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Henry WilliamsMany or all of the products and brands we review are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and the product we choose in our ‘promotion’. However it doesn’t influence our reviews. Our opinions are our own.
PayPal Working Capital: at a glance
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.
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.
Promotion
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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PayPal Working Capital pros & cons
Pros
- There is flexible term length, as you repay your loan as a fixed percentage of your PayPal sales volume.
- Online PayPal Assistant, with ability to leave a message for an agent, is available, alongside a call centre open Monday to Sunday.
- You can borrow up to £125,000 as a first-time applicant, and up to £185,000 for subsequent applications once your first advance is repaid.
Cons
- There is no app-based customer service.
- As there are no physical branches, there is no face-to-face customer service.
These pros and cons are based on an exclusive survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.
PayPal Working Capital key features
- PayPal Working Capital is a form of merchant cash advance, where you can borrow between £1,000 and £125,000 as a first-time applicant
- You repay your PayPal Working Capital cash advance as a percentage of each PayPal sale you make
- It is currently available to UK-registered PayPal Business account customers of three months or more, with annual PayPal sales of at least £9,000
PayPal Working Capital full review
PayPal Working Capital is a finance product offered to UK businesses that have had a PayPal Business for three months or more.
For a fixed fee, you could use PayPal Working Capital to receive a cash advance. How much you can borrow will be based on your PayPal sales volumes and account history. You then choose a repayment percentage that works for your business.
We’ve put together everything you need to know about PayPal Working Capital at a glance in our table below.
| Amount borrowable | £1,000 to £125,000 (first time applicants) £1,000 to £185,000 (subsequent applications) |
| Term length | Variable (cash advance paid off as a fixed percentage of PayPal sales volume) |
| Web-based customer service | PayPal Assistant (chat bot) Leave a message for a PayPal agent Email: [email protected] |
| UK customer service number | 0203 901 7000 |
| App | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Face-to-face customer service | No |
| Access to lending without pre-existing account | No |
| Trustpilot rating | 1.3 out of 5 (as of 22 February 2023) |
PayPal Working Capital features
The following are some of the key features to consider when taking out a Working Capital cash advance with PayPal.
Cash advance amounts and terms
According to NerdWallet’s survey, far and away the most important factor business owners look for in a lender is the flexibility of term length. Finishing off the top five most important criteria, meanwhile, is the maximum amount you can borrow.
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 is 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. You will choose this repayment percentage when you first take out the advance.
You will also pay a fixed fee, payable when the cash advance is set up. The higher your 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.
You can also pay off the cash advance early in full with no early repayment fee.
Customer service
Business owners want to be able to get in contact with their lender easily. That’s based on NerdWallet’s survey, which saw web-, phone- and app-based customer service take the number two, three and four slots in the top five most important factors business owners look for in a provider.
PayPal has two of those three bases covered. If you want to contact PayPal, you can:
- immediately use the PayPal Assistant chat bot
- leave a message for a PayPal agent through PayPal Assistance
- email [email protected]
- call 0203 901 7000, from 8.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Sunday
- tweet @AskPayPal
However, while you can manage your Working Capital cash advance through the PayPal Business app, it does not appear to have a self-contained customer service function.
If you have questions about applying for a PayPal Working Capital, meanwhile, you can call 0800 368 7176, from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Security
Merchant cash advances are not currently regulated in the UK, and the product does not fall under the purview of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Customer reviews
On Trustpilot, PayPal has been rated 1.3 out of 5 based on over 24,000 reviews. This rating is for the PayPal brand as a whole, not PayPal Working Capital specifically.
Meanwhile, the PayPal app, through which you can manage your Working Capital cash advance, has the following ratings:
- App Store: 4.1 out of 5, based on 1,200 reviews
- Google Play: 4.2 out of 5, based on over 83,400 reviews
This information is correct as of 22 February 2023.
PayPal Working Capital eligibility
In order to access PayPal working capital, you must:
- have had a PayPal Business account for three months or more
- be registered in the UK
- 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 choose between PayPal Working Capital and other lenders
If you are comparing PayPal Working Capital with other lenders and borrowing options, such as a traditional business loan, you should consider:
- How much do you want to borrow?
- How do you want to repay what you borrowed, through monthly repayments with interest or as a percentage of your sales?
- How long do you want to be repaying any loan or cash advance?
- What level of customer service and support do you require?
How do I apply for PayPal Working Capital?
- Complete a PayPal Working Capital application form, including basic information about your business.
- Select how much you want to borrow. The maximum amount you can borrow will be determined, in part, by your PayPal sales history and account behaviour.
- Choose your repayment percentage. This is the portion of each PayPal sale you make that you want to go towards repaying your advance. The higher the repayment percentage, the lower the fixed fee you will pay when the Working Capital cash advance is set up.
- If approved, you can receive your Working Capital advance in a matter of minutes.
Review methodology
At NerdWallet Ltd UK we base our reviews on the results of surveys we conduct to understand what key product features are important to those who use them, and align them to the product we review.
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 it is likely there are others available that we have not reviewed. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability of your financial circumstances.
You can view our review methodology here.
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