> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.referly.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# PayPal

> Connect PayPal to Referly to pay affiliate commissions instantly. Step-by-step setup: PayPal Business account, enabling Payouts, Client ID and Secret, automatic payouts, fees, and troubleshooting.

PayPal is the simplest cash payout method to set up in Referly, and for a lot of programs it's the one affiliates ask for by name. Connect it once and Referly sends commissions straight to your affiliates' PayPal accounts — no approval step, no manual transfers.

The setup has one catch that trips people up: PayPal doesn't let you send bulk payouts by default. You have to apply for it. This guide covers that, along with everything else — the PayPal-side steps, the Referly-side steps, what your affiliates do, and what happens when things go wrong.

## What the PayPal integration can and can't do

**What it does:**

* Pays every affiliate in a batch at once, straight from your PayPal balance.
* **Sends immediately.** Unlike [Wise](/docs/help-center/integrations/wise), there's no second approval step — when you press send, the money goes. This is the fastest method Referly offers.
* Pays to an email address, so affiliates don't have to hand over bank details.
* Keeps payout statuses in step with PayPal, so payouts flip to Paid or Failed on their own.
* Can run entirely on its own, if you turn on automatic payouts.
* Emails you when a payout fails, with the reason PayPal gave.

**What it can't do:**

* **It can't work on a Personal PayPal account.** You need a PayPal Business account, and PayPal has to have verified it.
* **It can't work until PayPal approves you for Payouts.** This isn't a switch you flip — PayPal reviews your business and your reason for wanting it. See Step 3.
* **It can't be undone once sent.** Because there's no approval step, a mistake goes out immediately. Check the batch before you press send.
* **It can't pay someone whose email doesn't match a PayPal account.** PayPal will email them an invitation instead, and if they don't claim it within 30 days the money comes back to you.
* **It can't reach everywhere.** PayPal supports Payouts in over 156 countries and more than 23 currencies, but not all of them, and Argentina, Brazil, and Malaysia have extra currency restrictions.
* **It can't send unlimited amounts in one payment.** PayPal caps individual payments at 20,000 USD (or the local equivalent) unless you arrange otherwise with them.

## How PayPal compares to Wise

|                            | PayPal                                     | Wise                                   |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| Affiliate provides         | An email address                           | An email address, or full bank details |
| Approval step              | None — sends immediately                   | You approve and fund in Wise           |
| Affiliate needs an account | Yes, or they claim by email within 30 days | Not for the bank option                |
| Speed                      | Immediate                                  | 1 to 3 business days after you approve |
| Setup difficulty           | Needs PayPal's approval for Payouts        | Needs a verified Wise Business account |

Plenty of programs run both and let affiliates choose. See [Payout methods](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/payout-methods).

## Before you start

<Steps>
  <Step title="A PayPal Business account">
    Personal accounts can't send payouts. If you have one, you can upgrade it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="A verified account with a confirmed email">
    PayPal won't approve Payouts on an unverified account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Payouts approved on your account">
    Covered in Step 3. Allow time — this isn't instant.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Money available to send">
    Either a funded PayPal balance or a linked bank account PayPal can draw from.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Admin access to your Referly program">
    You need to be able to open Program Settings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 1: Get a PayPal Business account

This happens on PayPal's site.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign up or upgrade">
    Go to [paypal.com](https://www.paypal.com) and create a Business account. If you already have a Personal account, sign in and look for the option to upgrade to Business — you keep the same login and balance.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter your business details">
    PayPal asks for your legal business name, address, type of business, and what you sell. Use details that match your registration documents.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete verification">
    PayPal may ask for documents proving your business and identity. Do this now — Payouts approval depends on it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 2: Confirm your email and link a funding source

PayPal needs to know money can actually leave the account.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm your email address">
    PayPal sends a confirmation link when you sign up. If you skipped it, request a new one from your account settings.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Link and confirm a bank account">
    PayPal usually confirms it with small test deposits, which take a few days to arrive. Confirming a bank account also removes sending limits that would otherwise block larger batches.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide how payouts get funded">
    You can keep a balance topped up, or let PayPal pull from your linked bank. A balance is more predictable; a bank draw means you can't be caught short mid-batch.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 3: Get Payouts enabled on your PayPal account

This is the step people miss, and nothing works without it. PayPal's Payouts feature — the one that sends money to many people at once, previously called Mass Pay — has to be switched on for your account, and PayPal decides whether to allow it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to the PayPal Developer site">
    Open [developer.paypal.com](https://developer.paypal.com) and select **Log in to Dashboard** in the top right. Sign in with the same credentials as your PayPal Business account — it's the same login, not a separate one.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open My Account">
    Select **My Account** in the left-hand menu.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find Payouts and request it">
    Scroll down to **Payouts** and select **Enable**. PayPal asks what you'll use it for.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Explain what you're doing">
    Say you're paying affiliate or referral commissions to partners, roughly how many people and how much per month, and that payments go to partners rather than customers. A clear, honest answer gets approved faster than a vague one.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Wait for approval">
    PayPal reviews it. This can take a few business days, sometimes longer, and they may come back with questions. You can do everything else in this guide while you wait — but payouts will fail until it's approved.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  PayPal requires a Business account, a completed verification, and an acceptable business justification before it approves Payouts. If you're declined, PayPal support can tell you why — usually it's incomplete verification or an unclear description of what you're paying for.
</Warning>

## Step 4: Create an app and copy your Client ID and Secret

These two values are what you paste into Referly.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Developer Dashboard">
    Still on [developer.paypal.com](https://developer.paypal.com), signed in with your business account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Switch to Live">
    There's a **Sandbox** and **Live** toggle. Make sure you're on **Live** — Sandbox credentials only move fake money, and pasting them into Referly means real payouts silently go nowhere.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open Apps and Credentials">
    Select **Apps & Credentials**. You may already have a Default Application listed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create an app">
    Select **Create App**, name it something you'll recognise (for example `Referly affiliate payouts`), and create it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check Payouts is ticked in the app's features">
    Open the app and look at its list of features. **Payouts** should be enabled. If the option isn't there at all, your account hasn't been approved yet — go back to Step 3.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy the Client ID and Secret">
    The Client ID is shown on the page. For the Secret, select **Show**. Copy both. Treat the Secret like a password — it can move money out of your account.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 5: Test in Sandbox first

Worth doing if you want to see the whole flow before real money is involved, though you can skip straight to connecting if you'd rather.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Switch the Developer Dashboard to Sandbox">
    Use the same toggle from Step 4.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Look at your test accounts">
    Under **Testing Tools → Sandbox Accounts**, PayPal gives you a fake business account and a fake personal account, each with a balance. These are the sender and the recipient.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a Sandbox app and copy its credentials">
    Same as Step 4, but in Sandbox.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Remember to switch back">
    Sandbox credentials never move real money. When you're ready to go live, disconnect and reconnect with Live credentials.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 6: Connect PayPal to Referly

Now you're back in Referly.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open your payout settings">
    Go to **Program Settings → Program details → Payout settings**. More detail in [Payout settings](/docs/help-center/settings/program/payout-settings).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Connect account on the PayPal card">
    It's in the **Cash Payout Methods** section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Paste your Client ID">
    Into the **Client ID** field.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Paste your Client Secret">
    Into the **Client Secret** field. Use the eye icon to check for a stray space — that's the usual reason this fails.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Connect">
    Referly checks the credentials against PayPal. If they're wrong you'll see "Invalid PayPal credentials".
  </Step>
</Steps>

When it works you'll see a "Paypal account connected successfully" message and a green **Connected** badge at the top of the panel.

The panel also has a **Where can you find your client id and client secret?** section that repeats the short version of Steps 3 and 4 if you need it later.

## Step 7: Turn PayPal on as a payout method

Connecting the account and offering it to affiliates are two separate things.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Toggle the PayPal card on">
    On the **Payout settings** page, switch the PayPal card on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Affiliates will see PayPal as an option next time they open their payout settings.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Turn on automatic PayPal payouts

Because PayPal sends immediately, Referly can run the whole thing without you. In the PayPal panel, switch on **Automatically send PayPal payouts**.

With this on, new PayPal batches are submitted to PayPal as soon as they become payable — you never press Pay. Combined with a [payout schedule](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/schedule), affiliates get paid on time without anyone remembering to do it.

<Warning>
  There's no approval step and no undo. Before turning this on, be confident in your commission approval process and your [minimum payout amount](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/minimum-amount) — anything that reaches a payable batch will be sent.
</Warning>

## How your affiliates set up PayPal

<Steps>
  <Step title="They open their payout settings">
    In the affiliate portal, under **Settings → Payouts → Cash payouts**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="They pick PayPal Payouts">
    The card is labelled **PayPal Payouts**, described as "Get paid via PayPal".
  </Step>

  <Step title="They enter a payout email address">
    In the **Payout Email Address** field. This is the only detail PayPal needs.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  The email has to match a PayPal account they control, exactly. A typo doesn't produce an error — PayPal treats it as a new person, emails an invitation to that address, and holds the money as unclaimed. After 30 days it comes back to you. Tell affiliates to copy the address from their PayPal account rather than typing it.
</Info>

Affiliates who don't have a PayPal account can still be paid. PayPal emails them a link to sign up and claim it. They have 30 days.

## Pay a batch through PayPal

### Review before you send

Open the batch and select the pay action. The **Pay with PayPal** dialog shows the total and reminds you that "PayPal sends money immediately — no additional approval needed."

Referly also flags affiliates with no payout email, since they'll be skipped. See [Payout batches](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/batches).

This is your last checkpoint. Read the total.

<Info>
  PayPal decides the fee at the moment it sends, so Referly can't show you an exact figure beforehand. The dialog notes that PayPal fees are deducted from the payout amount.
</Info>

### Send the payments

Select **Send PayPal Payments**. Referly submits the whole batch to PayPal at once.

The confirmation reads **PayPal Payouts Sent**, status **Sent**. The money is gone from your account at this point.

### Watch the statuses settle

PayPal processes each payment separately and reports back to Referly, so statuses update on their own:

| Status     | Meaning                                          |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Processing | Submitted to PayPal, being processed             |
| Paid       | PayPal delivered it to the affiliate             |
| Failed     | PayPal blocked, denied, returned, or refunded it |

When every payout reaches Paid, the batch is marked paid and you get a confirmation email. If PayPal rejects the whole batch, it's marked failed and Referly emails you. Individual failures are recorded on the payout with PayPal's reason. See [Batch statuses](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/batch-statuses) and [Failed payouts](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/failed-payouts).

<Note>
  An unclaimed payout isn't a failure yet. It sits with PayPal for up to 30 days while the affiliate is nudged to claim it, then either lands or comes back to you.
</Note>

## Common reasons a PayPal payout doesn't land

PayPal gives a reason for each one, which Referly records on the payout.

| What PayPal says                    | What it means                                                                                | What to do                                                                               |
| ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Receiver unregistered               | The email has no PayPal account. PayPal has emailed them a sign-up link                      | Ask the affiliate to sign up and claim within 30 days, or give you a different email     |
| Receiver unconfirmed                | They have an account but haven't confirmed the email or phone. The payment sits as unclaimed | Ask them to confirm their details in PayPal. Unclaimed funds return to you after 30 days |
| Insufficient funds                  | Your PayPal balance and funding source can't cover the batch                                 | Top up or confirm your linked bank, then re-run the payout                               |
| Sending to your own account         | An affiliate entered an email that belongs to your PayPal account                            | Ask them for their own address                                                           |
| Receiver's country not allowed      | PayPal doesn't support payouts to where they are                                             | Pay them via [Wise](/docs/help-center/integrations/wise) instead                              |
| Currency not supported for receiver | Their account can't receive the currency you're sending                                      | Check PayPal's supported currencies, or use another method                               |

## Fees, currencies, and limits

* **Fees.** PayPal charges *you* a percentage of each payment, capped at a set amount in your currency. Cross-border payments cost more than domestic ones. Your affiliates pay nothing to receive. Rates vary by country — [PayPal's merchant fees page](https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees) is the source of truth.
* **Currency conversion.** If you pay in a currency the affiliate's account doesn't hold, PayPal converts it and applies its own conversion spread.
* **Coverage.** PayPal supports Payouts in more than 156 countries and over 23 currencies. Argentina, Brazil, and Malaysia have extra currency restrictions.
* **Limits.** Individual payments are capped at 20,000 USD or local equivalent by default, and there's no cap on the batch total. Contact PayPal if you need a higher per-payment limit.

## Pay inside PayPal instead

You don't have to use the connected flow. From a batch, open the actions menu and choose **Export PayPal CSV**. The file contains each affiliate's email, amount, currency, name, and a reference, formatted for PayPal's own bulk upload.

If you pay this way, Referly can't track it — you'll need to mark the batch as paid yourself. See [Export payouts](/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/export).

## Disconnect PayPal

Open the PayPal card in **Payout settings** and select **Disconnect**. This removes your credentials from Referly and stops payouts updating themselves.

Payments already sent still complete — PayPal doesn't care that Referly disconnected — but you'll have to check on them in PayPal and update Referly by hand.

If you're disconnecting because the Secret leaked, also delete the app in the PayPal Developer Dashboard. Removing it from Referly doesn't invalidate it on PayPal's side.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see                                                 | What's wrong                                                                                | What to do                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| "Invalid PayPal credentials"                                 | Wrong Client ID or Secret, a stray space, or Sandbox credentials pasted into a live program | Re-copy both from the **Live** side of the Developer Dashboard                                                   |
| Connects fine, but every payout fails                        | Payouts isn't approved on your PayPal account yet                                           | Go to **My Account** on the Developer site, check the Payouts status, and complete PayPal's approval             |
| The Payouts option isn't in the app's feature list           | Your account isn't approved for Payouts                                                     | Request it as described in Step 3                                                                                |
| An affiliate is skipped when you pay                         | They haven't entered a payout email                                                         | Ask them to complete **Settings → Payouts → Cash payouts**                                                       |
| Money went out but the affiliate says nothing arrived        | Unclaimed, because the email has no confirmed PayPal account                                | Have them check that inbox, including spam, and claim within 30 days                                             |
| Money came back about a month later                          | Nobody claimed it in 30 days                                                                | Confirm their correct PayPal email and re-run the payout                                                         |
| The whole batch was denied                                   | PayPal blocked it — often insufficient funds or an account restriction                      | Check for PayPal's email and any notice inside your PayPal account, fix it, then re-run                          |
| Payouts stuck on Processing                                  | PayPal hasn't finished, or the status feed was interrupted                                  | Check the batch in your PayPal activity. If PayPal shows it complete, reconnect PayPal in Referly                |
| You sent the wrong amount                                    | There's no undo on PayPal payouts                                                           | If it's still unclaimed you can cancel it in PayPal. Once claimed, you'll have to ask the affiliate to return it |
| The account is fine but PayPal keeps refusing larger batches | Your account has an unconfirmed bank account or an unresolved sending limit                 | Confirm your bank account in PayPal and check for any limits notice                                              |

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Payout methods" icon="wallet" href="/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/payout-methods" arrow>
    Compare every way you can pay affiliates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Wise" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left" href="/docs/help-center/integrations/wise" arrow>
    Pay in more currencies, with an approval step.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Local bank account payouts" icon="building-columns" href="/docs/help-center/integrations/wise-local-bank" arrow>
    Send money straight to affiliates' bank accounts.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Referly Payouts" icon="handshake" href="/docs/help-center/integrations/referly-payouts" arrow>
    Let Referly pay your affiliates and handle the paperwork.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Payout batches" icon="layer-group" href="/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/batches" arrow>
    How batches are built, reviewed, and paid.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Failed payouts" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/docs/help-center/manage/payouts/failed-payouts" arrow>
    What to do when a payout doesn't reach an affiliate.
  </Card>
</Columns>