PayPal Verification: What You Should Know to Keep Your Account Safe

‍When you sell goods or services online, you might want to offer customers a safe and secure way to pay you. At this point, a verified PayPal account can help. However, setting up a PayPal account is more complicated than just signing up with your email address and password. To open a PayPal Verified Business account, sellers have to go through some verification processes. While it might seem inconvenient, it can protect you in the future.

Read on to learn more about the different kinds of accounts available on Paypal, how to verify your business for one, and whether or not you also need to verify your personal account.

Keep on reading to learn more about:

1. What is PayPal Verification?

2. How to verify your PayPal account

3. What to expect during verification

4. Why is PayPal verification necessary?

5. How to check if your PayPal account is verified?

6. Final Words: Protecting yourself with verification

What is PayPal Verification?

The term verification has different meanings, depending on the context. In the context of PayPal, verification is the process of confirming the information on your account. 

Before opening a new account or using PayPal as a payment method, you have to verify your account. This ensures that only trustworthy individuals can open and operate accounts with PayPal. It also gives you peace of mind that your information is safe and that transactions can be completed securely whenever necessary.

How to verify your PayPal account

For each type of business account, you must supply specific information to prove your identity and your business’s legitimacy. 

Verification can be completed in one of two ways. You can either upload documents or answer questions about yourself and your business. Initially, you will be prompted to supply your business name, the primary business contact (or owner), and the physical address. Once you’ve entered the initial information, you receive an email from PayPal requesting that you verify your account by following the steps described in the email.

What to expect during verification

The level of verification you need to complete will depend on the type of account you’re going to open. For example, if you’re opening a Personal account, you might only have to enter the last digits of your Social Security number and verify your email address. To open a Business account, you may have to provide a valid government-issued identification document and other information to verify your identity. 

Additionally, verification can take several days or weeks to process. You may have to wait up to one month to complete the process, depending on which type of account you’re opening and what kind of verification you are required to complete.

Why is PayPal verification necessary?

If selling goods or services online, you need a way to accept payments from customers. PayPal is one of the world’s most popular payment methods, so it’s only logical to choose it as a payment provider. However, customers might want to make sure their sensitive information, such as financial data, remains protected. Your PayPal account verification is the way to show your customers you care about their safety, so they can trust you. Sellers can use PayPal to receive payments for either selling goods or services. Verification might slightly differ based on which case is yours, so let’s look at both in more detail.

PayPal verification for selling goods

Verification for selling goods is completed by your user account. You must have a Premier or Business PayPal account to set up a payment for goods. To verify that you’re a legitimate seller, PayPal will ask you to take a photo of your government-issued photo ID and a photo of your business’s premises. If you sell on eBay, you’ll also need to connect your account to your PayPal account.

PayPal verification for selling services

Verification for selling services is completed by your business account. You must have a Premier or Business PayPal account to set up the acceptance of payments for services. To verify that you’re a legitimate business, PayPal will ask you to provide documentation of your business’s identity, such as your business registration, tax identification number, and/or Employer Identification Number. Depending on your country, you may also need to provide a bank account number or a financial statement. You may have to wait up to 60 days after opening your account to complete this verification step.

How to check if your PayPal account is verified?

Before effective management of your PayPal transactions, you need to check whether your PayPal account is verified, you need to take the following steps:

1. Log in to your PayPal, go to My Account, and click Overview.

2. Find the section labeled Status.

This section usually shows the status of your account verification. This way, if it displays the Verified value, you’re alright.

If your status is marked as Unverified, you’ll need to go through the procedures described above. But before, you might want to initiate your PayPal account verification. Hrer’s what you’ll need to do:

1. In your PayPal account, go to Account > Overview and click Get Verified.

2. Select the verification method you want to use.

3. Enter the required information, then click Continue.

4. Click Confirm, then click Submit.

That is, basically, it.

Final Words: Protecting yourself with verification

PayPal, as a payment system, has many virtues. It’s easy to use for businesses and customers, you can easily integrate PayPal with accounting, and it makes receiving credit card payments a breeze.

However, it’s critical to protect yourself against credit card fraud. One way to do that is by verifying your PayPal account. Verification helps to protect you and your account from identity theft by confirming that the person using your account is who they say they are. A verified account also helps protect your customers because they know their transactions are safe and can make payments using their credit or debit cards. To verify your account, you need to provide proof of your identity and your business’s legitimacy. The verification process may seem tedious, but it’s necessary to protect both you and your customers while making online payments.