Introducing Adaptive Payments

Important: Adaptive Payments is not available for new integrations. PayPal provides this documentation to support existing integrations.

The Adaptive Payments API enables you to send money in many different scenarios, from simple to complex.

Adaptive Payments Actors and Objects

Adaptive payments handles payments between a sender of a payment and one or more receivers of the payment. You are an application owner, such as a merchant that owns a website, the owner of a widget on a social networking site, the provider of a payment application on mobile phones, and so on. Your application is the caller of Adaptive Payments API operations.

Note: The application owner must have a PayPal Business account. Senders and receivers can have any PayPal account type. Senders and receivers are not required to have PayPal accounts initially. PayPal prompts a sender to create an account before a payment can be completed. A receiver must create an account to receive the funds after the payment completes.

With many applications, you may be both the application owner and a receiver. For example, as the owner of a website, you are the receiver of payments from the senders who are your customers. The following diagram shows the relationship between a sender, you as a receiver, and PayPal:

You are not required to be a receiver. For example, if you own a shopping cart, you are not required to receive payments directly. You can facilitate payments between the sender and receivers that provide the actual goods. The following diagram shows the relationship between a sender, you as an application owner that directs payments to receivers, and PayPal:

This diagram shows a payment in which the sender pays multiple receivers in a parallel payment. With parallel payments, the sender can see the transaction to each receiver.

The following diagram shows the relationship between a sender, you as an application owner that directs payments to receivers, and PayPal in a chained payment:

In a chained payment, the sender pays the primary receiver an amount, from which the primary receiver pays secondary receivers. The sender only knows about the primary receiver, not the secondary receivers. The secondary receivers only know about the primary receiver, not the sender.

The following diagram shows the relationship between you as both the sender and the application owner that directs payments to receivers:

For example, you might use this configuration in a sales commission application that transfers funds owed for commissions from your account to the accounts of your sales force.

Simple, Parallel, and Chained Payments

Adaptive Payments provides several kinds of payment: simple, parallel, and chained payments. You create each kind of payment with the Pay API.

Simple payments enable a sender to send a single payment to a single receiver. For example, your website can use an Adaptive Payments payment flow to transfer money resulting from a sale from your customer's PayPal account to your own account. This is the traditional kind of payment.

Parallel payments enable a sender to send a single payment to multiple receivers. For example, your application might be a shopping cart that enables a buyer to pay for items from several merchants with one payment. Your shopping cart allocates the payment to merchants that actually provided the items. PayPal then deducts money from the sender's account and deposits it in the receivers' accounts.

Chained payments enable a sender to send a single payment to a primary receiver. The primary receiver keeps part of the payment and pays secondary receivers the remainder. For example, your application could be an online travel agency that handles bookings for airfare, hotel reservations, and car rentals. The sender sees only you as the primary receiver. You allocate the payment for your commission and the actual cost of services provided by other receivers. PayPal then deducts money from the sender's account and deposits it in both your account and the secondary receivers' accounts. Note: Chained payments also include delayed chained payments, in which payments to secondary receivers can be delayed for up to 90 days.

Simple Payments

Simple payments enable a sender to send a single payment to a single receiver. This is sometimes considered a traditional payment, such as a payment from a buyer to a seller.

Scenarios involving simple payments might include the following scenarios:

Buyer makes a payment on a merchant's website.

Buyer makes a single payment for a cart of items from the same merchant.

Person on a social networking site makes a payment for a purchase to the receiver. For example, a sender sends money to pay for lunch at a restaurant.

In these cases, the sender sends a payment to a single receiver. The following example shows a sender making a simple payment:

Parallel Payments

A parallel payment is a payment from a sender that is split directly among 2-6 receivers. Technically, a parallel payment is a set of multiple payments made in a single Pay request.

Parallel payments are useful in cases when a buyer intends to make a single payment for items from multiple sellers. Examples include the following scenarios:

a single payment for multiple items from different merchants, such as a combination of items in your inventory and items that partners drop ship for you.

purchases of items related to an event, such as a trip that requires airfare, car rental, and a hotel booking.

In these cases, the sender knows the receivers and the amount paid to each one. The following example shows a sender paying 3 receivers in a single parallel payment:

Note: This scenario is an example only and does not take PayPal fees into account.

Chained Payments

A chained payment is a payment from a sender that is indirectly split among multiple receivers. It is an extension of a typical payment from a sender to a receiver, in which a receiver, known as the primary receiver, passes part of the payment to other receivers, who are called secondary receivers.

Note: The API caller must get permission from PayPal to use chained payments.

You can have at most one primary receiver and 1-9 secondary receivers. Chained payments are useful in cases when the primary receiver acts as an agent for other receivers. The sender deals only with the primary receiver and does not know about the secondary receivers, including how a payment is split among receivers. The following example shows a sender making a payment of $100:

In this example, the primary receiver receives $100 from the sender's perspective. The primary receiver actually receives only $10 and passes a total of $90 to secondary receivers, Receiver 2 and Receiver 3.

Note: This scenario is an example only and does not take PayPal fees into account.

Delayed Chained Payments

By default, payments to all receivers in a chained payment are immediate. However, you can choose to delay a payment to a secondary receiver. For example, as primary receiver, you may require secondary receivers to perform some action, such as shipping goods or waiting for expiration of a return period, before making payment. To complete the payment, you must explicitly execute a payment to secondary receivers after the sender pays you. The payment must occur within 90 days, after which you cannot complete the payment as part of the original chained payment.

Payment Approval

The sender of a payment must approve the transfer. The sender can log in to paypal.com to approve each payment, pre-approve payments, or when the sender is your application, be implicitly approved to make payments.

Note: Preapproval requests require permission from PayPal.

The payment approval types are:

Explicit approval payments, in which the sender logs in to paypal.com to approve each payment. Explicitly approving payments is the traditional way to pay with PayPal. This method is the only option unless the sender has set up a preapproval agreement or you, the API caller, are also the sender.

Preapproved payments, in which a sender logs in to PayPal and sets up pre-approvals that approve future payments or set up a preapproval during the embedded payment flow. The sender logs in to paypal.com once to set up the preapproval. After the sender agrees to the preapproval, specific approval is unnecessary.

Implicit approval payments, in which your application is both the sender of a payment and the caller of the Adaptive Payments Pay API. In this case, PayPal makes the payment from your own account, which eliminates the need for approval.

Adaptive Payments Service Permissions

Adaptive Payments services are divided into these categories: standard services that do not require specific permission to use and advanced services that require permission from PayPal to use. You obtain permission to use a service when you submit an application to PayPal.

You can use the following standard services without requesting specific permission:

Making simple or parallel payments that require explicit approval of the sender

Getting payment details

Making refunds

Performing currency conversions

To use any other service, you must receive permission from PayPal to use the service when you submit your application. For example, if your application makes chained payments, which is an advanced service, you request permission when you submit your application. Later, if you modify your application to support pre-approvals, which is also an advanced service, you must resubmit your application to obtain permission from PayPal to use the service.

Important: If you allow a third party to PayPal to execute an application on your behalf, the third party becomes the API caller because the party is now calling the Adaptive Payments API. The third party must also have permission from PayPal to use the advanced service. For example, if an application supports chained payments, both you and the third party must have permission to use the service.

Explicit Approval Payment Flow

Explicit approval payments require the sender to log in to paypal.com to approve the payment. You control the interaction between your application and PayPal by specifying URLs for redirection in various situations.

The following diagram shows the basic flow of control for a payment (such as payment for items in a shopping cart at a web store) that requires the sender to log in to paypal.com to approve the payment:

The following items correspond to the circled numbers in the diagram:

Your site or device sends a Pay request to PayPal on behalf of a sender. PayPal responds with a key that you use when you direct the sender to PayPal. You redirect your sender's browser to paypal.com. After the sender authorizes the transfer of funds, PayPal redirects your sender's browser to the location you specify.

Note: The cancel operation is not shown in the diagram. Cancellation is handled by a separate cancellation URL to which PayPal redirects the sender's browser any time the sender cancels while on paypal.com.

In addition to these steps, PayPal notifies you and the sender of the payment.

Preapproved Payments Flow

Preapproved payments require the sender to log in to paypal.com to set up the payment agreement with a particular vendor. You control the interaction between your application and PayPal by specifying URLs for redirection in various situations.

The sender logs in to paypal.com and sets up the preapproval, which includes setting the following information:

Duration of the preapproval, from the start date to the end date, inclusive

The maximum amount being pre-approved

The maximum number of payments

The following diagram shows the basic flow of control during a preapproval operation:

The following items correspond to the circled numbers in the diagram:

Your site or device sends a Preapproval request to PayPal on behalf of a sender. PayPal responds with a key, called a preapproval key, that you use when you direct the sender to PayPal, and once the preapproval has been established, whenever you automatically complete a payment on behalf of the sender. You redirect your sender's browser to PayPal. After the sender logs in to paypal.com and sets up the preapproval, PayPal redirects the sender's browser to a location you specify.

Note: The cancel operation is not shown in the above diagram. Cancellation is handled by a separate cancellation URL to which PayPal redirects the sender's browser any time the sender cancels while on paypal.com.

In addition to the steps shown above, PayPal sends an email notifying you and the sender that the preapproval has been created.

After the sender sets up the approval, you can make payments on the sender's behalf directly. The sender is no longer required to log in to PayPal to complete the payment. The following diagram shows the basic flow of control during a Pay operation:

The following items correspond to the circled numbers in the diagram:

Your site or device sends a Pay request to PayPal on behalf of a sender. You can require the sender to provide a personal identification number (PIN); however, logging in to paypal.com is no longer required. Note: You must provide a preapproval key that identifies the agreement. PayPal still responds with a payment key that you can use for other API operations, such as for obtaining details of the payment or for issuing a refund.

Implicit Approval Payments Flow

Implicit approval payments are payments where the sender and the API caller are using the same account. Because PayPal draws the funds for the payment from your own account, there is no approval necessary, and as such there is no visible flow for implicit approval payments.

The following diagram shows the basic flow of control during an implicitly approved payment operation:

The following items correspond to the circled numbers in the diagram:

Your site or device sends a Pay request to PayPal. Note: A web flow is not required. PayPal responds with a key that you use for other API operations.

Embedded Payments

An embedded payment is a payment that initiates a visual presentation of the Adaptive Payments payment flow in which the sender appears to never leave your checkout or payment page. Embedded payments make it easier for a sender to make a payment because PayPal may allow the sender to bypass the PayPal login step.

The ability to bypass the login relies on a remember me cookie, which is stored in the sender's browser when the sender chooses to take advantage of being remembered. Opting in reduces the number of steps to purchase goods or services without significantly increasing the risk that the sender's account might be misused. After the initial login, PayPal bypasses the login step if subsequent payments meet specific criteria, such as a subsequent payment for a small amount.

Embedded Payment Flow Presentations

PayPal provides the following kinds of visual presentations for the embedded payment flow:

The payment flow can be embedded as a lightbox on your web page, which gives the impression that the payment is handled completely within your website:

The payment flow can appear in a mini-browser window that appears in front of your web page, which does not require an IFRAME:

The payment flow can be embedded as a lightbox in an IFRAME on your web page, which gives the impression that the payment is handled completely within your website:

You choose your preferred visual presentation when you invoke the embedded payment flow. In some cases, PayPal may override your choice to use a lightbox; for example, when the sender is required to log into PayPal for the initial payment.

Kinds of Embedded Payments

Embedded payments can include

simple payments

parallel payments

chained payments

You can also enable pre-approvals for future payments or enable shipping addresses to be associated with embedded payments.

Important: Payments for digital goods must use the embedded payment flow. You cannot associate a preapproval for future payments or enable shipping addresses in a payment for digital goods.

Embedded Payments Implementation Basics

To implement the embedded payment flow, you must

include JavaScript code from PayPal on your checkout or payment web pages

use the functions provided in the JavaScript to coordinate the PayPal flow with the appearance of your web pages

launch your preferred embedded payment flow, which is either the lightbox or mini-browser, and redirect the sender's browser to the PayPal URL that supports embedded payments, which is https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay?paykey=...

You must call the Pay API operation to obtain a payment key before launching the embedded payment flow. If the payment is specifically for digital goods, modify your Pay API operation to specify that each receiver is receiving payment for digital goods.

Embedded Payment Experience

To the sender of a payment, the embedded payment experience appears to be built into your website. The PayPal-supplied JavaScript provides all the code needed to set up the flow as an IFRAME within the sender's browser and as a pop-up mini-browser that appears in front of your website. Typically, the sender initiates a payment by clicking a button:

PayPal responds to the JavaScript that initiates the flow. If it is the first payment, or if PayPal determines that the payment requires the sender to log in, PayPal displays a Log In button in the IFRAME created by the JavaScript:

The IFRAME also enables the sender to sign up for a PayPal account or pay as a guest without logging in.

Note: Guest checkout only provides the visual benefits of an embedded payment. It does not reduce the payment steps.

After clicking Log In, PayPal displays a Log in to your PayPal account page in the mini-browser. The sender enters an email address and password and can also check a box, which allows the sender to skip this step for subsequent purchases:

The check box controls the remember me behavior for log in. This behavior allows the sender to skip the log in step in cases where there is little risk of the account being misused.

Important: Opting in to the remember me behavior does not guarantee that the sender will not be asked to provide log in credentials.

After logging in, PayPal displays the You are about to pay page, sometimes called the review your payment page in the mini-browser:

If the sender chooses Cancel, PayPal redirects the sender's browser to the cancel URL specified in the Pay API operation's request message. If the sender chooses Pay, the Thank you for using PayPal page appears in the mini-browser:

When the sender clicks Close, PayPal redirects the sender's browser to the return URL specified in the Pay API operation's request message.

Note: You are responsible for closing the mini-browser after PayPal redirects to the page specified in either the return or cancel URL. PayPal provides a JavaScript function that you call to close a PayPal mini-browser or lightbox.

For subsequent payments in which PayPal does not require the account holder to log in again and the account holder has chosen to be remembered, the PayPal payment pages appear in a lightbox rather than in a mini-browser and PayPal bypasses the log in steps. For these payments, the actions you take to launch the flow and close the lightbox, remain the same. For example, the lightbox for reviewing a payment would appear in your page as follows:

The lightbox containing the confirmation would appear in your page as follows:

Pre-approve future payments check box

You can add a Preapprove future payments check box to the sender's embedded payment experience, which enables the sender to pre-approve subsequent payments. If you specify both a payment key and a preapproval key when you call the Pay API operation, PayPal displays the check box on the payment page in the mini-browser:

If the payment sender checks the preapproval box, the confirmation page provides details about the preapproval:

Note: Unless there is an error with the payment itself, PayPal transfers the money regardless of whether the preapproval for future payments was successful.

Shipping Address Information

You can display and collect shipping address information. PayPal displays the default shipping address when you set senderOptions.requireShippingAddressSelection to true in your request to SetPaymentOptions :

The sender of a payment can select one of the available shipping addresses or add a new shipping address by selecting Add new shipping address from the Ship to: drop-down menu:

Embedded Payment Experience

To the sender of a payment, the embedded payment experience appears to be built into your website. The PayPal-supplied JavaScript provides all the code needed to set up the flow as an IFRAME within the sender's browser and as a pop-up mini-browser that appears in front of your website.

Typically, the sender initiates a payment by clicking a button:

PayPal responds to the JavaScript that initiates the flow. If it is the first payment, or if PayPal determines that the payment requires the sender to log in, PayPal displays a Log In button in the IFRAME created by the JavaScript:

The IFRAME also enables the sender to sign up for a PayPal account or pay as a guest without logging in.

Note: Guest checkout only provides the visual benefits of an embedded payment. It does not reduce the payment steps.

After clicking Log In, PayPal displays a Log in to your PayPal account page in the mini-browser. The sender enters an email address and password and can also check a box, which allows the sender to skip this step for subsequent purchases:

The check box controls the remember me behavior for log in. This behavior allows the sender to skip the log in step in cases where there is little risk of the account being misused.

Important: Opting in to the remember me behavior does not guarantee that the sender will not be asked to provide log in credentials.

After logging in, PayPal displays the You are about to pay page, sometimes called the review your payment page in the mini-browser:

If the sender clicks Cancel, PayPal redirects the sender's browser to the cancel URL specified in the Pay API operation's request message. If the sender clicks Pay, the Thank you for using PayPal page appears in the mini-browser:

When the sender clicks Close, PayPal redirects the sender's browser to the return URL specified in the Pay API operation's request message.

Note: You are responsible for closing the mini-browser after PayPal redirects to the page specified in either the return or cancel URL. PayPal provides a JavaScript function that you call to close a PayPal mini-browser or lightbox.

For subsequent payments in which PayPal does not require the account holder to log in again and the account holder has chosen to be remembered, PayPal bypasses the log in steps.

For example, the lightbox for reviewing a payment would appear in your page as follows:

The lightbox containing the confirmation would appear in your page as follows:

The actions you take to launch the flow and close the lightbox are the same steps you take for the mini-browser.

Pre-approve future payments check box

You can add a Preapprove future payments check box to the sender's embedded payment experience, which enables the sender to pre-approve subsequent payments. If you invoke the embedded payment flow, passing both a payment key obtained by calling Pay and a preapproval key obtained by calling Preapproval , PayPal displays the check box on the payment page:

If the payment sender checks the preapproval box, the confirmation page provides details about the preapproval:

Note: Unless there is an error with the payment itself, PayPal transfers the money regardless of whether the preapproval for future payments was successful.

Embedded Preapproval Experience

Adaptive Payments provides a preapproval experience using a mini-browser.You can invoke the embedded preapproval flow by passing the preapproval key. Here is an example :

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/preapproval?preapprovalKey=PA-xxxxxxxxxxxx&expType=mini

PayPal first asks the user to log into their PayPal account:

After signing in, the user is presented with a consent form that the user must agree to:

If the seller has enabled PIN code entry, after consenting to the agreement, the user is prompted to enter a PIN code by the seller:

Finally, the user is presented with a confirmation screen:

Shipping Address Selection

You can display and collect shipping address information for a transaction with the embedded payment flow. PayPal displays the default shipping address when you set senderOptions.requireShippingAddressSelection to true in your request to SetPaymentOptions :

The sender of a payment can select one of the available shipping addresses or add a new shipping address by selecting Add new shipping address from the Ship to: drop-down menu:

After the sender of the payment clicks Pay, PayPal displays the selected shipping address on the Thank you for using PayPal page:

You can call the GetShippingAddresses API operation to obtain the selected shipping address for the transaction using the key associated with the payment.

Setting Up Web Pages to Invoke the Embedded Payment Flow Using a Lightbox

Use the JavaScript functions in https://www.paypalobjects.com/js/external/dg.js to set up and control the embedded payment flow. This example initiates the embedded payment flow after obtaining a payment key.

This example assumes that you obtain a payment key before initiating the flow and that the key does not change or expire before the sender completes the flow.

To set up a web page to invoke the embedded payment flow:

Call the Pay API operation to obtain a valid pay key. Create your form or button. You must include the pay key and redirect to https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay .

. Optionally, include a preapproval key if you want to enable the selection of Preapproval for future payments

Specify that a lightbox opens in the PayPal-created IFRAME , PPDGFrame .

, . Set the expType parameter to indicate your preference for the context in which the PayPal payment flow is displayed. You must specify light for lightbox. <form action="https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay" target="PPDGFrame"> <input id="type" type="hidden" name="expType" value="light"> <input id="paykey" type="hidden" name="paykey" value=" AP-... "> <input id="preapprovalkey" type="hidden" name="preapprovalkey" value=" PA-... "> <input type="submit" id="submitBtn" value="Pay with PayPal"> </form> Note: To modify an existing application to use the embedded payment flow, change the redirect from https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ap-payment&paykey=... to https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay?paykey=... after obtaining the pay key. Include the PayPal JavaScript functions from dg.js . <script src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/js/external/dg.js"> </script> Create an embedded flow object and associate it with your payment form or button. <script> var dgFlow = new PAYPAL.apps.DGFlow({ trigger: 'submitBtn' }); </script>

On the pages you identify as the return and cancel URLs in the Pay API operation, you must include the PayPal JavaScript functions from dg.js and close the PayPal window, as in the following example:

dgFlow = top.dgFlow || top.opener.top.dgFlow; dgFlow.closeFlow(); top.close();

Setting Up Web Pages to Invoke the Embedded Payment Flow Using a mini-browser

Use the JavaScript functions in https://www.paypalobjects.com/js/external/apdg.js to set up and control the embedded payment flow. This example shows how to initiate the embedded payment flow after obtaining a payment key.

Note: For a pre-approval authorization, use the following redirect URL (instead of the redirect URL in the steps below):

https://www.sandbox.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ap-preapproval&preapprovalkey=...

This example assumes that you obtain a payment key before initiating the flow and that the key does not change or expire before the sender completes the flow.

To set up a web page to invoke the embedded payment flow:

Call the Pay API operation to obtain a valid pay key. Create your form or button. You must include the pay key and redirect to https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay .

. Optionally, include a preapproval key if you want to enable the selection of Preapproval for future payments

Set the expType parameter to mini to indicate your preference for the context in which the PayPal payment flow is displayed. <form action="https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay" target="PPDGFrame"> <input id="type" type="hidden" name="expType" value="mini"> <input id="paykey" type="hidden" name="paykey" value=" AP-... "> <input id="preapprovalkey" type="hidden" name="preapprovalkey" value=" PA-... "> <input type="submit" id="submitBtn" value="Pay with PayPal"> </form> Note: To modify an existing application to use the embedded payment flow, change the redirect from https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ap-payment&paykey=... to https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay? paykey=... after obtaining the pay key. Include the PayPal JavaScript functions from apdg.js . <script src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/js/external/apdg.js"> </script> Create an embedded flow object and associate it with your payment form or button. <script> function <<returnFunctionName>>() { Your code goes here. } </script>

The following mini-browser return script can be used to determine whether the payment successfully completed:

PAYMENTDETAILS=$(wget --output-document=- \ --quiet \ --header="X-PAYPAL-SERVICE-VERSION: 1.0.0" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-USERID: $APIUSER" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-PASSWORD: $APIPASS" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-SECURITY-SIGNATURE: $APISIG" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-REQUEST-DATA-FORMAT: NV" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT: NV" \ --header="X-PAYPAL-APPLICATION-ID: $APPLICATIONID" \ --post-data="payKey=$PAYKEY&requestEnvelope.errorLanguage=en_US" \ https://www.paypal.com/AdaptivePayments/PaymentDetails) if echo $PAYMENTDETAILS | grep -q "\&status=COMPLETED" then echo "Thank you for approving pay key $PAYKEY" else echo "Sorry, you were unable to approve pay key $PAYKEY. Please try another transaction!" fi

Displaying and Collecting Shipping Addresses

PayPal displays the default shipping address and allows the payment sender to change the address when you set senderOptions.requireShippingAddressSelection to true in your request to the SetPaymentOptions API operation. You call the GetShippingAddresses API operation to obtain the selected shipping address after invoking the embedded payment flow.

The steps in this example assume that you have implemented the JavaScript for invoking the embedded payment flow, that you have set up your button or form to invoke the flow, and that you have included the code to close the window associated with the flow.

To display and collect the selected shipping address

Call the Pay API operation with actionType set to CREATE to obtain a payment key. Set senderOptions.requireShippingAddressSelection to true in your request to SetPaymentOptions and call the API operation. Redirect the payment sender's browser to the embedded payment flow at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/adaptivepayment/flow/pay?paykey=... after obtaining the pay key. After returning from the flow, call the GetShippingAddresses API operation to obtain the selected shipping address.

Guest Payments

Adaptive payments supports guest payments, which are payments using a sender's credit card without logging into PayPal to complete the transaction.The sender is not explicitly identified as a PayPal account holder during the transaction and is not required to have a PayPal account.

Each receiver of a guest payment must be a verified PayPal Business Verified or Premier Verified account holder.

PayPal handles guest payments in the same way that it handles explicitly approved payments. Instead of logging into PayPal to complete transaction, the sender provides credit card information on the PayPal payment screen:

Note: For European Union countries, only 10 guest payments are allowed per card.

Fee Payment Configuration

You can set up a payment transaction so that either the sender of a payment pays the fee or the receivers of a payment pay the fee. If receivers pay the fee, you can specify whether the primary receiver in a chained payment pays the entire fee or whether all receivers pay a portion of the fee.

You can specify who pays these fees. Fee payment configurations include:

Note: Fees are determined by PayPal and are based on criteria, such as the transaction volume of the receiver. In the examples that follow, the fees shown are representative only and not actual fees.

Sender Pays the Fee

The sender can pay a fee for a simple payment or parallel payment. The following example shows fees being paid by the sender of a parallel payment, based on the assessment for each receiver:

In this example, the sender pays a total of $510.83, which includes all fees.

Note: The previous example scenario does not represent actual PayPal fees.

Receiver Pays the Fee in a Parallel Payment

If the receivers pay the fee in a parallel payment, each receiver pays a portion of the fee, based on their assessment. The following example shows the receivers paying the fees:

Note: The scenario above is an example only and is not representative of actual PayPal fees.

Each Receiver Pays the Fee in a Chained Payment

If the receivers pay the fee in a chained payment, each receiver pays a portion of the fee, based on their assessment. The following example shows the receivers paying the fees:

In this example, the primary receiver, identified as the merchant, pays a fee for $20 received. Each of the other receivers also pay a fee on the amount each receives.

Note: The scenario above is an example only and is not representative of actual PayPal fees.

Primary Receiver Pays the Fee in a Chained Payment

If only the primary receiver pays the fee in a chained payment, other receivers pay no fees. The fees paid by the primary receiver, however, are based upon the total fees assigned to all receivers. The following example shows only the primary receiver, identified as the merchant, paying all fees:

Note: The scenario above is an example only and is not representative of actual PayPal fees.

Remittance Transfer Rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adopted the Remittance Transfer Rule, which provides new protections to consumers who send remittance transfers to other consumers or businesses in a foreign country. The rule requires fee disclosures and cancellation procedures, as well as new dispute resolution procedures.

Note: This guide summarizes the Remittance Transfer Rule, but you should consider obtaining legal advice for your compliance obligations.

Rule Application

The Remittance Transfer Rule applies to:

Remittances initiated from US based accounts to non-US accounts.

Transactions worth more than $15 regardless of the funding currency.

Payments where the sender is a consumer and the recipient is a natural person or a business.

Pre-Payment Disclosure

The Remittance Transfer Rule specifies pre-payment disclosure to senders; that is, before payment is authorized. Disclosure includes the recipient's name, the amount transferred in the funded and received currencies, all fees and taxes charged, the exchange rate, the total amount charged to the sender (including the fees and taxes), and the final amount received by the recipient. You use the GetPrePaymentDisclosure API to disclose this required information.

Sample GetPrePaymentDisclosure Request with Different Currencies

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:ap="https://svcs.paypal.com/types/ap"> <soapenv:Header/> <soapenv:Body> <ap:GetPrePaymentDisclosureRequest> <requestEnvelope> <!--Optional:--> <detailLevel>?</detailLevel> <errorLanguage>en_US</errorLanguage> <!--You may enter ANY elements at this point--> </requestEnvelope> <payKey>AP-05072631H6034030W</payKey> </ap:GetPrePaymentDisclosureRequest> </soapenv:Body> </soapenv:Envelope>

Sample GetPrePaymentDisclosure Response with Different Currencies

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"> <soapenv:Header/> <soapenv:Body> <ns2:GetPrePaymentDisclosureResponse xmlns:ns2="https://svcs.paypal.com/types/ap"> <responseEnvelope> <timestamp>2014-02-10T21:20:52.403-08:00</timestamp> <ack>Success</ack> <correlationId>bb0c65de3fa4e</correlationId> <build>9531812</build> </responseEnvelope> <status>RTR</status> <feesPayer>EACHRECEIVER</feesPayer> <senderDisclosure> <amountToTransfer> USD <amount>23.77</amount> </amountToTransfer> <feeDisclosure/> <totalAmountToTransfer> USD <amount>23.77</amount> </totalAmountToTransfer> <conversionRate> <senderCurrency>USD</senderCurrency> <receiverCurrency>EUR</receiverCurrency> <exchangeRate>0.6732</exchangeRate> </conversionRate> </senderDisclosure> <receiverDisclosureList> <receiverDisclosure> <accountIdentifier> <email>lkanisettive-pl-bus@paypal.com</email> </accountIdentifier> <amountReceivedFromSender> EUR <amount>16.00</amount> </amountReceivedFromSender> <countryCode>PL</countryCode> <conversionRate/> <feeDisclosure> <fee> EUR <amount>0.97</amount> </fee> <taxes> EUR <amount>0.00</amount> </taxes> </feeDisclosure> <totalAmountReceived> EUR <amount>15.03</amount> </totalAmountReceived> </receiverDisclosure> </receiverDisclosureList> <disclaimer>If your recipient does not have an account yet, the actual fees amount may be different after the account is created</disclaimer> </ns2:GetPrePaymentDisclosureResponse> </soapenv:Body> </soapenv:Envelope>

Post-Payment Disclosure

The Remittance Transfer Rule specifies post-payment disclosure; that is, after payment is authorized. Disclosure includes the recipient's name and information (phone number and/or email address and address if available), pre-payment disclosures, the date by which the recipient can access the funds, information about the state agency that licenses the provider for payment, and cancellation and dispute resolution rights. Mobile transactions need not be displayed on the screen but can be sent via email. The ExecutePayment API includes the call to disclose the required post-payment information.

Sample ExecutePayment Response with Different Currencies