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PayPal is a secure, widely used online payment platform allowing users to send money, make purchases, and receive payments globally without sharing financial details. It acts as a digital wallet, linking bank accounts or cards to pay online, in-store, or via app. It is free to sign up and is available in over 200 markets.
Important pre-read
There are a number of settings that need to be in place in your PayPal account, to make sure that payments are successfully received in Timely. You will need to login to your PayPal account and adjust the following settings:
- Check your instant payment notification (IPN) settings
- Allow payment via credit card (guest checkout)
- Remove any sales taxes from PayPal
- Update your preferences for blocking receiving payments
For more information on how to update these, see our help guide How to manage your PayPal settings.
How to manage payments and refunds in PayPal
Pending payments
You may see some payments showing up as “Pending” in PayPal. This can happen for a couple of reasons:
- If the currency setting in your Timely account is different from your PayPal account e.g. you receive a payment in NZ in USD.
- If the customer doesn't currently have funds in their PayPal account, then the payment may be processed via an eCheque. These can take up to 14 days to process, so we recommend blocking those payments to prevent IPNs from failing (See: Set your website preferences above).
Withdrawing payments
Once an online payment has been completed, the balance will remain in PayPal until you withdraw the funds. You can withdraw your funds in PayPal to a nominated bank account, check out this PayPal help guide for more information.
Refunding payments
If you are wanting to process a refund for a PayPal payment, you will need to refund the payment in both Timely and PayPal. Start by selecting "PayPal" as the refund type when refunding the payment in Timely. See our help guide How to issue a refund for more information. To process a refund in PayPal, see PayPal's guide here.
PayPal fees
You will be charged a fee for every payment you collect via PayPal, this is commonly a % of the total sale. Fees are based on transactions and differ depending on the country where your business operates. Read this PayPal guide on their fee structure for more information.