Currencies, exchange rates & fees

[khasidi]

I am trying to learn how PayPal handles money transfers from other currencies. We are a non-profit based in the USA. We are set up to receive donations in USD, CAD, and EUR (US dollars, Canadian dollars and Euros). That is not a problem. However, if we receive donations in Euros or Canadian dollars and these come from credit cards/banks in Europe or Canada, is there a fee involved for the transfer of money internationally, and, if so, how much is it?

Second, once we have received those donations in other currencies, I assume that if we use them to pay for something in USD, there will be the normal fee for currency exchange; but what happens if we pay for something in Euros or Canadian dollars? If we have sufficient funds in those currencies, can we use that money without encurring an exchange fee or do all donations, no matter what the currency, get automatically exchanged into USD? In other words, are we running three different accounts, one for each currency, or is everything turned into US dollars?

I feel that there must be a place where this is all explained, but I haven't been able to find it. If anyone has a link they could share to such an explanation, that would be really helpful.

[StudiodiMare]

Try here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries-outside

or here: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/general/CrossBorderOverview

I needed to know some of the same answers. If you have a premier or business account you can hold multiple currencies. You have to add the type of balances you want to hold and add them to your account otherwise it will convert to your default from what I can tell. For instance: I use USD and Euro regularly but if I wanted to accept a payment from someone in Canada and I do not have a need to purchase things in Canadian dollars, I would accept their payments only as USD or Euros. Otherwise I could update my settings and allow that currency too.