 RUB |
Hong Kong dollar | 2.35 HKD | Singapore dollar | 0.50 SGD |
Hungarian forint | 90.00 HUF | Swedish krona | 3.25 SEK |
Israeli new shekel | 1.20 ILS | Swiss franc | 0.55 CHF |
Japanese yen | 40.00 JPY | Thai baht | 11.00 THB |
Malaysian ringgit | 2.00 MYR | UK pounds sterling | 0.20 GBP |
Mexican peso | 4.00 MXN | US dollar | 0.30 USD |
How to avoid PayPal fees
The best way to avoid PayPal fees is to avoid sending money internationally with PayPal. If you send money with an international money transfer provider instead, you'll avoid all PayPal fees, and get a better exchange rate.
Other than this, there are some ways you can reduce the fees you need to pay when making an international transfer with PayPal.
Avoid using your debit or credit card and pay directly from your PayPal account
Make fewer large payments rather than lots of small ones to avoid being charged multiple transfer fees - due to the fee cap, it costs the same to send any amount over $100
If you use PayPal for business payments, deduct the fees from your taxable income
Money transfer services that accept PayPal deposits
An easy way to save on your transfer with PayPal is to use your PayPal balance to fund a transfer with a specialist transfer provider. Here are some of the top providers that accept PayPal payments.
Wise
As Wise gives you a bank account number and sort code, you can link this to your PayPal account. When your Wise account has been linked, you can withdraw any money you need to send into your Wise account and use Wise to send the money abroad.
Wise charges a small, variable fee for transfers that you can calculate before you make your transfer. The key benefit is their exchange rate - unlike PayPal, they don't add a markup to the exchange rate, they offer you the mid-market rate on exchanges. All tolled, this makes Wise almost 4% cheaper than PayPal.
Learn More: Wise vs PayPal
MoneyGram
MoneyGram isn't the cheapest provider in the world, but it also accepts PayPal deposits. With MoneyGram, you can send money abroad from your PayPal account, and arrange it to be sent as a bank transfer, mobile wallet transfer, money order, or even as cash for either pickup or home delivery.
MoneyGram's fees make it slightly cheaper than PayPal, but still more expensive than a lot of other providers on the market. The key benefit of MoneyGram is the versatility of their transfers. If, for example, your recipient doesn't have a PayPal account or a bank account, MoneyGram gives you a great way of sending money to them safely and securely.
Learn More: MoneyGram vs PayPal
OFX
OFX business accounts can accept payments via PayPal. This is great if you need to make large international transfers, as OFX has a high minimum transfer limit of $1,000. They don't charge fees on their transfers, but they do add a markup to the exchange rate.
How to send money internationally with a PayPal account
If both the sender and recipient have PayPal accounts, then you need to do the following:
Create a PayPal account
Link your bank account
Choose the recipient
Enter the amount
Choose the payment method
Review and confirm the transaction
Notify the recipient
Withdraw the funds
How much money you can send internationally with PayPal
If your PayPal account is verified you’ll be able to send up to $60,000 in a single transaction, although this may be $10,000 in some cases - this can vary by currency. If your account is unverified you may be limited to a maximum of $4,000 per transaction.
These transfer limits are fairly low compared to money transfer providers:
Provider | Minimum transfer limit | Maximum transfer limit |
|---|---|---|
PayPal | $1 | $60,000 |
Wise | $1 | $6,000,000 from currency account, $1,000,000 per local transfer, $1,600,000 per SWIFT transfer |
WorldRemit | $1 | $9,000 every 24 hours |
TorFX | $200 | No limit |
XE | None | $500,000 |
Countries you can send money to with PayPal
Here's a summary of some of the 200 countries you can send money to with PayPal.
Due to Turkish banking laws, some popular apps like PayPal are not currently available in Turkey.
If you need to send money to Turkey, check out our guide.
PayPal lets you send money to over 200 countries - to check if you'll be able to send to the country you need to, just log in to your PayPal account and begin a transfer. This is a big selection of countries - PayPal’s global reach is one of the reasons it’s so popular. You can use PayPal to send 25 different currencies, including US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Mexican Pesos.
However, you’ll pay the price for this reach through PayPal’s relatively high fees. Here’s a way to find cheaper international money transfers to some of the most popular destinations around the world.
PayPal money transfers to another PayPal user are basically instant. However, withdrawing the money from your PayPal wallet to your bank account takes up to a few days, depending on the currencies involved.
When to use PayPal
PayPal is great for small domestic transfers and online purchases. International transfers are very expensive with PayPal when compared with money transfer services, so this is where they fall down a little.
It's also useful for businesses. You can use your PayPal business account to accept payments for goods or services, and you're protected by PayPal's advanced business security system. However, if your business deals with international payments, you may be better off with a money transfer app like Payoneer or Airwallex. They offer cheaper international transfers than PayPal.
PayPal is good for… | PayPal isn’t good for… |
|---|---|
Small and fast transfers | Large money transfers |
Paying for goods and services abroad | Day to day multi-currency use |
Paying bills and topping up phones with Xoom | Cheap money transfers |
Alternatives to sending money internationally with PayPal
There are a number of ways to send money internationally if you don’t feel PayPal is the right option for you, or you are interested in alternative methods:
Money transfer providers
Money transfer providers are companies that specialize in sending money abroad, and they routinely offer cheaper and faster transfers than the competition. These companies use their own network of bank accounts across the world, which allows them to transfer money without it ever crossing international borders.
You pay money to the provider’s account in your home country, and they credit the same amount - minus fees and exchange rate markups - from their account in the destination country to the recipient.
Compared to PayPal, many providers charge much lower fees and better exchange rates, and you’ll still be able to get the money to the recipient on the same day - sometimes within minutes.
What is Xoom?
Xoom is a PayPal service that lets you make international money transfers to non-PayPal members across the world. You can use Xoom to send money internationally via a bank transfer, cash pick up, door-to-door delivery, mobile top-ups and bill payments.
You’ll be able to use your PayPal account to send money via Xoom. It’s a useful money transfer provider for PayPal members, however it does involve more fees than just using PayPal.
Xoom vs other money transfer providers for sending $1,000 to India
Provider | Transfer fees | Transfer speeds |
|---|---|---|
Xoom | $0 (PayPal balance or bank transfer) $30.49 for card payments | Minutes by cash pickup, next day via bank transfer |
XE | $0 | 1-2 hours |
Wise | $11.07 | Next day |
WorldRemit | $2.99 | Minutes |
Xoom vs other money transfer providers for sending $1,000 to Canada
Provider | Transfer fees | Transfer speeds |
|---|---|---|
Xoom | $0 (PayPal balance or bank transfer) $30.49 for card payments | Minutes by cash pickup, next day via bank transfer |
XE | $0 | 1-2 hours |
Wise | $9.58 | Next day |
WorldRemit | $2.99 | Minutes |
Xoom vs other money transfer providers for sending $1,000 to Mexico
Provider | Transfer fees | Transfer speeds |
|---|---|---|
Xoom | $0 (PayPal balance or bank transfer) $3.99 for card payments | Minutes by cash pickup, next day via bank transfer |
XE | $0 | 1-2 hours |
Global66 | $0 | 1-2 hours |
WorldRemit | $1.99 | Minutes |
Wire and bank account transfers
Wire transfers may also be referred to as international bank transfers. The term refers to how you can send money directly from one bank account to another, without using PayPal or a money transfer provider.
Banks communicate to each other via the SWIFT banking system, a worldwide communication network linking almost every country in the world. The sending and receiving bank uses this network to confirm the details of the transaction, before sending money through a network of intermediaries that process the transfer before it gets to the recipient’s bank account.
Each of these intermediaries also takes a fee for their processing, making wire transfers one of the most expensive and time-consuming methods of sending money abroad. It’s for this exact reason that money transfer providers have become so much more popular, as they offer a faster and cheaper alternative to an outdated method.
International money order
When it comes to outdated methods of sending money abroad, international money orders are perhaps at the top of the list. While they do still have their advantages, most in that they are secure, they have severe limitations on the amount and frequency with which you can send money.
Should I use PayPal to send money internationally?
PayPal is a convenient way of sending money, and is popular with users across the world - however, a PayPal international money transfer isn’t usually the cheapest option. While transfers are instant, there are a range of fees and markups involved that push the overall cost up.
If you need to transfer money in minutes, other money transfer operators may be able to offer what you require - it’s best to compare your options using MoneyTransfers.com to see what’s available.
