How to Send Money from PayPal to Venmo: A Full Guide 2023
You can’t send a payment directly from PayPal to Venmo – or from Venmo to PayPal. However, there are a few workarounds if you hold money in PayPal and want to move it to Venmo – or vice versa.
We’ll look at some different ways to approach this in this guide, including using an alternative provider like Remitly or Wise. Alternative providers like these could be especially handy – and cut your transaction costs – if you hold a PayPal balance in a foreign currency and need to convert it to USD to move it to Venmo, or if you want to send an international transfer. We’ll cover more on that later.
Can You Send Money From PayPal to Venmo?
At the moment you can’t send money from PayPal to Venmo directly. However, there are a few work-around options which we’ll explore in this guide.
Of course, PayPal and Venmo might not be your only payment options – or the best providers out there for your transfer needs. You can learn more about alternatives to Venmo or alternatives to PayPal in these handy guides.
Alternatives for International Transfers
PayPal and Venmo are really useful for making fast, simple payments within the US, and in US dollars. However, they may not be the best fit if you need to send a payment to someone overseas. Venmo isn’t internationally available – and while you can use PayPal to send a transfer overseas, you’ll usually run into some pretty steep fees, plus a currency conversion charge.
Instead of PayPal and Venmo, check out a few specialist services for sending money internationally.
Popular options include Remitly, Wise and Xe. Let’s take a look at how these providers measure up, and the features and fees you can expect.
Wise Money Transfer
- Send to 70+ countries, in 50+ currencies with the mid-market exchange rate
- Transfers deposited into the recipient’s bank account for convenience
- Payments are fast – can even be instant – and are arranged online or in the Wise app
Remitly Money Transfer
- Over 75 currencies are supported, with payout options including bank and mobile money deposits, and cash collection
- Choose a lower fee for an economy transfer, or a faster express payment which can arrive in minutes
- Exchange rates include a markup, which is often lower than the markup added by regular banks
XE Money Transfer
- Send payments to 130+ currencies and 220+ countries and territories, online and in the XE app
- Pay by card or bank transfer, and have your money deposited in your recipient’s bank account directly
- Exchange rates include a markup, which is often lower than the markup added by regular banks
| Provider/feature | Wise | Remitly | Xe Money Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| International transfer fees | Low, variable fee based on destination country | Variable fee depending on destination and delivery speed | Variable fee depending on destination |
| Exchange rates | Wise Exhange Rate: Mid-market exchange rates | Remitly Exchange Rate: Exchange rates include a markup | Xe Exchange Rate: Exchange rates include a markup |
| International transfer speed | More than 50% of payments arrive instantly, 90% arrive within 24 hours | Economy payments – 3 to 5 days Express payments arrive within minutes | 1 – 4 days |
Which alternative provider is best for you will depend a lot on the specific payment you need to make. You’ll need to double check the provider you select supports the country you’re sending to, and offers the pay out method you prefer. Then you can compare the fee options and exchange rates from each to pick the one which offers the best balance of cost and convenience for you.
How to Send Money from PayPal to Venmo – All Options
Unfortunately at this stage there is no direct way to send money from PayPal to Venmo. Even though both payment platforms work in similar ways, and have a similar user experience, they’re not linked.
If you want to send money to someone from your PayPal account, the easiest way might be to simply have your recipient open a PayPal account and use that instead of trying to send to Venmo. Opening an account with PayPal is easy and free. Once your recipient has opened their PayPal account they can then withdraw the payment you send to their regular bank account, or use it when shopping online for example.
However, that might not always be possible to just avoid the problem. So what to do if someone has asked you to Venmo them and you want to pay from your PayPal balance? Or if you’re looking to transfer money between PayPal and Venmo accounts you hold in your own name?
Options for transferring money from PayPal to Venmo:
- Send the money from PayPal to your linked bank account and then use it to fund a Venmo payment
- Link a PayPal debit card to your Venmo account
- Consider an alternative provider
Method #1: Send Money Through a Bank Account
If you’re likely to need to transfer funds between PayPal and Venmo regularly, it’s probably worth linking a common bank account to both PayPal and Venmo so you can set up transfers this way.
You’ll need to link your bank account to PayPal, and verify it in the PayPal app. Link the same account to your Venmo account. Then withdraw your funds to the bank account from PayPal, and send over to Venmo instead.
Costs: No fee for a standard transfer from PayPal to your bank account as long as no currency conversion is required. 1.75% fee to make an instant transfer or send to your linked card. If currency conversion is needed, an additional fee of 3% – 4% is applied.
Speed: Standard bank transfers may take a few days to arrive. For a quicker withdrawal, choose an instant transfer.
Method #2: Link PayPal Debit Card to Venmo Account
Another option is to order a PayPal debit card, and add this to your Venmo account. Link your PayPal card to Venmo, and then use it to make transfers which can be funded by your PayPal balance.
This can be handy as there should be no cost as long as your PayPal balance is already held in USD. However, if you don’t already have a PayPal card, it’s a slow option as it’ll take a few days to get your card delivered.
Costs: No monthly or annual card fees, so you shouldn’t need to pay any PayPal or Venmo charges to use this method, as long as no currency conversion is needed
Speed: It will take several days to receive your PayPal card – once you have it, transfers should be more or less instant
Method #3: Consider Alternative Providers
PayPal and Venmo can be good for USD transfers – but they’re not usually the best or cheapest option to send payments in other currencies. If you’re sending a payment in a foreign currency – or if you need to withdraw your balance in USD and then send it on to someone overseas, consider an alternative like Remitly or Wise.
One option, for example, could be to open a free online Wise account, and link this to your PayPal account. Withdraw your funds in USD to Wise, and convert them to the currency you need for your payment using the mid-market exchange rate and low Wise fees from 0.41%.
This avoids the PayPal currency conversion charge, which runs up to 3% or 4% depending on the transaction type – but still lets you send on your funds in the currency of your choice.
Here’s a reminder of the providers we looked at earlier, and why you might consider them:
Wise review: great for low cost transfers to bank accounts, all currency conversion uses the mid-market rate
Remitly review: strong option for sending payments for cash collection or home delivery, with varied fees and delivery times depending on your requirements
XE Money Transfer review: Send money to pretty much any country in the world, online or in-app, for deposit in your recipient’s bank account
Pros and Cons
| Method #1: Send Money Through a Bank Account | Method #2: Link PayPal Debit Card to Venmo Account |
|---|---|
|
|
The Cost of Sending Money From Paypal to Venmo
| Sending money from PayPal to Venmo payment method | Costs of the payment method |
|---|---|
| Use linked bank account to connect PayPal and Venmo accounts |
|
| Link a PayPal debit card to your Venmo account |
|
What to avoid when sending money from PayPal to Venmo
As you’ve seen, there are a few potential costs you might run into when you make a payment from PayPal to Venmo. There are also extra fees if you’re using a bank account in a foreign currency, or hold a PayPal balance in anything other than USD.
Costs may include upfront admin fees, and markups added to the exchange rate used. These charges can push up the overall price of currency conversion significantly, and make it more expensive to send money from PayPal to Venmo.
Let’s say you hold a PayPal balance in euros, and want to use it to send a payment to a friend using Venmo. Venmo payments can only be accepted in USD, so you’ll need to convert the euro balance you hold to dollars to pass it on. One way to do this is to convert the money in your PayPal account before you send it to your linked bank account, or before you use it to send to Venmo using your PayPal card. However, in this case you’ll pay PayPal’s currency conversion fee which is 3% of the payment value, as well as any other fees you need to pay as part of the transfer.
You’ll often find that providers like Remitly and Wise can offer better exchange rates, faster international transfers and lower fees on transfers between different currencies.
How to connect PayPal to Venmo
As we’ve seen, there is no direct way to connect PayPal and Venmo, to make transfers between the two providers. If you’re going to need to move money between PayPal and Venmo frequently, using a linked common bank account in your name is probably the easiest option. To set this up, take the following steps:
- Log into PayPal and link your preferred USD bank account to your PayPal account
- Check the same bank account is linked to your Venmo account – link to Venmo if not
- From your PayPal account, select the option to withdraw funds to your bank account
- Enter the withdrawal amount and select the bank account you want to withdraw to
- Once the payment arrives in your bank account you can use the funds to make a Venmo payment as normal
Conclusion: Is it possible to transfer money from PayPal to Venmo?
So there you have it – the full guide to sending money from PayPal to Venmo. At the moment making payments between these two major platforms is not a straightforward process. Using one of the workarounds we have explored can help you connect Venmo and PayPal to process a payment. Watch out for the potential costs, and try to give yourself a few days to get everything set up to make sure everything goes smoothly.
If you hold funds in a foreign currency in PayPal – or if you want to send money to someone based overseas and need currency conversion, you may find an alternative provider like Wise or Remitly can offer lower fees and a better exchange rate.
Consider sending your money from PayPal to a Wise account to send it on to bank accounts in any of 70+ supported countries – or use Remitly to get your money to 100+ countries with great options for cash collection.
