If you are new to freelancing or planning to work remotely, it is an essential step for a freelancer to figure out how to accept payments from your clients. You need to find an online financial system that is safe to use. The one that doesn’t reveal your bank information, fund is easily transfer, inexpensive service, and available in your country. What do freelancers usually use?
One of the common forms of payment used and trusted by many freelancers is Paypal.
How does your PayPal account work?
PayPal is an online financial service, a popular online payment service providers (PSPs) in the world.
People use it to buy online products. Another feature is you can also send and receive money to or from friends and family. And you can receive payment from a client for your services or work. In terms of currencies, PayPal allows multiple currencies transactions unless your country has currency restrictions.
Once the sender sends you the money, it will appear instantly in your PayPal account. You can then choose to transfer funds to your local bank account. However, note that PayPal will automatically apply an exchange rate to receive your money in your local currencies.
The following currencies are the one accepted for PayPal:
- Australian dollar (AUD)
- Brazilian real (BRL – available for Brazilian advertisers only)
- British pound (GBP)
- Canadian dollar (CAD)
- Czech koruna (CZK)5,
- Danish krone (DKK)
- Euro (EUR)
- Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
- Hungarian forint (HUF)
- Israeli new shekel (ILS)
- Japanese yen (JPY)
- Mexican peso (MXN)
- New Taiwan dollar (TWD)
- New Zealand dollar (NZD)
- Norwegian krone (NOK)
- Philippine peso (PHP)
- Polish złoty (PLN)
- Russian ruble (RUB)
- Singapore dollar (SGD)
- Swedish krona (SEK)
- Swiss franc (CHF)
- Thai baht (THB)
- US dollar (USD)
Your PayPal Account Options
You may open a personal account or a business account. What’s the difference between Personal and Business Account?
With PayPal Personal account, your customers will also need to have a PayPal account to be able to pay you. Whereas, with PayPal Business account, you can accept payments by credit card without your customers having to have a PayPal account.
Moreover, there are two types of Business accounts. First is the Payments Standard. This basic PayPal business account has no monthly maintenance fee. It allows account holders to accept all of PayPal’s payment methods. And it is ideal for newbie freelancers or business owners.
The other one is the Payments Pro. The aforementioned comes with a monthly maintenance fee of $30. Payments Pro is for business owners who want to have complete control over their checkout pages. With this function, it is ideal for those who want to take their e-commerce site to the next level.
While PayPal is free for personal usage, the company takes charge for business use. Note that with a business account, PayPal charges 2.9% (as well as $0.30) when receiving money for goods or services.
Setting up your PayPal account:
- Visit the website (here is the link)
- Click the Sign-Up button in the top-right corner of the screen
- Choose the Personal Account or Business Account then click Next
- Enter your email address, your name, create your password, then click Next
- Fill out the form with your details. Agreed with the terms and agreements by checking the box, then click the Create my Account button
- PayPal will send you an email to verify your account. Check your email, and click Verify my PayPal account
Now, the next step you need to do is to link your bank account. With this, PayPal will convert and transfer the received money to your local bank currency.
Link your bank account:
- Log-in to your Paypal Account
- Click the Wallet tab
- Click the Link Bank Account
- Choose your bank. If your bank is not in the list, click Don’t See My Bank
- Provide the required information, choose the account type, then click the Agreed and Link button.
- PayPal will deposit two small amounts in your bank account
- Log-in to your online banking, check the two small amounts from PayPal deposited to your account
- Go back to your PayPal account
- After the amounts appear in your bank activity, provide the deposited amounts then click Confirm
Link your card:
- Log-in to your Paypal Account
- Click the Wallet tab
- Click the Link Card, provide the required information then click the Add Card button. Paypal will charge a small amount ($1 US Dollar) to your card. But do not worry, this charge will be automatically reimbursed within minutes.
- Your card information will appear in your account, click the Confirm my Card to get your four-digit code. PayPal will charge a small amount to your card to make sure that the card is yours and to process the unique four-digit code.
- Enter the four-digit code and then click Confirm
The Takeaway
PayPal is conceivably essential to have for many freelancers. To point some of the top reasons, your client can pay you safely and easily. Your payment reaches your account in minutes. Therefore, it’s well-known that freelancers use this payment option fairly commonly. And when it comes to going through the transaction process, PayPal is quick and easy to use.
Do you know any other online payment services that may beneficial to our fellow remote workers?