How to use PayPal with a Jamaican Bank Account

As an International Shopper, there are so many restrictions especially as it relates to Payment. Today, we will be looking at how you can use Paypal with your Bank Account as an International Shopper.

Firstly, there are many people who have no idea what PayPal is or how it works. According to Wikipedia

“PayPal is a global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet“

In order to use Paypal, you must sign up for a Paypal Account.Registration can be done by visiting the official website https://www.paypal.com/jm/webapps/mpp/home. Start by selecting your country/region then your language, from here there will be two options “Individual” and “Business”. Select the option that is relevant to you, there is no charge for signing up for both options.  At the end of your sign up page there is a check box to “link your credit card” which is optional but highly recommended.

The Tricky Part

Now that you’ve signed up for your account, it’s time to shop. This is where your bank will come into place. At your initial sign up you linked a card to your Paypal account. If you have a Visa Debit/Credit Card or a Master card these will work well with PayPal. However, there are two banks in Jamaica that has partnered with PayPal to make your online commerce safe and secure, these are Bank of Nova Scotia and National Commercial Bank. If you are shopping as an Individual whenever you select the option to pay for your goods with Paypal that exact amount will be deducted from your account plus the bank fee which is usually $15 Jmd, you will be sent an Invoice which reflects your purchase from the merchant and you will also be able to check your bank statement at your local bank. If you are shopping as a business, it will be the reverse. For example, if you have an E-commerce site or offer a particular service the money will be sent to your account and Paypal will add a fee, this fee is not one set rate as it depends on the amount of money that was sent to you. It is usually anywhere starts at $1.42. The downside to using Paypal as a business is that there are several restrictions.

·         For Jamaicans, you can only transfer money from Paypal to your account if its $150 Usd and over. Therefore, the money will literally be sitting in your Paypal account only for shopping purposes.

·         Once you have $150, you will able to “Request a Check” from Paypal which takes 4-6 days to process and will attract a $5 usd fee.

Paypal is a very convenient and secure way for Jamaicans to shop online if you are an individual. It is a great way to pay for your items without merchants seeing your personal information which is a big concern for many Jamaicans