How Old Do You Have to Be to Have a PayPal Account? — Explained Digital payment platforms have made lives easier than ever not only for regular users but also for small as well as huge businesses. Even a small offline or online store today accepts online payments.
One such online platform for transactions that have been used all over the globe is PayPal. It can be used for any sort of personas or business usages. However, there are some limitations that the users have to abide by before creating an account on PayPal; one of them is users under 18 years of age cannot create an account on PayPal.
Read this article to know everything about it and how old do you have to be for PayPal.
What is PayPal, and How Does It Work? PayPal is a popular online payment system with over 224 million users across the world and over 41 million transactions happening every single day. PayPal acts as a mediator between users and their banks. When a user makes an account on PayPal, they permit PayPal to access their bank accounts or debit/credit cards for transactions.
For example, if a user wants to make a payment through their PayPal account, initially, they will need to add their bank account or debit/credit card details to link their respective accounts on PayPal and then use PayPal as their payment method. Users can add as many accounts or cards as they have.
PayPal is a free and easy-to-use payment platform. To make an account on PayPal, you will just need to fill in your details, add your bank account or card details and you are good to go.
Apart from all this, PayPal also provides features like eChecks, buying bitcoins on PayPal , sending and receiving money on PayPal , PayPal for Business, PayPal Business Card, PayPal Shipping, PayPal Business Loan, etc.
However, PayPal doesn’t just allow anyone to have an account; there are certain guidelines regarding the age of a PayPal user. Read and see how old do you have to be to have a PayPal account.
How Old Do You Have to Be to Have a PayPal Account? “How Old do you Have to be to Have a PayPal Account?”, the answer to this question is you must be at least 18 years old to use a PayPal account. PayPal user agreement says-
“If you are an individual, you must be a resident of the United States or one of its territories and at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your state of residence to open a U.S. PayPal account and use the PayPal services”.
PayPal terms and conditions apply to every user across the globe, so it is not permitted to open a PayPal account legally before the age of 18 for any country’s user.
What If You Open a PayPal Account Before 18? Opening a PayPal account before reaching the age of 18 will not necessarily make any impact. However, since PayPal’s user agreement specifically outlines the age factor in the contract, so if any user breaches the rules, PayPal is licensed to take action against their account.
The minor’s account can get suspended, or the amount deposited in their bank can be restrained. In a worst-case scenario, PayPal can discontinue their services for the long term or take legal action against them depending on the level of violation they committed.
So is there any way you can have a PayPal account before you are 18, like parents creating their children’s account? Let’s find out.
Can Other People, like Parents, Make a PayPal Account for You? Parents or guardians of a minor can create a PayPal account on their child’s behalf, link it to their account and track it. However, creating a PayPal account for a child under 18 is a violation of PayPal’s user agreement. Neither the minor nor their parents nor any other guardian is not technically allowed to make an account according to the terms and conditions.
PayPal discontinued child account services back in 2016 when children under 18 in the U.S. were caught engaging in legally binding contracts.
Though if anyone under 18 wants to have an account on any online payment platform, there are some options available other than PayPal. Let’s have a look at some of them.
Alternatives of PayPal to Use Under Age 18? Numerous apps can be used as an alternate app to PayPal, providing similar features to the users. Let’s check them out.
Owned by Amazon, Amazon Pay is online payment assistance. The service was started in 2007 in over 25 countries, including India, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many others.
Amazon Pay provides a variety of services to its users, like buying goods and services from their bank accounts or debit/credit cards linked to their Amazon accounts. Amazon also provides Amazon Pay Express for business accounts for faster money transfers.
Stripe is one of the best payment services, especially for small businesses. It accepts and enhances payments globally.
Stripe gives freedom to its users to make payments in an easy and structured way. The receiving amount on Stripe goes directly to the user’s linked bank account.
Stripe App is fully secured for personal as well as business use. This app provides the flexibility of data to its users and makes it easy for businesses to hold records, calculate, and manage their day-to-day activities.
Adyen is also a good online payment service option for personal as well as business use. Adyen provides flexible payouts and charges no setup fee. Also, payment options at Adyen are available globally.
The only drawback of this platform is they charge a fixed fee for payment processing.
Whatsapp does not need any introduction; it is one of the most popular, most-used, and simplest messaging platforms across the globe. In 2020, Whatsapp introduced an in-chat payment feature to make users pay and receive online money through their chat forum.
It is indeed an easy way to make payments; users just need to fill in their account details and link their bank accounts or cards. It does not require any separate application installation, well.
Google Pay is a well-known UPI payment service available in 62 countries at present. Google Pay was launched back in May 2011 owned by Google. It can be operated from both Android and iPhone.
It is more than just a payment service; GPay provides rewards on payment making, split payment options, chat options, fast payments, google wallets, etc.
With over 400 million users across the world, Apple Pay is the most popular payment platform among iOS users. Apple Pay provides a lot of features other than payment making. The app offers loyalty cards, bill-sharing features, etc. It is easy to use and fast.
The only drawback of Apple Pay is that the receiver also has to be the Apple Pay user.
These were the options you could choose from if you are under 18 or a guardian of an under 18 child looking for a payment platform for personal use or a start-up.
FAQs Ans: According to PayPal’s user agreement, no one lesser than 18 years old can create an account on PayPal unless the parents or guardian of the minor manages the account on their behalf.
Ans: Yes, a savings bank account can be created at the age of 13. There are some banks providing facilities to minors by opening their accounts on $0.
Ans: Yes, there are several companies providing debit cards for teenagers at low or free of cost, like Greenlight, Busykid Visa, Capital One Money, etc.
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