What friends and family costs on PayPal
A US friends and family payment is free from your PayPal balance or bank account. Pay by card and PayPal adds 2.90% + $0.30; send abroad and it adds 5% of the amount, at least $0.99 and at most $4.99, plus the card fee if a card funds it (PayPal Consumer Fees). The sender pays these; the recipient gets the full amount.
| Send $100 | They pay | Fees | Fee rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US · balance or bank | $100.00 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $100.00 |
| US · card | $103.20 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $100.00 |
| Abroad · bank | $104.99 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $100.00 |
| Abroad · card | $108.19 | $0.00 | 0.00% | $100.00 |
“They pay” is your total; “You keep” is what your friend receives.
PayPal Credit Card Fee: What Paying Friends by Card Costs
Paying a friend with a credit or debit card costs 2.90% + $0.30. On $100 that’s $3.20; on $500 it’s $14.80. The cheapest fix is the obvious one: link your bank or keep a PayPal balance and the fee disappears.
There’s a second, hidden cost. Some card issuers treat person-to-person payments as cash advances, with their own fee and interest from day one. Check your card’s terms before you pay rent or split a bill this way.
Sending money to another country
International friends and family transfers cost 5% of the amount, never less than $0.99 and never more than $4.99. That cap is reached at $99.80, so sending $1,000 abroad costs the same $4.99 as sending $100. If the recipient’s account is in another currency, PayPal also converts it at its own rate, which includes a spread; see the PayPal exchange rate calculator for what that costs.
Friends and family vs goods and services
Use friends and family for gifts, splitting bills and paying people you know. When money changes hands for something you’re buying, goods and services is the right option: the seller pays 2.99% and you get Purchase Protection. Run that side in the PayPal goods and services fee calculator.
