PayPal Friends and Family is a personal-payment option for sending money to people you know and trust. Appropriate uses include sending a gift, repaying a friend for dinner, splitting household expenses, or contributing to a shared trip. It must not be used to pay for goods, services, freelance work, marketplace purchases, or deposits to sellers.
PayPal may label the option Sending to a friend, Friends and Family, or personal payment, depending on the country and interface. Personal payments are not covered by PayPal Purchase Protection, and PayPal Friends and Family is not automatically free: fees can depend on the sender’s country, funding method, currency, and whether the transfer is domestic or international.
The practical rule is simple: use Friends and Family only for genuine personal transfers. If you expect to receive a product or service in return, use Goods and Services or another eligible commercial checkout method.
Last verified: October 24, 2026.
| Payment situation | Appropriate option |
|---|---|
| Birthday or holiday gift | Friends and Family, where available |
| Repaying a friend for a shared meal | Friends and Family |
| Splitting rent or a utility bill | Friends and Family |
| Buying an item from an online seller | Goods and Services or a protected checkout |
| Paying a freelancer or contractor | Commercial payment or invoice |
| Sending a deposit to an unfamiliar seller | Do not use Friends and Family |
| Buying through Facebook Marketplace or a classifieds site | Goods and Services when eligible, or the platform’s approved payment method |
What is PayPal Friends and Family?
PayPal treats Friends and Family as a personal transaction: money sent without an underlying purchase, donation, or other commercial transaction. PayPal’s current payment-type guidance gives examples such as gifts, splitting a lunch bill, and paying a share of living expenses.
The purpose of the payment matters more than the relationship between the two people. Repaying your sibling for a shared dinner can be a personal payment. Buying your sibling’s used phone is a purchase and should use the appropriate commercial payment type.
Under the current U.S. PayPal User Agreement, a user must not send money as a personal transaction when paying for goods or services. A seller must also not ask a buyer to use Friends and Family to avoid commercial fees. PayPal says it may remove an account’s ability to accept personal payments if this feature is misused for sales.
Friends and Family versus Goods and Services
| Feature | Friends and Family | Goods and Services |
|---|---|---|
| Intended purpose | Gifts, reimbursements, and shared personal expenses | Buying products or paying for services |
| Typical recipient | Someone you know and trust | A seller, freelancer, contractor, or business |
| PayPal fee | The sender may pay a fee depending on the funding source and whether the payment is international | The seller or commercial recipient normally pays the applicable transaction fee |
| Purchase Protection | Not eligible | May apply to eligible transactions that meet the program’s conditions |
| Seller Protection | Personal payments are excluded | May apply when the transaction and seller satisfy the applicable requirements |
| Marketplace purchase | Not appropriate | Appropriate when offered and eligible |
| Freelance or professional work | Not appropriate | Use an invoice or commercial payment |
| Refund route | Usually requires the recipient’s cooperation after completion, unless another valid remedy applies | Seller refund, eligible PayPal dispute, or another applicable remedy |
Goods and Services does not guarantee reimbursement in every case. PayPal’s Purchase Protection terms contain eligibility requirements, exclusions, evidence requirements, and filing deadlines. However, eligible purchase payments provide a protection route that personal payments specifically exclude.
How to send money with PayPal Friends and Family
Before sending, independently verify the recipient’s email address, mobile number, username, or other supported identifier. A matching display name alone may not prove that you selected the right person.
Send a personal payment on the PayPal website
- Sign in through the official PayPal website.
- Open Send & Request.
- Enter the recipient’s name, PayPal username, email address, or mobile number.
- Select the intended recipient and verify the profile details.
- Enter the amount and choose the currency.
- Add an optional note that does not contain passwords, card details, bank information, or other sensitive data.
- When the option is available, choose Sending to a friend or For Friends and Family.
- Select the funding method.
- Review the recipient, amount, currency, payment type, funding method, fee, exchange rate, and total.
- Select Send Payment Now or the confirmation button shown in your account.
- Open Activity and review the transaction status.
These steps follow PayPal’s current send-money instructions. The exact wording may differ by country, account type, recipient, and interface version.
Send Friends and Family in the PayPal app
- Open the PayPal app and sign in.
- Select Send and Request or Send.
- Enter the recipient’s name, username, email address, or mobile number.
- Enter the amount, choose the currency, and add an optional note.
- Choose Friends and Family or Sending to a friend when that option appears.
- Select the funding method.
- Review every detail and select Send.
The personal-payment choice may not appear if the recipient, account type, or country is ineligible. Do not choose Goods and Services and assume that you can recategorize it later; PayPal does not generally provide a self-service way to change the payment type after sending.
PayPal Friends and Family fees
Friends and Family is not universally free. The amount depends on the sender’s registered country, whether the payment is domestic or international, the funding source, the currencies involved, and whether PayPal performs a conversion.
For a U.S. account, PayPal’s official consumer fee schedule was last updated on May 19, 2026. At that time:
- A domestic personal payment funded by a PayPal balance or bank account carried no PayPal sending fee.
- A domestic card-funded personal payment carried a fee of 2.90% plus the applicable fixed fee. For a payment received in U.S. dollars, that fixed fee was $0.30.
- An international personal payment added an international fee of 5.00%, subject to a U.S. minimum of $0.99 and maximum of $4.99, in addition to any applicable domestic funding fee.
- Receiving a personal transaction carried no PayPal fee when no currency conversion was involved.
These are U.S.-specific terms, not worldwide pricing. Check the current PayPal Consumer Fees page for a U.S. account or the official fee page for the recipient’s and sender’s markets.
When currencies differ, PayPal’s transaction exchange rate may include a currency-conversion spread. PayPal displays its applicable fee and conversion details before confirmation. A credit-card issuer may also apply its own fee or treat a money transfer as a cash advance, depending on the card and issuer.
If the payment is initiated through a third-party service rather than directly through PayPal, that service may determine whether the sender or recipient pays its fee. Review the final confirmation screen rather than assuming the same pricing applies everywhere.
Can Personal and Business accounts use Friends and Family?
Account rules vary by country. In the United States, the current User Agreement distinguishes between accounts established primarily for personal activity and accounts established primarily for commercial activity.
- U.S. Personal accounts can send and request personal transactions from friends and family.
- U.S. Business accounts may send personal transactions to an eligible PayPal account.
- U.S. Business accounts cannot receive personal transactions.
- If a U.S. Personal account is used primarily for commercial activity, PayPal may require the user to stop that activity or convert to a Business account.
The option may therefore disappear when the recipient has a Business account. That does not mean you should look for a workaround. If the underlying payment is for goods or services, use the commercial payment flow.
Do not apply these U.S. account rules automatically to another country. Review the local User Agreement and the options displayed for the actual recipient.
Is Friends and Family available internationally?
It is available for some international transfers, but not between every pair of countries or for every account. Availability can depend on local regulation, account type, recipient eligibility, funding source, and PayPal’s current product offering.
Before confirming an international personal payment, check:
- Whether the selected recipient can receive personal payments.
- The sender’s international transaction fee.
- The payment currency and the currency the recipient will receive.
- Whether PayPal will perform a currency conversion.
- The exchange rate and total shown before confirmation.
- Whether another PayPal service, such as Xoom, is being used instead of an ordinary account-to-account payment.
Xoom is a separate remittance service that may deliver funds to a bank, mobile wallet, or cash-pickup location. It does not follow the same process, recipient requirements, or pricing as a standard PayPal Friends and Family transaction.
Can the recipient receive money without a PayPal account?
A sender may be able to initiate a personal payment to an email address or mobile number belonging to someone who does not yet have an eligible PayPal account. The recipient generally needs to open an eligible account and confirm the relevant identifier to claim the money.
If the recipient does not claim it, PayPal returns the payment. Under PayPal’s current U.S. Help Center guidance, a pending or unclaimed payment is automatically canceled after 30 days and returned to the original payment method. Other countries may use different rules.
The recipient may also need to accept or decline the payment when:
- The payment was sent in a currency the recipient does not automatically accept.
- The recipient’s email address is not confirmed.
- The mobile number is not linked to the account.
- The account cannot receive that type of personal payment.
- PayPal requires identity or account verification.
Does Friends and Family include buyer or seller protection?
No. Personal payments, including PayPal Friends and Family, are excluded from PayPal Purchase Protection. The current U.S. Purchase Protection terms list personal payments among ineligible transactions.
This means a person who deliberately uses Friends and Family to buy an item generally cannot open an Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described claim under PayPal Purchase Protection for that personal payment.
PayPal’s current U.S. Seller Protection terms also exclude personal payments sent through Friends and Family. A seller who asks for a personal payment is therefore not creating Seller Protection for the transaction.
A Goods and Services payment may qualify for protection, but eligibility is not automatic. The buyer, seller, item, delivery method, transaction status, evidence, and claim must satisfy the applicable terms.
Can you cancel or refund a Friends and Family payment?
A completed payment generally cannot be canceled immediately because the recipient already has the money. PayPal confirms this in its payment-cancellation guidance.
- Open Activity.
- Select the payment.
- Check whether it is completed, pending, or unclaimed.
- If a Cancel option appears, use it and follow the instructions.
- If the payment is completed, contact the recipient and request a refund.
- Ask the recipient to refund through the original transaction rather than sending a separate payment.
- Preserve the transaction ID and all messages.
An unclaimed payment sent to an unregistered or unconfirmed email address or phone number may be cancelable by the sender. In other situations, the recipient must accept or decline it. PayPal’s pending and unclaimed payment guidance explains the current U.S. process.
PayPal cannot guarantee that the recipient of a completed payment will agree to refund it. A card issuer or bank may offer separate dispute rights in some circumstances, but the outcome depends on the issuer, jurisdiction, funding method, and facts. Report the transaction accurately; do not claim that an authorized payment was unauthorized.
What to do after sending money to the wrong person
- Check the recipient and status in Activity.
- Cancel the payment only if PayPal displays a cancellation option.
- Contact the recipient through verified details associated with the transaction.
- Request a refund and keep a copy of the message.
- Do not send a second payment to “correct” the first transaction.
- Contact PayPal through the authenticated Help Center.
- Contact the bank or card issuer when its rules and the facts make that appropriate.
Do not threaten, harass, or publicly identify the unintended recipient. Recovery of a completed payment is not guaranteed.
Unauthorized fraud versus an authorized scam payment
These are different problems and must be reported accurately:
- Unauthorized fraud: someone accessed your account or funding method and sent money without your permission.
- Authorized scam payment: you personally approved the transfer because a scammer deceived you.
For example, an attacker who enters your account and sends money without your knowledge may create an unauthorized-transaction claim. A seller who persuades you to send Friends and Family for a nonexistent laptop has induced an authorized scam payment.
PayPal uses this same distinction in its official fraud and scam guidance. Purchase Protection does not cover a Friends and Family purchase, and PayPal does not promise reimbursement for every authorized scam payment.
If a payment was genuinely unauthorized, report it promptly through the official Resolution Center process. Do not select that reason merely because you later regretted or discovered the deception behind a payment you personally approved.
A seller asking for Friends and Family is a warning sign
PayPal explicitly advises buyers to use Goods and Services for items sold by people they do not know, including purchases on classified sites such as Facebook Marketplace. A seller asking for Friends and Family removes the Purchase Protection route and may be trying to avoid commercial fees or scrutiny.
Common warning signs include:
- The seller offers a discount for avoiding Goods and Services.
- The seller claims a protected payment will delay shipping.
- The seller refuses an invoice or commercial checkout.
- The seller requests a deposit through Friends and Family.
- The seller asks for several smaller personal payments.
- The seller asks you to lie in the payment note.
- The seller creates urgency or says another buyer is waiting.
- The seller requests an additional insurance, upgrade, release, or verification fee.
- The instructions arrive from a social-media account that may have been compromised.
Use the appropriate commercial payment method or abandon the transaction. A real-looking profile, PayPal name, invoice, email, or screenshot does not prove that the seller is trustworthy.
Other Friends and Family scams to recognize
| Scam pattern | Warning sign and safer response |
|---|---|
| Family emergency | The sender creates urgency and claims to be a relative in trouble. Verify the request through a known phone number or another family member. |
| Compromised social account | A familiar profile suddenly requests money. Confirm the person’s identity outside that account before paying. |
| Romance scam | An online contact builds trust and then asks for emergency, travel, or investment money. Do not send personal payments to someone you have not independently verified. |
| Job or task scam | You are asked to pay for equipment, training, activation, or access to earnings. Legitimate employment should not require a Friends and Family payment to unlock a job. |
| Fake support | A supposed agent requests a test payment, password, authentication code, or remote access. End contact and open PayPal directly. |
| Prize, loan, or investment scam | You must send money before receiving a larger amount. Do not pay to release a prize, loan, inheritance, refund, or investment return. |
| Overpayment or refund scam | Someone claims to have sent too much and asks you to forward money elsewhere. Verify the original transaction and refund only through that transaction when appropriate. |
Never share a PayPal password, passkey approval, one-time authentication code, card number, bank login, or remote access to your device. PayPal’s fake-message guidance also warns that HTTPS and a padlock icon do not prove that a website is legitimate.
Why is a Friends and Family payment pending or unclaimed?
A payment may be pending or unclaimed because:
- The email address is not registered or confirmed.
- The mobile number is not linked to an eligible PayPal account.
- The recipient has not opened an eligible account.
- The recipient must accept the currency.
- The recipient has chosen not to accept certain payments automatically.
- The recipient’s account cannot receive personal payments.
- PayPal is reviewing the payment.
- The funding source has not completed processing.
Open Activity and select the payment for its specific explanation. Do not assume that every pending payment can be canceled. If a Cancel button appears, the sender can use it. Otherwise, the recipient may need to accept or decline the payment.
Is PayPal Friends and Family taxable?
The payment label does not determine taxability. A genuine gift, repayment of a personal expense, or roommate reimbursement is different from payment for freelance work, products, business inventory, rental activity, or another income-producing transaction.
For U.S. users, current IRS Form 1099-K guidance says that money received from friends and family as a genuine gift or repayment of a personal expense should not be reported on Form 1099-K and is not taxable income. Examples include splitting a meal, receiving a birthday gift, or being reimbursed by a roommate for rent or a household bill.
That does not make business income tax-free. Payment for goods or services remains reportable according to applicable tax rules even if someone incorrectly labels it Friends and Family or no Form 1099-K is issued.
Tax rules and information-reporting systems differ by country and tax year. Keep appropriate records and use current guidance from your tax authority or a qualified adviser.
Is PayPal Friends and Family anonymous?
No. Depending on account settings and the transaction, another PayPal user may see information such as your username, profile image, first and last name, email address, phone number, city, or other profile details.
PayPal’s current U.S. Privacy Statement explains that it may disclose information to another account holder when necessary to complete a transaction. Review your account and profile privacy settings, and do not place sensitive personal, banking, or identity information in the payment note.
Final checklist before sending
- The payment is genuinely personal and not for goods or services.
- You know and trust the recipient.
- You verified the recipient through an independent method.
- The email address, phone number, or username is correct.
- The amount and currency are correct.
- You understand that Purchase Protection and Seller Protection do not apply.
- You reviewed the funding method and displayed fee.
- You reviewed any currency-conversion rate.
- You understand that a completed payment may be difficult to recover.
- No one is pressuring you to act urgently or hide the real purpose in the note.
- No seller is asking you to use Friends and Family to avoid a commercial payment.