How Does PayPal Work?

PayPal is a method for selling and buying things online and transferring money to friends and family in a convenient and inexpensive way, without requiring that you share financial information. With more than 400 million active account holders around the world, PayPal is a money transfer giant.

Because the service is so ubiquitous, many online merchants and customers know and trust it. Here’s what you need to know about how PayPal works.

PayPal snapshot
Fees: $0 to make a purchase or transfer money domestically using a bank account or your PayPal balance. 2.9% of the amount, plus 30 cents, to transfer funds using a credit card, debit card, or PayPal credit.
Transfer limits: Varies, $4,000-$60,000 per transaction.
User experience: A payments behemoth with a clean website, top-rated mobile apps.
Customer service: Live phone support available; support via social media and the message center (when logged into your account) also available.