We show you how to get a PayPal account in this article, whether you’re looking for how to get a PayPal Personal account, Premier account, Business account or a PayPal Student account.
We also explain how to link a bank account to a PayPal account and what to do if you have problems while you’re trying to get a PayPal account.
Select PayPal Account Type
To get a PayPal account, the first step is to choose an account type. PayPal has three types of accounts:
- PayPal Personal account: Best for people with relatively low volume who want to do simple things, like buy and sell a few items on eBay. PayPal Personal accounts let people send and receive money online, buy and sell on eBay and even accept debit and credit card payments.
- PayPal Premier account: Best for people who’ll have high transaction volume. PayPal Premier have lower transaction fees than Personal accounts, but they charge higher annual fees. They also come with a free shopping cart tool. The accounts can accept unlimited credit card transactions. They let multiple employees log in at once. They also let business owners set up subscription payments.
- PayPal Business account: Best for businesses. With a business account, customers don’t have to have a PayPal account. PayPal Business accounts have built-in mobile checkout and can accept payments in 24 currencies. Business accounts can also make mass payments to hundreds of different people at once.
- PayPal Student account: PayPal student accounts for teens must be set up by a parent. Parents then transfer money directly into the account and students can shop online or shop in stores with a PayPal Student Card. PayPal Student accounts come with safeguards like the ability to turn off spending. They also let parents receive text or email alerts if spending exceeds a certain amount.
All the different kinds of PayPal accounts above let people send and receive money online. They also all let users shop online and pay for items with a credit card, debit card, bank account or PayPal account balance.
Since each type of PayPal account has a slightly different sign-up method, we show how to sign up for each different PayPal account type below.
How to Get a PayPal Personal Account
To get a PayPal Personal account, click here.
People who just want to buy and sell a few items here or there on eBay should get a PayPal Personal account. The account can always be upgraded later. To get a PayPal personal account, click the link above.
You’ll be taken to PayPal’s sign up page. There, choose “Personal Account” and click “Continue.”
Paypal will ask for your email address and a password. Create a password that’s at least 8 characters long and uses at least one number or symbol.
Next, PayPal will ask for information like first name, last name, street address and phone number. Once that’s done, click “Create Account.”
Finally, PayPal will ask to link to a credit card account. Linking to a credit card can make it easier to buy things online with PayPal. To link to a credit card, enter the card’s account information. People who don’t want to link a credit card can click “Link to a bank account first” instead.
The silent video below shows a walkthrough of how to get a PayPal account:
How to Link a Bank Account to PayPal
PayPal needs to link to a bank account to be able to accept payments and make payments. The information is stored as encrypted data on PayPal’s servers and is never shared with merchants.
To link to a bank account to a PayPal account, enter your bank’s routing number and account number. The routing number is the first nine digits on the bottom of your checks. It often says, “Transit Routing Number” under it. The account number is the next group of nine digits on the check’s bottom. It’ll often say, “account number” beneath it.
Once you’ve entered the bank account info, click, “Link Bank and Continue.”
Finally, PayPal needs to verify that you own the bank account you told it about. It does that by making two small deposits to the account of less than $1 each. It then withdraws this money again. It verifies that you’re the owner of the bank account by asking for the amounts of the two small transactions. Once you’ve verified your identity by telling it the amounts, PayPal links your bank account.
How to Get a PayPal Premier Account
To get a PayPal Premier account, first register for a PayPal Personal account with the instructions above.
During the sign up process, PayPal will ask whether you want to upgrade to a Premier account. If you miss that step, don’t panic. After your PayPal account has been created, you can upgrade at any time by clicking here.
How to Get a PayPal Business Account
To get a PayPal Business account, click here and then select “Business Account.”
PayPal will ask whether you want a Standard account or a Pro account. A Standard account is free. A Pro account costs $30 a month and offers more customization of online checkout, messaging and shopping carts.
Next, enter your personal info and business name and link the PayPal account to a bank account. To do that, enter your bank account’s routing number and account number. Both numbers can be found on the bottom of your checks. PayPal will verify that you own the bank account by depositing two small amounts of less than a dollar each into your bank account and then withdrawing them again. It’ll ask you for the amount of each transaction to verify your identity.
If you’ve already got a PayPal Personal account, you can upgrade at any time to a PayPal Business account by clicking here.
How to Get a PayPal Student Account
To get a PayPal student account, teens need permission from a parent.
First the parent has to have a regular PayPal Personal account, PayPal Premier account or PayPal Business account. Follow the steps above to get any of these kinds of PayPal accounts.
Next, visit the PayPal Student account page by clicking here. Teens can get the process going by clicking “I’m a Teen” and filling in some personal info. PayPal will take the next step by emailing the parent to ask for permission.
Once a parent has agreed to open a PayPal Student account for their teen, they can visit PayPal’s Student account page by clicking here. Next, click “I’m a Parent” and log in to your PayPal account. Finally, enter the child’s info and click “Agree and Continue.”
After the student account has been created, it’ll link to the parent account. Then parents can load money into the Student account. They can turn spending on and off and set up alerts by text and email if student spending exceeds a certain pre-set limit. Teens can use the accounts to shop online. Teens who get a PayPal Student Card can also use the accounts to shop in stores.
If You Have Problems Getting a PayPal Account
If you run into problems getting a PayPal account, contact PayPal customer support by clicking here. PayPal customer support has a list of solutions to common problems. There are also links on the page to contact PayPal by phone or email.
Below is a list of ways to contact PayPal if you have trouble getting an account:
- Visit PayPal customer support – click here.
- Call PayPal customer support at 1-888-221-1161
- Click here to get through faster to PayPal customer support by phone.
- To email PayPal customer support, click here.