Move USD from PayPal to USD account in Canada

[ocgltd]

I have a large USD balance in my PayPal account, and I want to transfer it to my USD bank account, in Canada.  I don't want to move the money from USD -> CAD -> USD as I will incur significant exchange fees.

I've tried several times to add my Canadian USD account to PayPal but it refuses (says Canadian accounts must contain CAD).  I tried to add this as a US bank account but that didn't work either.

Help - how do I get my money out without all the exchange fees?

[Lebbi]

That is weird, are you sure you inserted the correct banking info? 

[lkjshefilj]

Yes. The USD account had been verified by PayPal by sending the "two small amounts". Which I received. So I know the details were correct.

I spoke to support and they told me "All withdrawals must match the country of origin. Since this is a Canadian PayPal account, all withdrawals must be made using CAD, not USD. You are able to make USD payments using the US bank account that you added, but it is against the user agreement to withdraw in USD."

This is what is so confusing to me. There are people out there saying this works fine and they have no problems. And then you get that kind of fairly clear definitive answer from PayPal. They even pointed me to the slightly wordier part of the actual user agreement where it says this.

Of course, it's very strange they would even let me make the withdrawal in the first place, and mark it as "completed" if they know they are later going to deny it and reverse it. And then charge me $20 for trying!

[MattG514]

To reply to your PayPal customer service interaction I call BS (on PayPal)!

Generally the contact person or customer service agents know very little when it comes to this sort of stuff as it is specialized or outside their knowledgebase. They are really there to walk you through using and setting up your account and to troubleshoot on a basic level. Everything else needs escalation (when they put you on hold to reach out to someone else or forward you to someone else).

The USD PayPal to a generic US based bank account works. I can't speak for Wise but believe it is virtual and there could be an issue with how that account is setup and therefore how the money is forwarded. Did you sign up with Wise as a US or Canadian person? I think Wise might be the amazon solution for selling on amazon.com without an account in the U.S. Again i don't use and never needed to use a virtual account program like Wise so my knowledge is limited and a guess.

[lkjshefilj]

@NeverAgain3 Is this still working for you? Are you able to withdraw USD from your Canadian PayPal to your Wise USD account?  

[MattG514]

I don't use Wise, I use TD cross border banking. The USD PayPal money transfers to TD Bank (USA). I can transfer between TD Bank and TD Canada Trust with no fee and keep everything in US funds. We transfer monthly sometimes 2 or 3 times. It was done in December and plan to do another transfer on Tuesday.

[Donehbbs]

I just did both accounts and confirmed the account. Four hours later they said my cross boarder account was invalid.

[NeverAgain7]

@lkjshefiljSorry for the late reply. Yes, I've managed to do so ever since my last reply but I've since then closed my PayPal account. I've recently opened a new one but haven't tried connecting my Wise account again.

[Freeworldqueen]

I hope this response finds you. So in encountering this ridiculous issue with banking (all hail crypto), the best method I have found is to open a U.S. account as a foreign national. I have mine with TD and contacted TD.com. They allowed me to open a US chequing account online and I was then able to move my USD funds from paypal to my US chequings without incurring PayPal’s ridiculous 2.5% conversion fee. You should also open a US Borderless bank account on the ‘Canadian side’ and you can wire transfer your USD funds in your US bank account to your Canadian USD Borderless account. Hope that makes sense and helps. Now you know why decentralized banking is ideal. Thank you, best of luck!

[agamat]

Hi,

This is the solution to your problem: https://www.rbcbank.com/ if you have a regular bank account with RBC in Canada and click on GET A BUNDLE.

You can also do it here:  https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/usbanking/ 

I did it in December 2023 and it worked perfectly. All my USD from Paypal got into my USD RBC bank account in canada in USD without any converting or losing money for fees because of the special offer $0 for the first year ( $39.50 USD/year thereafter for the RBC Bank U.S. Direct Checking account with eStatements and U.S. Visa Signature Black credit card.)

So, I'll just close the new account within the year. Then, I will wait until my Paypal account gets lots of USD again  and I will apply for this type of the account again in about 2-3 years. 

Here is what I did, step by step:

• I already have a RBC account in Canada in CAD and in USD, so if you don't, you need to open these accounts with them first. 
• I applied the US bank account in USA through this site https://www.rbcbank.com/ .
• I got accepted for the account and no annual fee U.S Credit Card (the special offer is for 2 - both are free) , so I got a new USD account  in USA and with it, the 9-digit routing number which is the most important thing in order to link your account to pay pal usd account.
• I linked my  USD RBC account in Canada to my new RBC USD account in USA.  (here are the instructions from them how to do it:

  " To get started transferring money from your Canadian to U.S. accounts online, you’ll need to link your U.S. and Canadian RBC online banking profiles. It’s quick and easy:

• 1. Sign-in to RBC Bank (U.S.) Online Banking  (https://www.rbcbank.com/
  2. Go to Profile & Preferences
  3. Click Link My U.S. and Canadian Online Banking Accounts and follow the simple on-screen instructions."

       But, this didn't work for me on the website because I didn't receive my new account number through email, so  I had to call them to get it: 

                                              [Removed. Phone #s not permitted]pan>

When they accounts were linked:

• I signed in to my PayPal USD and clicked on:  WALLET - LINK A BANK ACCOUNT- RBC ROYAL BANK - LINK YOUR BANK ANOTHER WAY 

   - go to the bottom of the page ( !!! this is the KEY, so of course, this part is well hidden by Pay Pal at the bottom of the page) - click on LINK A  U.S. BANK INSTEAD !!!) - write your 9-digit routing number for your new USD account in USD and your account number - click on AGREE AND LINK.

                                                                            Don't click on the option: Link a Canadian bank !!!!

• Paypal will make 2 very small deposits to your new USD account that you'll need to confirm. (It takes time! 5 days for me) , Then follow their instructions: Note the exact amounts we deposited. They'll be listed as deposits from PayPal. Log in to your PayPal account and click Confirm Bank Account - Enter the amounts we deposited.
• When Paypal account is linked to your new USD account, send the USD to it, it will take about 2-3 days (or you can pay some fees for faster transfer)
• Send the USD from the new USD account in USA to your regular USD account in Canada.  No fees, no conversion. USD to USD.

VOILÀ!

I looked for the solution for a long time and nothing was ever clear enough, so I'm trying to be very precise to help others. Hope it helps!

Good luck!