In this article I’m going to show you how you can chance your default withdrawal currency on Paypal.
For me, the default withdrawal currency was in Euros. So when I would go and try to withdraw money from Paypal, even though I would select US Dollars and input the amount, when I would get to the final page in order to click and withdraw money, I would get something like this:
As you can see, it displays the US Dollar amount I inputted, but below it displays the Euro amount I would receive. So Paypal automatically converted my Dollar amount into Euros.
There is a way to change this, so that it doesn’t happen. In the same way, if you’re trying to withdraw Euros or some other currency, and Paypal is converting the money in some other currency, this guide will show you how to make the change.
How to change the default withdrawal currency?
What you need to do is contact Paypal and ask them to make this change for you. You can either Message them or Call them. If you call them you can have this fixed in minutes, as the person you talk to will be able to make this change for you very quickly. If you message them it will take a few days.
Personally, because there was no urgency to get this done, I decided to message them to get this changed. It took over a week to take care of it, because the first two replies I got from Paypal were ridiculous. And so if you wait 24-72 hours for each reply, and you get a few replies that just waste your time, you understand how getting this taken care of can take a few days.
My Messages with Paypal
I first sent them a message and explained what I wanted, and I received this reply:
Dear [NAME],
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
Please kindly check our response from the last email, there should be instructions.
This reply was ridiculous, because the last time I contacted them was about 2 weeks earlier, and the topic had Nothing to do with this. Nothing, zero…
So I replied to this message. A day or two went by, and I received a reply from a different Paypal representative:
Dear [NAME],
Thank you for contacting PayPal regarding withdrawal on your account.
I have reviewed your account and it shows me that your Visa card ending XXXX is denominated in EUR.
To update the currency we use to charge your credit card, please reply to this email with the following information:
· The last two digits of the credit card affected.· The currency you want to use for your credit card.Your future payments and withdrawals to the card will be denominated in that currency.It was my pleasure to resolve your issue today. Thank you for choosing PayPal and have a lovely day!
Okay, now I thought we were getting somewhere. So I replied with the information I was asked, and I waited.
A few days went by, and I receive another email. Now I’m thinking my problem is solved. I open the reply, and I see this (by the way, this is now again a new Paypal representative contacting me):
Dear [NAME],
Thank you for contacting PayPal regarding your card.
My name is [NAME] and I am contacting you today from Ireland. I am happy to help you today with your PayPal account.
No, I need the last 4 digits of the card number, the 16 digit number on the card. This is what I need. Then I will change it to USD for you. I await your reply.
Now, as you might imagine, I got a little pissed off. The first reply I received was completely ridiculous. The second reply I received asked me for the wrong info, and the person actually included my 4-digit number in the message they sent me. You know, the 4-digit number they were supposed to ask me to tell them. And then, the person in the second email asked me for a 2-digit number. That must have been a monkey or something replying to me, or maybe someone’s first day on the job.
Anyway, I replied to this last message too, and in the message I showed that I was displeased with them. A few days went by, and I received another reply (from a 4th different person by the way, according to the names they put at the end of each message under Your Sincerely):
Dear [NAME],
Thank you for your reply.
I have now changed the currency of the card ending with XXXX to USD.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
I wish you a lovely day, [NAME].
It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.
Yours sincerely,
[NAME]
Hooraay! Finally, it’s done!
Checking to make sure it was indeed changed
After I received the last reply I immediately went to try and withdraw some US Dollars from Paypal. And when I got to the final page, I saw a page that looked like this:
And that was it. Remember in the first screenshot I shared in this article how Paypal was converting the Dollars into Euros? No more of that. Now I was able and allowed to withdraw US Dollars without Paypal automatically converting the money into Euros on the final page. Done and done! ;)
Video where I talk about the situation:
Final Thoughts
If you want to do this, and you want to avoid it taking days/weeks, or you want to avoid dealing with stupid replies that don’t help you and getting into that back and forth of explaining things, then I suggest you just Call Paypal and get things taken care for you quickly and painlessly.
If you have any questions, ask below. Thanks for reading.