How to open a PayPal account

Do you have to make online purchases but don't want to give your credit card details to third parties? You could deal with this by opening a PayPal account , an Internet money transfer service that allows you to purchase products online without disclosing your credit card number or bank account details to the recipient of the payment.

The service is free - you only pay commissions on some particular operations - and to use it you just need a credit card, even a prepaid one, to be associated with your account. Payments can be made directly with PayPal credit or with the funds present on the credit card (or even with a bank account, if one is associated with PayPal).

Too good to be true? Nothing at all. PayPal is a secure company, long-time controlled by eBay, and everyone can use its services. You just need to be 18 years old. If you too are ready to take advantage of it, then take five minutes or a little more of free time and discover with me, by reading the instructions below,  how to open a PayPal account . It's really a no-brainer, believe me.

Note: Opening a PayPal account is an operation that can be carried out without any kind of problem either from a computer , using the web browser, or from a smartphone , using the official app of the service. Which of the two solutions to choose is clearly up to you alone, based on your needs and preferences. For my part, I can only tell you that the result is identical in both cases.

Open a PayPal account from a computer

If you are interested in understanding what you need to do in order to open a PayPal account, the first step you need to take is to connect to the home page of the service by clicking here and then click on the Register button located at the top right.

In the screen that opens, choose whether to open a personal account or a business account  by selecting one of the two available options and presses the Continue button to go on. If you don't know which type of account to choose, the main differences between PayPal personal and business accounts are explained below.

• Personal account (also called PayPal for you or Premier account) - This is a type of account intended for a single, private user. It allows you to buy goods and services online, send and receive money to other users subscribed to the service.
• Business account - This is a type of account intended for companies and allows access to up to 20 users. It includes all the functions of the personal account plus extra features, such as email payments, cumulative payments and advanced payment logs.

After choosing the type of account to create, fill out the form that is proposed by typing in the appropriate fields that are shown on the screen your country of origin (eg Italy), your email address and the password you want to use to log in to the service (with relative confirmation repetition). I recommend, choose a secure password, not complete sense, which is composed of at least 8 characters (preferably 10-15) and contains lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and special characters (e.g. exclamation points, hashs etc. ).

Then click on the Continue button and proceed to fill in the second form that is proposed to you by entering all your personal data (name, surname, address, mobile number and so on). Put the check mark next to the item I confirm that I have read and accepted the conditions of use and the PayPal privacy policy and press the Accept and continue button to move on to the next step.

The next step is to associate a credit card (also rechargeable) to your account. The credit card is used to verify your identity and to make online purchases even when no funds are available on the PayPal account: the PayPal account - to put it simply - acts as a "bridge" allowing you to pay for goods and services online without having to provide to third parties the data of their credit card. Associating a credit card with the PayPal account is also an operation that must necessarily be carried out in order to remove the withdrawal / deposit limits initially envisaged on the account. To be precise, in the event of limits it is not possible to withdraw more than $ 750.00 per month or € 1,000.00 per year from your account and it is not possible to collect sums exceeding $ 2,500.00.

Therefore, enter your credit card details in the appropriate form, check that the billing address is correct and click on the Connect a card button to complete the PayPal registration process. If you do not have your credit card details at hand, click on the PayPal logo at the top left to access your account directly without associating a credit card, you will do this later.

At this point you can finally say you are satisfied: you managed to open a PayPal account, congratulations! To confirm this, you should finally see the main screen through which to manage the account. Before you can sing victory and can consider the whole procedure definitively concluded, however, you must carry out further steps: validate your e-mail address and your mobile number that you provided during registration.

• To validate the e-mail address provided during the procedure to create a PayPal account, connected to the main page of your PayPal account, click on the Confirm email address item , access the previously specified email address, access the  Inbox section , press the subject of the message that was sent to you by PayPal and then click on  Confirm email address  that you find in the message.
• To validate the mobile number provided during the procedure to create a PayPal account, connected to the main page of your PayPal account, click on the item  Confirm the mobile number  which is located at the top and then click on  Send code  to receive a verification code by SMS to be typed in the space provided on the PayPal website.

Keep in mind that if you have not yet associated a credit card with your PayPal account, I invite you to carry out this operation as soon as possible for the reasons mentioned above.

To do this, click on the  Wallet item  located in the menu at the top of your Paypal account page and then click on the  Connect a card button  and fill out the form that is proposed to you by entering all the required data. Then select  VISA  or  MasterCard from the Card Type  drop-down menu  , enter the card number, its expiry date and the CVV (the three-digit secret code found on the back of the card) and click on the  Save button  to complete the 'operation.

Now go back to the main page of your account, click on the bell -shaped button located at the top right and click on the item  Confirm your credit or prepaid card and  then follow the instructions that are shown to you on the screen.

Once this is done, a small charge will be made on the card you have associated with PayPal which will be used to provide you with a special 4-digit code that you will need to type into your online account to confirm that you are the real cardholder. The code to be entered on the PayPal account, which is essential to confirm that you are the true cardholder, will be indicated in the reason for the charge. To find it you will therefore have to wait a couple of days and then you will have to consult the card statement.

After obtaining the special code, go back to the  Wallet section  of your PayPal account, click on your card icon and select the  Confirm credit card item  to type the code found in the statement and confirm your identity.

Once the operation is completed, you will finally be able to use all the functions of your PayPal account. For more information, see my article on  how PayPal works .

Open PayPal account from smartphone

You can also open a PayPal account on smartphones and tablets through the PayPal application for  Android ,  iPhone / iPad  and  Windows Phone . Just download it and start it, tap the  Register button  at the bottom right, press the Ignore item and fill out the registration form for the service.

The information to be provided is always the same: email, password, personal data and credit card. Then accept the conditions of the service by placing a check mark next to the appropriate item and then tap on Accept and create account .

Once the operation is complete, you will be able to manage your account, send and receive money directly from the PayPal app, the app has the same characteristics as PayPal in the Web version.

Using the Manage balance section  you can manage your money, the View History section allows you to see all the history of operations carried out while the Send money and Request money items allow you, respectively, to send and request money from your contacts. By pressing the button in the shape of a gear wheel located at the top on the right you can instead manage everything concerning your profile (banking institutions and cards, personal data, notifications and so on). For more details, take a look at the guide I suggested you consult in the previous lines.