PayPal’s business account services, known as the PayPal Commerce Platform, allows businesses large or small to accept online payments. PayPal began as a money transfer service within Confinity in 1999. Confinity merged with X.com. In 2001, X.com was renamed PayPal. The company went public in 2002. It offers a variety of services such as web payments, online invoicing and in person payments.
PayPal Payment Standard has no startup costs, termination or monthly fees. Standard transaction fees are applied only when an item or service has been sold. Businesses can accept payments from PayPal, Venmo, major credit cards and debit cards. These services can be used in over 200 markets worldwide, Merchants and Consumers can accept money in over 100 currencies.
Businesses that need services beyond what is offered in the PayPal Payment Standard can enroll in PayPal Payments Pro. This package has a variety of options and allows you to customize more of your customer’s payment experience. PayPal Pro allows you to accept payments by phone, in-person, bank transfers and PayPal credit payments. The virtual terminal permits business owners to accept payments anywhere with an internet connection. There is no credit card to swipe or software to install with this option. It will allow you to accept orders by phone, fax or person to person. PayPal credit payments gives customers the option to make monthly payments on the item or service their purchasing. The PayPal Payments Pro is $30 a month.
Online invoicing is free to PayPal business account users. You can customize the invoice with your company logo and information. Invoices can be generated through the PayPal website or the mobile app. The invoice can be sent through sharing a link or by e-mail. Fees are required only after you have been paid by your customer. You pay 2.9 percent plus 30 cents each transaction.
In person payments can be accepted through PayPal’s point of sale system (POS) and PayPal Here. PayPal has a variety of POS partners. Its POS partners specialize in Retail POS, Restaurant POS or both. Businesses would start this process by choosing a POS company and signing up. Next, open a PayPal account if you do not have one. Last, link your POS account with your PayPal account. The point of sale option requires equipment that can read customer credit and debit cards, other accessories are available also.
PayPal Here requires you to download the app on to your iOS or Android device. After you have downloaded the app, setup your profile. Last, purchase a reader. The reader allows your customers to swipe their credit and debit cards for payments. PayPal Here can be setup to calculate sales taxes according to your area. The system has a tip feature. It can be setup to suggest tips to customers.
In 2015, PayPal introduced PayPal.Me. It allows users to send fund requests by text, e-mail or other messaging forums. To use this service, a personalized link has to be setup through PayPal.me. The setup and link are free. Customers receiving the link do not need your e-mail address, mobile phone number, or the PayPal app. Business accounts are allowed to receive goods and services payments only.
PayPal has made its services available in 202 markets. It has over 200 million active and registered accounts. PayPal is not considered a bank because it does not participate in fractional-reserve banking. Fractional-reserve banking involves accepting deposits then making loans or investments. Funds that have not been issued by PayPal are placed in commercial interest-bearing checking accounts.
