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?

[mroebot]

The long and short of it is - if you're a Canadian, your Paypal account is Canadian and therefore ANY funds transferred out of it will be in CAD, never USD (despite having a USD bank account linked.)  This is what I was told on the phone by a Paypal Customer Service Agent.

There is a lot of misinformation on this subject online.

If you're Canadian don't waste your time opening and linking a USD account and transferring USD into it; you'll end up paying double the conversion.

Here is the simulated case study I did today for reference, I'm an RBC client so I used their rates:

XE.com estimates 1000 USD = 1335.91 CAD

And

1000 USD will buy 1294 CAD according to RBCs Foreign Exchange Currency Converter

If I transfer $1000 USD from my Paypal Account USD balance to my linked RBC USD esavings account it will be transferred in to that USD account in CAD at: $1287 CAD (not as good as the RBC rate) and then RBC will convert that $1287 CAD to USD and you'd have about $942.37 USD in your USD account. 

Transfer once: PP USD balance to Canadian Bank: Lose about 48.91 CAD (or about 36.59 USD, or 3.66%) on every 1000 USD : NOT GREAT

Then transfer CAD to USD bank account:  lose about 57.63 USD on 1000 USD:  WORSE

So if you need your cash - put it into a CAD account.

@DBelley has a work around (however it won't work for everyone)

[bt130]

Hi,

So even if I open a US-based account like BMO Harris, Paypal won't let you link or deposit USD to BMO Harris account???

I have been told this is the only way... and was about to open BMO Harris...

Did anyone actually try this method tho? 

[Dragynfyre]

Opening a BMO Harris account worked for me. Same with TD Bank N.A. I linked both BMO Harris and TD Bank N.A. accounts to my PayPal and they were successfully confirmed. I also tested it by pulling and pushing $25 USD to transfer money between my BMO Harris and TD Bank N.A accounts and it worked smoothly. The accounts have been linked to PayPal over a week now with no issues.

[Musicman20]

Hi Any solutions yet?

[nrgcustomcables]

Hello,

Before I begin, there are some folks using a method similar to what I am about to describe, but it seems like they are trying to withdraw/access funds from a US bank account *via PayPal*, and that is *NOT* going to work - PayPal doesn't work for free, but that's why your reading this, right :).

Please follow these steps, and you should be fine:

- Open a US account through your Canadian bank, as you will need a ***US Routing Number***, IE. Simply having a "US Funds" account at your Canadian bank will NOT suffice.

- Link that account using its US Routing Number to your PayPal account, and transfer all the USD in your PayPal balance to that account.  PayPal is now completely out of the equation.

- That new US account is "linked" to your Canadian account(s) through your bank, so once the funds are in your US account, you are free to transfer them to your Canadian account(s) without fees (depending on your bank, of course), as again, PayPal is out of the equation

Cheers!

Nawaz <removed>

P.S.  Some banks may charge a fee to open/keep a US account, so please bear that in mind.

[Musicman20]

This does not work I have tried and paypal will not link to my USA bank account. After linking g paypal says your bank does not accept transfers. Have you done this?? Still need a solution!

[CKTANG]

I want to move USD to MALAYSIA PayPal MALAYSIA ringgit

[Trivan]

So, are you a Canadian? And at the time you opened those accounts you were in Canada or in the US? I think a problem for Canadian residing in Canada can NOT open a USD-based account. Should one have to be present in the US at the time of opening the account?

[Matthew514]

I am based in Canada with Canada based PayPal accounts. My USD money is sent to a U.S. bank (TD) and then transferred to my Canadian TD USD account.

[Espanada]

So, I’ve been reading in many forums that the solution to withdrawing USD from your Canadian PayPal account is to open an account in the US and withdraw to there to avoid bad exchange rates. WRONG! People who recommend this have never tried it. It doesn’t work. Reading this strategy all over various sites, we open a US bank account at RBC Bank of Georgia. We were successful linking to the account and PayPal confirmed it worked with their two small deposits. We then tried withdrawing and it bounced back. We got dinged with a fee. PayPal claimed it was the bank not accepting it but when we called the bank, they had no record of the transaction. We gave it a few days to see it the bank was taking time to set up the account. When we tried again, back it bounced. Then we moved money from our Canadian RBC Royal Bank to the RBC Bank in Georgia and then tried withdrawing $20 US dollars to our Canadian PayPal USD Balance. No problems!! PayPal gladly accept a USD deposit to a Canadian Account. So yesterday I tried withdrawing the $20 from PayPal back to the US Bank. Not only did it bounce back but I another transaction mysteriously showed up with a $0 deposit from the bank with a $20 fee charged by PayPal for that transaction!!! We are giving up this option for now and will try some of PayPal’s competitors to see if we can find a better option.