Dalia Ramirez writes about home services and estate planning for NerdWallet. She has a Bachelor of Arts in science and technology studies and critical theory from Wesleyan University. Her work has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, Bloomberg and The Associated Press. She is based in New York City.
Assigning Editor Ryan Lane
Assigning Editor | Small business, student loans
Ryan Lane is an editor on NerdWallet’s small-business team. He joined NerdWallet in 2019 as a student loans writer, serving as an authority on that topic after spending more than a decade at student loan guarantor American Student Assistance. In that role, Ryan co-authored the Student Loan Ranger blog in partnership with U.S. News & World Report, as well as wrote and edited content about education financing and financial literacy for multiple online properties, e-courses and more. Ryan also previously oversaw the production of life science journals as a managing editor for publisher Cell Press. Ryan is located in Rochester, New York.
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MORE LIKE THIS Small BusinessTable of Contents
MORE LIKE THIS Small BusinessNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
PayPal Business accounts are PayPal accounts that allow small and medium-size businesses to send and receive payments in person and online. These accounts have slightly higher rates than those from other top payment processing companies like Square and Stripe. But PayPal Business’s ease of use, ubiquity and transparent fixed fees make it a solid choice for new businesses or those with fairly low transaction volumes.
Featured card placement may be affected by compensation agreements with our partners, but these partnerships in no way affect our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners.
NerdWallet Rating Annual Fee Read Review Learn moreIf your business has higher sales volumes, look into cheaper credit card processors that offer interchange-plus pricing and volume discounts to save on per-transaction fees.
Easy to use and integrate with website hosts and shopping carts.
Not for high-risk or high-volume businesses.
One of the most commonly used payment processing platforms.
Slightly higher per-transaction fees than competitors.
Transparent fixed fees in 25 currencies.
Other payment processors have better in-person point-of-sale options.
Accepted payment methods
PayPal and Venmo. Debit and credit cards. Alternative payment methods, including cryptocurrency (fees vary). Pay-later options, including short-term payments and PayPal Credit.Extensive integrations with major websites, shopping carts and POS systems, including PayPal’s own POS ( PayPal Zettle ).
Instant payout to PayPal account; transfer to bank account within three to five business days or instantly for additional 1.5% fee.
Contract-free with no termination fees.
Phone support from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday plus text support, an online community and a resolution center for transaction or account issues.
Simple sign-up and payment processing.
PayPal lets small businesses accept and process payments in person and online.
Merchants can accept all major payment types for reasonable fees without a monthly subscription.PayPal Business users can accept payments from customers without PayPal accounts, as well as send and receive payments in 25 currencies.
Online businesses also have the option of setting up a payment gateway to facilitate checkout with major e-commerce platforms.
Here are a few of the extra features and integrations available for PayPal Business accounts.
PayPal Business integrates with hundreds of shopping carts, POS systems, accounting software products, e-commerce platforms and more.
The platform also offers PayPal Payouts for mass payments and its own POS app, PayPal Zettle (formerly PayPal Here), for businesses to accept payments in-store.
PayPal Business advertises 24/7 monitoring for sellers. Its Seller Protection program covers two buyer complaint types: “Unauthorized Transaction” and “Item Not Received.” For both of these claims, PayPal will side with the seller if basic requirements are met.
PayPal Business users can set up customized subscription and interval payments with built-in flexible incentives, like free and discounted trial periods. It also offers a free invoicing app, which comes with customizable templates and easy link sharing.
Advertisement NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
NerdWallet ratingNerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
Payment processing fees
plus interchange, in-person; 0.50% + 25¢ plus interchange, online.
Payment processing fees
in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online.
Payment processing fees
in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online.
Starts at $0/month for unlimited devices and locations.
Payment processing fees for PayPal Business accounts generally range from 2.29% to 3.49% plus 9 to 49 cents per transaction plus monthly fees ranging from $0 to $30 for payment gateways. The price of using PayPal for business is a combination of per-transaction fees plus an optional monthly subscription fee for online card payment gateway services.
All merchants can include recurring billing as an add-on service for an additional $10 monthly.
When no currency conversion is involved, you can transfer PayPal funds to a linked bank account for free. Funds usually arrive within three to five business days. Instant transfers are available for 1.5% of the withdrawal amount, with a 50-cent minimum fee.
PayPal charges a $20 settlement fee for credit and debit card transaction chargebacks, which happens when a customer rejects a charge through their card issuer.
PayPal Business offers advanced Fraud Protection Services at $10 per month plus 5 cents per transaction to help counteract chargebacks and other issues.
PayPal Business offers three monthly payment gateway options for merchants:
Plug-in integrates with shopping cart. Redirects customers to PayPal’s website to complete payment. Lower per-transaction rate. Hosted checkout page. Customizable payment buttons. Lower per-transaction rate. Hosted checkout page. Customizable payment buttons. Virtual terminal access. Accept phone payments.One of the biggest advantages of using PayPal Business as your payment processor is how straightforward the platform is, for both you and your customers. Simple integration is available with a majority of website hosts and shopping carts, making it a quick and easy way to start accepting payments as soon as you start your business.
PayPal is one of the most commonly used payment processing platforms, which makes it a go-to for customers and merchants alike. Many users will already be familiar with PayPal, so the interface likely won’t be a big adjustment for new business owners. Because so many people use PayPal, there's also more information available online about how to troubleshoot specific problems — for example, on the company's large online forum for merchants, PayPal Community.
PayPal’s flat-rate per-transaction fees are extremely transparent, allowing merchants to accurately predict their monthly payment processing costs.
Featured card placement may be affected by compensation agreements with our partners, but these partnerships in no way affect our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners.
NerdWallet Rating Annual Fee Read Review Learn moreNew merchants looking to use PayPal as their payment processor must adhere to the platform’s Acceptable Use Policy, and the platform has fairly strict standards. The company requires preapproval to accept payments for certain items that are age-restricted or have a high risk for card fraud or chargebacks, including for high-value items, products like alcohol and tobacco or items on online marketplaces. The company also doesn't support certain high-risk merchants, such as businesses that sell firearms or drug paraphernalia.
If your business is in one of these industries, consider going with a high-risk merchant account instead.
PayPal’s strict terms of use, though helpful for user safety, can sometimes result in wrongful fund withholding, account freezing and even account termination. The platform has been known to flag “suspicious behavior” such as sudden increases in processing volume, vague product descriptions and more. This problem has also been noted with other payment service providers, including competitors like Square and Stripe.
Though PayPal Business offers phone support at 888-883-9770 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday, text support, an online community forum and a resolution center for transaction or account issues, the usefulness of the support is hit-or-miss, according to reviews. Customer service representatives’ expertise is said to vary.
Why we like it: Square is a popular payment processor with many of the same features as PayPal Business at a slightly lower cost. Square, unlike PayPal, offers virtual terminal access at no additional charge. It doesn’t offer multi-currency capabilities, though. It may be a better option if you’re looking for more customization options and aren’t planning to expand your business internationally.
on Square's website
Why we like it: Stripe is also a worthy PayPal Business competitor, especially for e-commerce businesses with an international presence. These charges are slightly lower than PayPal’s current rates. Unlike Square, Stripe accepts over 135 currencies and is also much more customizable than PayPal.
NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula incorporates coverage options, customer experience, customizability, cost and more.
on Stripe's website
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Dalia Ramirez writes about home services and estate planning for NerdWallet. She has a B.A. in science and technology studies from Wesleyan University. See full bio.
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plus interchange, in-person; 0.50% + 25¢ plus interchange, online.
Learn moreon Helcim's website
NerdWallet Rating Learn moreon Square's website
in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online.
Starts at $0/month for unlimited devices and locations.
Learn moreon Square's website
NerdWallet Rating Learn moreon Stripe's website
in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online.
Learn moreon Stripe's website
NerdWallet Rating Learn moreon Shopify's website
in-person; 2.9% + 30¢ online (Basic plan).
and up for e-commerce plans with POS Lite; Can upgrade to POS Pro for an extra $89.
Learn moreon Shopify's website
Compare more payment processors MORE LIKE THIS Small BusinessFactor in hardware portability, software integrations and your business’s specific industry needs to determine the best POS system.
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The best card reader for your business will integrate with your larger POS system and be as mobile as your business is.
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