Send Money via API to Friends & Family

[trahloff]

Hi, 

I would love to send someone small amounts of money automatically. 
The broader context is that this person, who is very close to my heart, wants to move more. I have access to their daily step count via an API, and we made a deal that they get 2€ per day with a certain amount of steps to bring gamification into the mix. 

In the documentation, it seems like personal accounts can transfer money via the API: 

https://developer.paypal.com/api/rest/ 

However, if you then go to the documentation for "payouts", it seems like this feature is only available for business accounts: 

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/payouts/standard/ 

I am a bit confused now. Is it possible to send "non-business" transactions via the API? If yes, how? 

Thanks a lot, 
All the best,
Toby

[sharpiemarker]

@trahloff 

PayPal Payouts are for mass payments or payouts to many recipients so it wouldn’t be appropriate use in your case. Not sure there is an api to send individual friends and family payment. You’ll have to manually send it through the Send and Request tab of your PayPal account.

[trahloff]

Hi @sharpiemarker , 

Thanks for the quick response! That explanation completely makes sense. 

Do you know why the documentation mentions that private accounts can "send and receive money" (first screenshot)? Maybe this is old information since Payouts are now restricted to Business Accounts.

Best, 
Toby