PayPal For Dummies

Chapter 5

Using PayPal Transactions

In This Chapter

• Advantages that come with being verified
• Adding funds to your PayPal account
• Withdrawing funds from your PayPal account
• Getting your PayPal money from an ATM
• Writing eChecks
• Accessing your cash

On the Web site, PayPal describes itself as the “world's largest online payment service.” Although PayPal is not a bank, it allows you to perform many banklike transactions. Still, as you read the remainder of this chapter, it's important to remember that your money is not as safe as when you place it in a standard U.S. bank account. PayPal funds are invested in an FDIC-insured bank, but the funds are only covered if the bank fails — not if PayPal itself fails.

To get access to the full range of PayPal services, you need to upgrade from a Personal account to a Premier or Business account, and you need to get verified. The next section of this chapter tells you what it means to get verified and how you can do it.

Becoming Verified

Being verified by PayPal means you're a U.S. PayPal member who has linked (“added” in PayPal lingo) a savings or checking account to your PayPal account. PayPal then confirms that the bank account is valid. Basically, it's like getting the PayPal “Seal of Approval.”

Banks are legally required to screen people who try to open an account. If you have a bank account, PayPal is able to “verify” your identity (they know you really are who you say you are). Verified PayPal members are less likely to be a security ...