Create a PayPal Business Account for Your LLC or Ltd

What this service is and who it is for

This service sets up a PayPal Business account for your own US LLC or UK Ltd. The account is opened in your company's name, with your true details, and you hold the login from the first day. Our filing team prepares the documents, fills in the application with you, helps you answer PayPal's review questions and follows up until PayPal decides.

It suits founders who have just formed a company, and founders whose first attempt stalled on a document request. If you have no company yet, start with US LLC formation or UK company formation for non-residents.

PayPal decides every application. We cannot promise approval, and we do not sell ready-made or "verified" accounts. The reasons, and what happens to people who buy them, are on our payment account setup overview.

PayPal business account vs personal

A business account is the one to use when you sell. PayPal's US user agreement says a business account is required if you are opening the account primarily for business or commercial activity, and a personal account is for personal, family or household purposes. PayPal's UK agreement describes business accounts as being for people and organisations that mainly use PayPal to receive online payments for sales or donations.

PayPal says you can upgrade an existing personal account to a business account from account settings. For a company, we usually recommend a fresh business account in the company's name so the records stay separate from your own.

Who PayPal accepts: the country rules

PayPal runs a separate service and user agreement for each country, and the business must belong to that country. This is the rule that matters most for founders abroad.

• United States. PayPal's US agreement says that if you are a business, the business must be organized in, operating in, or a resident of, the United States or one of its territories. A US LLC is organized in the US, so it can apply for a US account. An individual opening a US account must be a US resident aged at least 18.
• United Kingdom. PayPal's UK agreement, provided by PayPal UK Ltd, says the business must be registered in the UK, Guernsey, the Isle of Man or Jersey. A UK Ltd registered at Companies House fits this.

So a founder living in Pakistan, India, Nigeria or Bangladesh does not open a US or UK PayPal account for themselves. The company applies, as a company, in the country where it is registered. PayPal can still ask about the people behind it, where the business is run and what it sells, and it can say no.

What PayPal asks for

For a US business account, PayPal lists your full legal name, email address, a password, your tax ID or Social Security number, a business description and business bank account details. Sole proprietors can use an SSN instead of an EIN. An LLC owned by a non-resident uses its EIN.

For a UK business account, PayPal lists your full legal name, email, a password, your business registration number, business description and business bank account details. For a Ltd, the business registration number is the Companies House company number.

After sign-up PayPal can ask for more. In practice this means identity documents for owners and directors, proof of the business address, and evidence of what you sell. PayPal decides which documents it accepts from owners who live abroad, so we work from the requests it shows on your screen rather than guessing.

PayPal business account fees

PayPal says there is no fee to open a PayPal Business account and no monthly maintenance fees in the US. You pay per transaction. These are PayPal's published standard rates for receiving commercial payments, taken from its US merchant fees page (updated 1 September 2026) and UK merchant fees page (updated 15 July 2026).

Currency conversion, chargebacks, QR code payments and some products have their own fees on the same pages. Check the current rates before you set prices. There is no government fee for opening a PayPal account.

Holds, reserves and limitations

New business accounts often see money held for a while. This is normal for new sellers.

• Payment holds. PayPal's US agreement says risk-based holds generally remain in place for up to 21 days. PayPal looks at account tenure, transaction activity, business type, past disputes and customer satisfaction, and new sellers or sellers with little selling history are a common case.
• Reserves. A reserve is a holdback of funds in your account to cover the risk of negative balances, chargebacks, refunds or other liabilities. PayPal may set one if it sees higher risk in your activity or business type.
• Limitations. If PayPal limits the account, it can ask for documents, financial statements or other information. Answering quickly and consistently is the fastest way through.
• Longer holds. Where PayPal decides it needs to protect against liability, the US agreement allows it to hold funds for up to 180 days.

PayPal also says you may not open more accounts to get around a restriction, or use information that is not your own. If your account is limited, fix the cause on that account. Opening a second one usually makes things worse.

What is included and not included

• Included: an eligibility check against PayPal's rules for your company's country, a document pack (formation documents, EIN letter or Companies House certificate, operating agreement or articles, proof of address in your name, website and business description), filling in the application with you, help with PayPal's review questions, and follow-up until PayPal decides.
• Included: a check that your website shows what PayPal and card customers expect to see: what you sell, prices, contact details, refund and delivery terms.
• Not included: any approval promise, PayPal's own fees, opening an account in anyone else's name, holding your password or login codes, or legal and tax advice.

How it works

1. Order and intake. Start your order and tell us your company, where you live, what you sell and how customers will pay.
2. Secure document upload. Share your documents through the client portal, never by chat or email attachment (see our security page).
3. Preparation and review. Our filing team checks that every name, address and number matches your formation papers and tax letters, and flags anything PayPal is likely to query.
4. Application with you. We fill in the application together on a call or in your portal. You enter your own password, complete identity checks and set up two-step login yourself.
5. Review questions. If PayPal asks for more, we prepare the answer and documents with you, and you submit them from your account.
6. Tracking and handover. We record each step in your portal and give you a checklist for keeping the account in good standing.

What we need from you

• Your US LLC formation document and EIN letter, or your UK certificate of incorporation and company number
• Operating agreement (US) or articles of association (UK)
• Passport or national ID for each owner and director PayPal asks about
• Proof of your address in your own name, recent and readable
• A business bank account in the company's name
• A live website or product page, a business email and a short description of what you sell and to whom

No EIN yet? Our EIN application service comes first.

Timelines

PayPal does not publish a fixed review time for business accounts, so we do not quote one. Sign-up itself takes minutes; document reviews take as long as PayPal needs. Our team starts once your intake and documents are complete, and holds on early payments follow PayPal's own timing described above.

Doing it yourself vs using us

You can open a PayPal Business account yourself for free in a few minutes, and with simple details that is often enough. Founders abroad usually run into trouble later: a name that does not match the company record, an address PayPal cannot verify, a website with no refund terms, or a slow answer to a limitation notice. What we add is preparation before you apply and help answering PayPal when it asks questions. If you want help with several providers at once, see Stripe account setup and our US LLC bank account guide. Founders in Pakistan should read PayPal in Pakistan first.

What we will never do

We never hold your PayPal password or one-time codes, never log in as you, never open an account under someone else's identity, and never change facts to fit PayPal's rules.

Sources

• PayPal: user agreement (US), last updated 14 September 2026
• PayPal UK: user agreement, last updated 15 July 2026
• PayPal: open a business account (US)
• PayPal: open a business account (UK)
• PayPal: merchant fees (US)
• PayPal: merchant fees (UK)

Fees, deadlines and rules on this page were last checked on 27 September 2026.