How to set up a PayPal account and link a bank account or credit card

• It’s free to set up a PayPal account, and it only takes a few minutes.
• PayPal allows you to send and receive money from friends and family, or as part of a business transaction. 
• Money in your PayPal account can be transferred to your linked bank account.
• Visit Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories.

PayPal is an online payment system that’s been around since 1998, making it easy to send and receive funds to people located anywhere in the world for a small fee – or no fee at all if the money is going to or coming from a friend or family member in the US. 

The service has made it secure and easy to buy and sell things online and is heavily integrated into sites like eBay and other e-commerce businesses. 

If you don’t yet have a PayPal account, but would like to set one up, doing so is free and should only take a few minutes. Once you’re set up, you’ll be able to add banking information to make sending and receiving money easier than ever. Here’s how to do it. 

How to set up a PayPal account

1. In your computer’s internet browser, navigate to https://www.paypal.com 

2. In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, click “Sign up.” 

3. On the following screen, choose whether you're setting up a business or personal account. If you're simply using this to buy and sell on eBay for instance, or to send money to a family member or friend, you'll want to choose "personal" here. Click "Next."

4. On the next page, you'll be asked to enter your legal first and last name and your email address as well as to create and confirm a password. When finished, click "Next." 

Next, you'll need to enter your mailing address as well as your phone number. When you've completed this information, which is mandatory, click "Agree and create account" and your PayPal account will be created. 

How to add a bank account or credit card to your PayPal account

In order to make use of PayPal's ability to send and receive money, you'll need to connect a bank account and/or credit card to your account. To do so, log into your account and then follow these directions. 

1. On the summary screen, click the "Wallet" option in the menu bar running along the top of the screen. 

2. On the menu running down the left side of the screen, click the "Link a credit or debit card" if that's what you'd like to use with your account. Alternately, if you want to connect your bank account itself, click on the "Link a bank account option." Note that it may be worthwhile to do both to create a source of backup funding in future. 

3. Enter the card or bank information you wish to link to your PayPal account and click "Link card" for debit cards or "Link bank account" if you're using that option. 

Note that if you're adding a bank account, it will take two to three days for the process to complete as PayPal will deposit small amounts into your account that you will have to enter via the PayPal website to confirm you own the account. 

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• How to add money to your PayPal account, so you can transfer money or pay bills immediately