How To Send Money Via Paypal Without Creating An Account

What is PayPal

PayPal is a widely popular online payment processor, which allows you to securely send money internationally.

If you and your friends have PayPal accounts, you can easily and instantly send money to each other at close to no costs. The platform also allows you to exchange currencies and make payments all over the world. However, in that case you should be careful, as the service has a lot of small fees, which can add up to bigger sums pretty quickly.

We cover all of the costs and explain how to register account in our review articles of both personal and business PayPal accounts. If you are looking for other ways to make online international payments, you can look through the ranking of best international remittance companies.

Do I need to have a PayPal account to use it at a checkout?

You can often come across PayPal among the main means of payment while doing online shopping, as many platforms and e-commerce stores accept PayPal alongside other regular payment options. PayPal protects both the buyer and the seller. You can easily dispute the payment and get the refund if your item doesn't deliver and the seller knows that you can't "chargeback" or cancel the transaction like it sometimes happens with credit cards.

As you can pay through PayPal without registering account, it's often the only payment option available at checkouts as it allows you to securely use your debit or credit card and is available in almost every country.

How to send someone money with PayPal without account?

First of all, your recipient needs to have a PayPal account, as you can't use PayPal to pay to someone's bank account directly. However, if you have a PayPal account you can easily connect it to your bank account and topup and withdraw the money directly there.

Step 1: Get a payment request

In order to pay someone through PayPal without having an account registered, your recipient needs to send you a special PayPal invoice. It is an email invitation with a special "Pay Now" button, which redirects you to a secure PayPal payment panel.

Step 2: Enter your card details

After you click on the link in the email, you get to choose whether you want to open an account or continue without it. If you choose the second option, the panel will ask you to provide your debit or credit card details. You don't need to worry about the safety of your card details, as the security is good and this page is well-encrypted.

Keep in mind that there may be additional charges if you pay without PayPal account. The platform can also automatically exchange your money into a different currency, however the rates may not be the best on the market.

Step 3: Confirm the Payment

At the end, you will see a summary of your payment, where you can once again verify your details and the amount. If everything is correct, click on the confirm button and your money will be sent. You will also get a confirmation of the transaction sent to your email address.

PayPal costs and summary

Most of the costs connected to your online purchase are covered by the merchant, therefore you as a buyer don't need to worry about choosing PayPal to pay for your online shopping.

While using PayPal as a payment option in online stores, seem like a very good idea, it may not be the most cost-efficient to make other international payments through PayPal. If you need to order a direct payment or send money between various accounts, the fees can add up quickly. Especially without account, as there may be some significant fees charged. You need to be careful with the currency conversions, as the markup there is quite high compared to the average market rates. So, if you need to buy foreign currency and make international transaction, there may be better alternatives on the transfer market.

There are both flat and percentage-based fees depending on what country you want to send money to. It costs around 0.3-2%. If you don't have a PayPal account balance and want to use your credit card, there may be another 3.4%-3.9% charged.

On the other hand, PayPal is well-established, recognized and widely used. It's the most popular way to send money online. You can undoubtedly expect reliable and secure services there. And as the platform offers customer support in many countries and languages, in case of any issues you can easily solve your transfer problem.