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Henry Williams
Milly Fox-JonesMany or all of the products and brands we promote and feature including our ‘Partner Spotlights’ are from our partners who compensate us. However, this does not influence our editorial opinion found in articles, reviews and our ‘Best’ tables. Our opinion is our own. Read more on our methodology here.
PayPal Working Capital is a cash advance delivered directly into your PayPal business account, with repayments automatically deducted as a percentage of each sale you make. PayPal charges a one-off fixed fee for its cash advance, but there is no interest to pay while you are repaying the working capital. It’s up to you what your business spends this loan on – for example, it could be to pay for overheads and invoices or to buy stock.
As long as you’ve paid off one cash advance, you can apply for another, making it a potential ongoing source of finance for PayPal’s business customers.
PayPal Working Capital
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Representative APRAvailable on application
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Representative ExampleAvailable on application
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Available amounts£1,000 – £125,000 (first time applicants) | £1,000 – £185,000 (subsequent applications)
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Available TermsVaries
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Key features
- Amount borrowableWith PayPal Working Capital cash advance, you can borrow between £1,000 and £125,000 for first-time applicants and up to £185,000 for businesses that are applying again, subject to eligibility.
- AvailabilityYou can apply for PayPal Working Capital if your business is registered in the UK; has had a PayPal business account for at least three months; and your business has processed £9,000 or more of sales annually through its PayPal business account.
- Fixed feeYou’ll pay a fixed percentage of the sales you have processed through your PayPal business account. This fee, which is added up front to the cash advanced to you, will be determined by the size of the cash advance and your sales history.
PayPal Working Capital pros & cons
Pros
- There is a single fixed fee, which PayPal will explain in the agreement you’ll sign before taking out the loan. This is based on your Working Capital cash advance terms, with no interest, late fees or fees for any additional payments you make.
- PayPal does not charge additional fees if your PayPal sales fluctuate or if you have days without sales.
- Approval is based on your PayPal sales and account history, so you won’t need to provide extra documentation and your credit score won’t be affected.
- The term length is flexible because you’ll repay your loan as a fixed percentage of your PayPal sales volume.
Cons
- A minimum repayment must be made every 90 days even if your business has made no sales.
- As PayPal has no branches, there is no face-to-face customer service.
- You have to have held a PayPal business account for at least three months before you are eligible to apply for Working Capital.
- PayPal has a ‘bad’ rating on Trustpilot – however, this is for the PayPal brand as a whole and not specifically for Working Capital.
- You must not divert sales from your PayPal account until you have repaid your cash advance.
The pros and cons featured here are chosen by us based on a combination of our expert, research-based opinions and an exclusive survey of UK business owners and decision makers. The survey was conducted on behalf of NerdWallet UK in December 2022 to identify the business loans features that people feel are most important. They are unlikely to be the only product features and restrictions that you should consider. Pros and cons are subjective and you should align them to your own personal and business circumstances. Information was correct at the time of publication but may have changed since.
PayPal Working Capital full review
PayPal Working Capital is a cash advance offered to UK-registered businesses that have had a PayPal business for three months or more (the three months starts five days before completing the application).
For a fixed fee, you could be eligible to use PayPal Working Capital to receive a cash advance. How much you can borrow will be based on your PayPal sales volume and account history. PayPal will calculate a repayment percentage that may be suitable for your business.
PayPal offers Working Capital cash advances of £1,000 to £125,000 for first- time applicants, and up to £185,000 for any subsequent applications, once your first advance has been repaid. However, the maximum amount you can borrow is determined by your PayPal sales and account behaviour.
You then repay this cash advance as a percentage of each sale your business makes through PayPal. When you apply, you can pick the amount of cash you would like and the repayment percentage for future sales. PayPal will then review your application and decide whether to approve it, explaining the fixed fee you’ll pay before you sign the agreement.
For no additional fee, you can also make manual repayments or repay the cash advance in full using your PayPal balance or linked bank account. The percentage is calculated after PayPal transaction fees have been deducted.
You will also pay a fixed fee when the cash advance is set up. The higher your daily repayment percentage, the lower the fixed fee attached to your cash advance.
This means the amount you repay, and how quickly you pay off the advance, will rise and fall in line with your business’s sales performance. However, you are required to meet a minimum level of repayments every 90 days. You will continue to make repayments from your sales until your balance is paid in full.
PayPal Working Capital: at a glance
| Amount borrowable | £1,000 to £125,000 (first-time applicants)£1,000 to £185,000 (subsequent applicants) |
| Term length | Variable (cash advance paid off as a fixed percentage of your sales volume processed via PayPal) |
| Web-based customer service | PayPal Assistant (chat bot)Leave a message for a PayPal agent) Email: [email protected] Social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) Via the app |
| UK customer service number | 0203 901 7000 – Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6.30pm |
| App | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Face-to-face customer service | No |
| Access to loans without pre-existing account | No |
Where PayPal Working Capital stands out
- Ease of application: As long as you meet the criteria, all you have to do is fill out a form and select your funding amount and repayment percentage to apply.
- Quick decision: PayPal says it usually lets applicants know if they’ve been approved straight away and says it can transfer the funds in minutes.
- No additional charges: There is just one fixed fee when you take out a cash advance for Working Capital, and there are no late fees, interest to pay or early repayment fees.
- Account management: You can manage your cash advance via your account online, on the app or by phone.
- No credit check: PayPal does not conduct a credit check when you apply for Working Capital, so your credit score won’t be affected.
Where PayPal Working Capital falls short
- Monthly minimum repayments: Regardless of sales volume, the minimum repayment must be made at least every 90 days.
- Face-to-face customer service: PayPal is an online brand, so it isn’t possible to speak to an agent in person.
- Account requirement: You have to have held a PayPal business account for at least three months before you can apply.
PayPal Working Capital customer reviews
On Trustpilot, PayPal has been rated 1.3 out of 5 based on over 26,500 reviews. However, it’s important to note that this rating is for the PayPal brand as a whole, not PayPal Working Capital specifically.
The PayPal business app, through which you can manage your Working Capital cash advance, fares better with a rating of:
- App Store: 4.2 out of 5, based on 24,800 reviews
- Google Play: 4.2 out of 5, based on 85,000 reviews
This information is correct as of 29 August 2023.
PayPal Working Capital eligibility
In order to access PayPal working capital, your business must:
- have had a PayPal business account for three months or more
- be registered in the UK
- apply using your business name or the name of the sole trader operating the PayPal business account
- have minimum eligible PayPal sales of £9,000 per year
- have repaid any previous PayPal Working Capital cash advances
- meet these requirements for at least five days before your apply
How to apply for PayPal Working Capital
If you meet the eligibility criteria and would like to apply for PayPal Working Capital, you’ll need to follow these steps.
- Complete a PayPal Working Capital application form, including basic information about your business and yourself.
- Select how much you want to borrow. The maximum amount you can borrow will be determined by your PayPal sales history and account behaviour, as well as other criteria.
- Choose your repayment percentage. This is the portion of each PayPal sale you make that you want to go towards repaying your advance. The fixed fee is calculated using your repayment percentage, the amount of your cash advance and your business’s PayPal sales and account history. PayPal will tell you how much the fixed fee in the agreement you sign.
- If approved, PayPal says you could receive your Working Capital advance in a matter of minutes.
Review methodology
At NerdWallet UK, we base our reviews and our ‘Best’ pages on the results of surveys we undertook about what was important to people who use these products. This allows us to look at products impartially of any commercial arrangements we have and fairly rate the products on the same set of criteria.
Best means our ‘Best’ and is based only on what products we have aligned to our surveys, which form the basis of our reviews and ratings. This means that there will be other products on the market that we have not included in our ‘Best’ pages. Best does not mean it’s best for you, nor does it mean the ‘cheapest’.
Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible, but there will be products not included on the market. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
You can view our full review methodology here.
