Canadian Paypal and Canadian Western Union

I have a few questions about both.

Paypal

If I am transferring a certain amount of money from my linked bank account to my paypal, will paypal charge me a fee for doing so? If so what is the fee on just the withdrawal?

I know there is a ridiculous fee converting CAD currency to USD, on top of the actual currency conversion rate. Is there any way to avoid this? If I pay straight from CAD currency and just change it to USD when given the currency option does it do it for me without taking the stupid cut?

If I pay straight out of my bank on paypal with my CAD currency and select to send USD, do I get charged fees on top of the standard currency conversion rate?

What is the formula so I can determine how much I am actually losing doing this?


Western Union

When someone sends me say USD they automatically convert it at my vendor and give me it in CAD. Is WU charging me a fee when they convert USD to CAD? I don't know if its just the bad currency conversion rate.. or do they actually have a currency conversion fee? If so what is the formula so I can calculate how much I would lose from the currency conversion?

No matter what value of the payment they always ask for ID. I don't have any ID at all but I am over 19.. is there a way I can get around this? I heard something about a test question.. how does that work?

 

W/U answers: Yes, the sender can set up a question with a specific answer if you want to pick it up without ID. No, they do not charge you a nominal fee for currency conversion from my past experience at least, just the standard W/U fee.

Not sure on paypal don't use it as i deem it unsafe.

 

Mostly correct, however Western Union will offer a bad currency exchange rate, usually about 3% below the market so that is an additional fee to take into mind (on top of the normal fee).

 

western union converts the money and they have the worst rate ever....thats how they make money aswell

 

I know outside of WU agents (at least most) they display what they buy each currency for. I assume this is what they also use when they are converting USD sent to me into CAD. Is there any place I can find this online.. the list of what they are offering for each currency? I know its a far reach even since i'm Canadian.

 

PayPal charges 2.5% for currency exchange. For Western Union it states this "In addition to the transfer fee, Western Union also makes money when it changes your dollars into foreign currency."

 

Does the currency exchange still apply when I am sending payments directly out of my bank?

 

Yes, unless you're sending to Canada of course.

 

Thanks. Another question..

Is there a limit I can receive at an agent with the test question until they will need ID?

 

$1,000 on the US.

 

So to make sure I have this correct I will give an example.

Say I am putting $1000 CAD from my bank into my paypal (or paying directly out of my bank), which situation is correct? Keep in mind I just calculated the Currency Exchange on paypal. The Paypal Exchange Rate is 1 CAD = 0.993859 USD, so it says $1000 CAD would be converted to $993.85.


1. The total fee charge is already included in the Paypal Exchange Rate. If I were to transfer $1000 CAD from my bank into my paypal I would end up with $993.75 USD.


2. The 2.5% fee would be on top of the exchange rate and based on $1000. The fee would be $1000 x 2.5% = $25, so $993.85 USD - $25 USD = $968.85. So I would get $968.85 USD in my paypal from transferring $1000 CAD from my bank.

3. The 2.5% fee would be on top of the exchange rate and based on $993.85. The fee would be $993.85 x 2.5% = $24.85, so $993.85 USD - $24.85 USD = $969 USD. So I would get $969 USD in my paypal from transferring $1000 CAD from my bank.

 

I believe fee is already calculated into the exchange because $1,000CAD is roughly around $1,019USD. 1019-2.5%=993.525 which matches the PayPal exchange rate you mentioned.

 

Yes that all seems correct.

Is their a limit to how much you can transfer to PayPal in one transaction?