PayPal

About PayPal

PayPal is the most widely recognised online payment method in the world and one of the oldest. It began in December 1998 as Confinity, merged with X.com in 2000, took the PayPal name in 2001, was acquired by eBay in 2002 and was spun back out as an independent public company on the Nasdaq in 2015. Today it operates in more than two hundred markets and supports a broad range of currencies, functioning as a wallet, a checkout method and a full payment processor. In Europe it holds a banking licence in Luxembourg supervised by the CSSF, and in the United Kingdom it is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The Wallet and Checkout

For consumers, PayPal is a wallet linked to a bank account or card that pays merchants without sharing financial details, with one click checkout and buyer protection on eligible purchases. For merchants, PayPal Checkout arrives with enormous existing consumer adoption, which is precisely why operators want it: very little of the audience needs to be persuaded to create an account.

The Wider Group

The company is far larger than the wallet alone. It owns Venmo in the United States, the Braintree payment gateway used by large online businesses, the Xoom international remittance service, and PayPal Credit and Pay Later instalment products. That range makes it a payments group rather than a single method.

Gambling Availability

This is the part operators need to understand. PayPal supports online gambling only in specific regulated jurisdictions and only with operators it has approved. Most notably, there are plenty of PayPal casinos in the United Kingdom, but also in several European markets and certain regulated United States states. It is not a universally available gambling method, it is not offered in unregulated or offshore markets, and acceptance is subject to PayPal’s own approval and acceptable use policy. Availability should always be confirmed per licence and per market rather than assumed. 

How PayPal Is Used

Where PayPal is available, it is often the single highest converting payment method an operator can offer, because trust and familiarity are already established and no new account is required for most users. In the United Kingdom in particular it has become close to an expected option at licensed casinos and sportsbooks, and it is generally quick for withdrawals. The trade off is reach and control: approval is selective, fees are typically higher than account to account alternatives, and the operator carries the risk that a change in PayPal policy affects a large share of its deposits. Many operators also exclude PayPal from welcome bonus eligibility, alongside other wallets.