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?

[me_212]

so set up a new Paypal (canada) account but link the US bank account to it? It'll allow you to connect a US bank account? May I ask when you did this?  I"m just concerned Paypal (canada) caught on recently & stopped any US bank accounts to be linked. 

[ZekeDeEspanada]

I did this last spring. I tried and tried and tried every combination with our existing accounts. We called and called and called tech support. When we could get a response, advice differed between agents. Honestly, I just got tired of calling and losing money testing this that I just tried the start from fresh approach. It worked... Oh, and I forgot to mention, it transfers to the US Bank with no fees or loss in exchange. No moving from USD to CAD to USD. It is straight USD from PayPal Balance to same USD in the bank. If I could share the screen shots from PayPal and our Bank, you will see the funds come in to PayPal from the Tutoring platform, then moved out to the bank, then at the bank, received without fees. I suspect PayPal gets their cut from the commission the Tutoring platform takes. However, that is just the cost of doing business on that platform. You just adjust your charge out rates accordingly. However, there is nothing charged for moving funds to and from the bank to PayPal.

[me_212]

@ZekeDeEspanadathanks! I'll give it a try. Hope it works.  So annoying that PP canada does this.  There should be a class action lawsuit.  I wonder if PayPal in other countries does this. 

[ZekeDeEspanada]

@me_212 Oh, things keep coming back to me. I really should write all this up more clearly and concisely and put it in our blog.

So, if you use Transferwise, they actually provide you with a US Bank "Account" for transferring USD. Actually, it is their account in Evolve Bank and Trust in New York, but they provide you with the routing information required for ACH Bank to Bank and Wire Transfers either within the US or internationally. When someone sends you funds direct to this account, they end up in your Transferwise Balance. They actually provide you with an account in whatever country you are maintaining a currency balance in. So, just recently, I also linked this USD account with our Canadian PayPal Account. I only did this to see if I could do it. I doubt I would ever transfer funds this way... maybe if I wanted to move USD funds to Canada immediately from PayPal (i.e. USD in PayPal to Transferwise USD Account then direct to my Canadian bank account at a great exchange rate. I was also able to link this Transferwise Bank account to my US Bank account. Again really only to see if I could do it. 

PayPal actually set up a company, Xoom, which you can fund from your PayPal account. I guess it was to try and compete with these new international transfer companies. However the exchange rates, while slighter better than transferring with PayPal, doesn't come close to the other companies.

[me_212]

PP (ca) must've tightened up that loophole.  I opened a new PP (ca) account. Got an error msg saying it won't allow me to link a US bank account. 

[ZekeDeEspanada]

@me_212 I just remembered, the other thing I tested was sending USD between the USD balances in our Canadian accounts. If you choose "Family and Friends", there are no fees. This would allow you to move the balance out of your old account to your new one without loss. I looked back through my activity to confirm this. It was last May when I tested all this and landed on setting up a new PayPal account.

[me_212]

@ZekeDeEspanada

Not sure if you saw my reply / questions:

 "so set up a new Paypal (canada) account but link the US bank account to it? It'll allow you to connect a US bank account? May I ask when you did this?"

[ZekeDeEspanada]

@me_212 Yes, I saw your reply/question and answered it. However this forum just seems to dump replies into the main thread and I forgot to reference your usename.

So to answer, yes create a new paypal account. To do so, you will need to use another email account. I just created a new one with our Canadian Address and Canadian phone numbers. In this account, I only have one balance and I don't recall setting up a specific currency. The first thing I did before anything else was link the US Bank account. After the account was confirmed (e.g. microdeposits), I sent USD from my other Canadian Account to our new account. Then I withdrew this amount to the US Bank Account without fees nor exchange.

We set the account up in May 2020 and it has been working ever since. We receive payments in USD and transfer to US Bank without fees.

Hope this helps.

[me_212]

@ZekeDeEspanada

yes, I know about this but unfortunately they're stuck with having with USD which they might not be able to convert. 

[ZekeDeEspanada]

Oops, sorry, I reread this after posting and realized in Lesson 3, it wasn't quite correct. Opening the Chequing account did have an annual fee, $39.95. However, we've long since gotten this back on saved exchange rates and fees. I guess you have to factor in how much you will be moving. The savings accounts don't have a fee if you maintain a minimum balance. However, I'm not sure you can just open a savings account. Besides, it comes with the challenges mentioned in Lesson 7.