How do I make payments come out of my bank account?

[Cloudchaser]

The last few times I've used Paypal when it was an available option for buying something online, it keeps adding the charges to my Bill Me Later balance.  I do not want the charges added to my Bill Me Later balance.  I want the charges taken straight out of my checking account.  I don't even get asked if I want to use BML or my checking account, it just goes straight to BML.

What do I need to do to ensure that when I buy something online and Paypal is a payment option, the charges gets taken out of my checking account instead of going to BML?  I keep looking in my profile and account settings, but I cannot find where to set my checking account as the default when buying something online.

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi Cloudchaser,

Is this happening with subscription payments?  If not, you should see the option to change the payment method before the checkout is finalized.

It sounds like the BML account is set as your default funding source.  I've pasted instructions below on how to change that setting:

Here’s how to add or remove Bill Me Later as your default payment method for your PayPal account:

1. Go to www.paypal.com and log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click “Profile.”
3. Click “My money.”
4. Click “Update" beside "Bill Me Later."
5. Under “Manage Bill Me Later Account," click to either "add Bill Me Later as your preferred payment method" or "remove Bill Me Later as your preferred payment method."

I hope this helps! 🙂

- Frank

CE2

US

Here’s how to add or remove Bill Me Later as your default payment method for your PayPal account:

1. Go to www.paypal.com and log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click “Settings.”
3. Click “Payment methods.”
4. Click “Update" beside "Bill Me Later."
5. Under “Manage Bill Me Later Account," click to either "add Bill Me Later as your preferred payment method" or "remove Bill Me Later as your preferred payment method."

[Cloudchaser]

Thanx for your reply!

In the past month, it happened with (in chronological order) a printer ink cartridge bought from a seller on eBay, a charity donation that was made at the same time, a one time subscription to oron.com (paid through Paymentwall) so I could get their high speed download option and a payment to Vistaprint for a custom print mousepad.

I got to step 5 and under "Manage Bill Me Later account" there's a link that says "Make Bill Me Later my preferred way to pay" and backing up to step three followed by clicking Update next to my bank account says my bank account is listed as Primary Confirmed.  So it appears that my bank account is already set as my preferred payment method.

I know that when I sent some $ through Paypal to a friend that it defaulted to my bank account.  Is it possible that a seller, eBay or otherwise, could have their Paypal option set so that e-checks are not an option?

[PayPal_Frank · Accepted solution]

---

@Cloudchaser wrote:

Thanx for your reply!

In the past month, it happened with (in chronological order) a printer ink cartridge bought from a seller on eBay, a charity donation that was made at the same time, a one time subscription to oron.com (paid through Paymentwall) so I could get their high speed download option and a payment to Vistaprint for a custom print mousepad.

I got to step 5 and under "Manage Bill Me Later account" there's a link that says "Make Bill Me Later my preferred way to pay" and backing up to step three followed by clicking Update next to my bank account says my bank account is listed as Primary Confirmed.  So it appears that my bank account is already set as my preferred payment method.

I know that when I sent some $ through Paypal to a friend that it defaulted to my bank account.  Is it possible that a seller, eBay or otherwise, could have their Paypal option set so that e-checks are not an option?

---

Hi Cloudchaser,

"Primary" means that the bank is set as the primary bank over any other banks you may have on file with PayPal.  If you only have a bank on file (no debit/credit cards) then the only option available for that bank is eCheck.  Bill Me Later will always trump eCheck as it's an instant form of payment and eCheck is not.  You also make a good point that some sellers block eChecks due to the transfer timeframe.

If I'm right, you should only need to add a debit/credit card to the account to act as a back-up payment method for the bank account.  That will enable instant transfers from the bank. The bank would then have a higher priority than Bill Me Later assuming that Bill Me Later is not set as the preferred payment method.

The other option is to change the payment method to the bank during checkout (assuming the seller isn't blocking eChecks).

- Frank

[Cloudchaser]

Sellers blocking e-checks is what I suspected, thanx for your reply!