Paypal international problem

[Mahleu]

I am a British Citizen with a British bank account but I am currently in South Africa. My Paypal is convinced I am South African and will not let me withdraw my Paypal balance into my UK bank account.

[sharpiemarker]

@Mahleu 

Are you using your UK PayPal account in South Africa (ZA)? Or are you trying to link UK bank account to ZA PayPal account?

PayPal accounts are country specific and don’t always work the same way.

The only bank account that one can link to PayPal accounts around the world is US bank account.

[Mahleu]

My Paypal account is a .com, not .com/za. Was created many years ago to buy from ebay.co.uk. 

I don't need to link my bank, I just need to withdraw my paypal balance. There must be a way for non US sellers to do this. 

[kernowlass]

@Mahleu 

Paypal is country specific so if you move countries you have to open another paypal account in the country you reside in and add an address / phone number / bank accounts / cards from within that country.

You should really withdraw any funds / resolve issues / remove cards and bank accounts / cancel any subscriptions and close the old Paypal account before you move countries. If you don't then you may have problems doing so once you have moved and may need to contact customer services for help to resolve things.

You can however add a U.S bank account (not card) to 'most' other countries paypal accounts. This is because paypal is a U.S company and so allows this.

[Mahleu]

My Paypal was registered with a UK address. It's still my primary address. The funds in my account are even in GBP. 

[kernowlass]

@Mahleu 

Yes but you can't use a UK paypal account in SOUTH AFRICA.

[Mahleu]

Where I am is irrelevant. I'm trying to take a payment made from the UK into my UK Paypal, and pay it into my UK bank account. 

[kernowlass]

@Mahleu 

Where you are IS relevant, you can't use a paypal COUNTRY SPECIFIC paypal account in another country, hence your problem.

[Mahleu]

When I try to update my address, it demands a ZIP code. Neither the UK nor SA use ZIP codes. 

So basically I need to convert my GBP to ZAR, pay it into a South African account, less fees. Then transfer it to a UK bank account, less more fees.