PayPal business fees for receiving international payments, and the alternatives

PayPal is easy for clients and expensive for you. On an international payment, three fees can apply before the money reaches your bank. Here they are.

William Sunjo M.Operations and compliance editor

Published: 16 July 2026
Updated: 1 November 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

PayPal is the easiest way for a client to pay you: no bank details, no forms, one button. That convenience is paid for by the business receiving the money, and for international payments the fees stack. Figures below are from PayPal's US business fee page; fees differ by country, so check the page for yours.

What PayPal charges to receive

Fee	Rate
Domestic commercial payment (PayPal Checkout)	3.49% + fixed fee
International commercial payment	Additional 1.50%
Currency conversion (business transactions)	3.00% spread above the base rate
Standard transfer to your bank, no conversion	Free
Instant transfer to your bank	1.50%, minimum 0.50 USD

A worked example

A US client pays a Kenyan agency's 5,000 USD invoice through PayPal, and the agency withdraws to a KES account.

Commercial fee: 3.49% is about 175 USD, plus the fixed fee.
International fee: 1.50% is 75 USD.
Conversion to KES: a 3.00% spread on the remainder is about 143 USD.

Total: roughly 390 USD, close to 8% of the invoice, before any bank charges. The true cost of international payments shows how to compare this with other routes.

When PayPal makes sense

Small, one-off payments from consumers or new clients who will not set up a bank transfer
Marketplaces that only pay out through PayPal
Buyers who want PayPal's purchase protection

When it does not

For regular B2B invoices, percentage fees on every payment are expensive. Most business clients are happy to pay by bank transfer if you give them details they can pay domestically:

US clients: ACH or wire to USD details. See ACH vs wire.
EU clients: SEPA to a euro IBAN.
UK clients: Faster Payments to a sort code and account number.

The client pays little or nothing to send, and you avoid the percentage on the invoice. The receiving international payments guide compares all four routes.

On Rivet

Rivet's free Starter plan gives your company USD details for ACH and wires, and Growth adds EUR and GBP details. There is no percentage fee on receiving by bank transfer, and conversion is from 0.80% on Starter to 0.30% on Scale, shown before you confirm. See Pricing.

Questions people ask

How much does PayPal charge a business to receive money?

For a domestic commercial payment through PayPal Checkout, PayPal's US fee page lists 3.49% plus a fixed fee. If the buyer is in another country, an extra 1.50% applies. If the money is converted to another currency, a conversion spread applies too.

Does PayPal charge to receive payments from abroad?

Yes. On top of the domestic commercial fee, PayPal adds an international commercial transaction fee of 1.50% for payments from buyers in other countries, according to its US fee page.

What is PayPal's currency conversion fee for business?

For most business transactions, PayPal adds a 3.00% spread to the base exchange rate when it converts currency, or another amount disclosed during the transaction.

What is a cheaper alternative to PayPal for B2B payments?

Give clients local bank details in their currency: ACH or wire details for US clients, an IBAN for EU clients, a sort code for UK clients. They pay a domestic transfer, and you avoid percentage fees on the invoice.

Sources

Written by

William Sunjo M.

Operations and compliance editor

William covers what happens once a company starts moving money: getting the business verified, paying contractors and suppliers abroad, and keeping card spend under control. William writes for the founder or finance lead who has to make it work this week, and links every rule cited to the text it comes from.