Now Use PayPal Checkout in India with Peace of Mind

By | January 6, 2018

The wallet business in India is really cut-throat and couldn’t be more intense than it was ever before. However, even during this time, there has been a new entrant in the market. It’s PayPal. I know many of you might think that Paypal has been in India for a long time now and then why is this post all of a sudden relevant. Well, this was something I wanted to write about for a month now.

PayPal was earlier present in India but you could use it only for cross border transactions. What does it mean? It means that if you went to a foreign site and wanted to purchase an item, and if the seller accepted Paypal, you pay for the item purchased, without divulging card details.

The new thing though that has happened is that PayPal is now in India too. Means in India too sellers can now accept payments through PayPal Checkout and thus you can pay through your cards without revealing or storing your card details to the merchant site.

Why is this good you ask? This is because PayPal will now become the single solution to payments within India or abroad without revealing your card details to the merchant websites. Now many people will raise security issues with PayPal. I have been using PayPal for roughly 7 years now and till now haven’t run into any issues. I’ll put my card on PayPal than rather saving my credit card details on all other websites.

How does PayPal benefit users?

  • You don’t have to reveal your card details to any merchant.
  • You don’t have to remember any of your card details.
  • You can use the same service whether you are in India or outside India for travel.
  • You can use PayPal for your foreign transaction too (in the websites which support PayPal Checkout.
  • PayPal Checkout makes the transactions seamless. If the Indian merchant or any foreign merchant website where you are buying supports PayPal Checkout then you simply have to use that to make the payment and your card details are never revealed to the merchants.
  • PayPal is a boon for the 10X points accrual for Diners Club Cards if you decide to do foreign transactions with it. There are always instances where our Diners Card is not accepted for payments. For those instances, if the merchant accepts PayPal, we can still pay for the item with our Diners Card. This has resulted into huge savings via the 10X program. This transaction is not considered as wallet transaction. It is a normal transaction like any other and hence allows to accrue points too. Besides, I enjoy peace of mind by not revealing my card details and the availability of buyer protection too.

Merchants Accepting PayPal Checkout in India:

  1. BookmyShow
  2. MMT
  3. Yatra
  4. PVR Cinemas
  5. Abhibus.com
  6. Dineout
  7. Pepperfry
  8. Thomas Cook and others

Some Cool offers going on with PayPal as of now:

  • Rs 150 off on movie tickets on BookMyShow
  • 25% discount on all gifts at fernsnpetals and a few more.

I have been using Paypal for quite sometime now and really like their service. I make it a point to pay through PayPal always for my foreign online purchases if it’s available. The only time you like to avoid PayPal is when the merchant is running some card specific offers like 10% off with HDFC Credit Cards or so. Here in order to qualify for the offer, you need to use your card directly rather than through PayPal.

NOTE: If you have VISA/Mastercard and you want to use PayPal Checkout for any foreign website which supports it, DO NOT use PayPal’s own currency converter. Choose to be billed in native currency. This means say you want to pay $100 to a merchant. So when you go through Paypal checkout, it will tell you to pay  ₹68000 (Approx). Don’t do this. Instead choose from the option to be billed in foreign currency and let your card provider (VISA/MasterCard/Diners etc) charge the currency conversion. By this single step you will save ~1% easily on your transaction as PayPal currency conversion fees are high. Besides, this will make more sense if you have low mark up fee cards like HDFC Regalia, Infinia, Diners Premium, Black, Yes First Exclusive/Preferred etc.

Do you use PayPal? How is your experience so far? Will you use PayPal more now that is in India too? Let us know what do you think of this development in the comments section below.

Author: Abhishek Roy

Abhishek is a Doctor by profession and is passionate about Technology and Photography. He pursues his hobbies during the little free time he gets and likes to make the most out of it. He has special interest in Credit/Debit Cards, Reward Points, Air Miles and Travel Hacks.

52 thoughts on “Now Use PayPal Checkout in India with Peace of Mind

  1. Prashant Gupta

    My experience with paypal is alwaya pay in USD as you dont have to pay conversion charges. Last month i paid for 2 tranaactions in HKD and 1 in USD (payment to merchant in HKD), the ine with HKD i had ti pay more HKD as HKD was first converted to USD and then again to HKD which was strange. I have been using paypal fior last 10 years and uad no issues with it.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You should always allow the card to do the conversion. No PayPal. PayPal charges huge conversion charges. It’s more than 3.5%. if you don’t do that you don’t get the benefit of low forex mark up cards like Diners, YFE/YFP, Regalia etc. In case of Diners, you cannot charge Diners/Discover card on PayPal in any other currency apart from USD. that is the way it works. So if you are paying in say HKD, PayPal will apply its own conversion from HKD to USD and then charge the Diners card in USD. But say the website from where you purchase, offers an option of buying IN USD without significant charges, I would suggest you do that. I always try to buy in USD if I have to pay with Diners.

      Reply
  2. Hari

    Hi Abhishek, If we use Papal (using DCB) in Abhibus,
    1. Should we have to pay foreign currency transaction charges?
    2. Will we get 10X rewards?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You pay Foreign currency mark up only when your merchant charges you in foreign currency. In Abhibus you will pay in INR so it’ll be just like a normal payment where money will be debited from your credit card by PayPal and they will credit the paypal account of merchant

      Reply
      1. Rahul Kashyap

        So using PayPal for indian merchants and using card for currency conversion, it will not be counted as foreign transaction and not eligibile for 10X rewards right ?

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          If your card gets charged in Indian currency then no. If your card gets charged up in foreign currency then yes you get 10X points. On Indian websites you’ll only get charged in INR.

          Reply
          1. Rahul Kashyap

            SO why to use PayPal on indian merchants when there is no 10X rewards

          2. Abhishek Roy Post author

            It’s about storing the cards there and the next time you purchase, you don’t have to add the card. Read through the post, I have written what the befits are. It’s great for security too in comparison to your information about cards lying with other websites

          3. Gaurav Taparia

            I saw five different currency options to pay on Yatra app. So if I choose to pay in USD on Yatra, will it counted towards 10x since it is an indian merchant but the payment is in foreign currency.

            Also, I needed some more clarity on what exactly is foreign transaction which will be counted for 10X ? Foreign merchant accepting payment in any currency other than INR? Is my understanding correct?

          4. Abhishek Roy Post author

            If your card is charged in any currency other than INR, then it will be counted towards foreign transaction. You have to see if Yatra us allowing an Indian credit card to pay in dollars or not.

  3. Parag

    Now PayPal is also wallet. Do we get reward points with HDFC card ?

    Reply
  4. datta1108

    I used PayPal in Australia and now when I login into PayPal India it strangely directs me to PayPal AU site. Looks like I need to open new account for PayPal India.
    Are there any referral scheme for PayPal India which I can use?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      Yes. You have to use 2 different accounts. The Indian website will ask for PAN card and all to verify.

      Reply
  5. Tarun

    How do you use Paypal for regular transactions? I mean, if we have to pay on a merchant site, say MMT, I now see an option Paypal there. What happens after that? Just Paypal login details or 2FA as well?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You have to first open a PayPal account, pass all their verifications and add a credit card and bank for auto withdrawal. Once all is done, you’re good to go. I haven’t made any Indian payments yet with Paypal. I think it’ll be same as other players like Paytm or MobiKwik.

      Reply
      1. Tarun

        I already have a PayPal account and my CC added. Thing is unlike Paytm, here your card is directly charged for the transaction. If not for 2FA, they can potentially charge the entire limit on the card

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          No you won’t. Even if something goes wrong, Paypal has buyer protection in place. This is done as Paypal till now was not governed by RBI which didn’t dictate it to keep 2FA. This is common with all foreign merchants including Paypal. I am sure they will implement the 2FA soon as now they have started operating directly in India and hence shall now be governed under RBI rules.

          Reply
  6. vicky

    can we add money in paypal waleet using diners card and then widraw to bank ?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      There is no such thing called Paypal wallet for Indian users. Even if you did, Paypal would block your account immediately if they find you doing so.

      Reply
  7. Msar

    Well I have been a PayPal user from more than 10+ years now, few years back there was a fradulent transaction on my credit through PayPal as there was no verification system in place. Due to that incident it put me off and have kept mr away from it.
    However I got those transactions cancelled/reversed and blocked my card though the bank.

    Reply
  8. sanjay

    How is diners club usd to inr conversion rate places vis a vis mastercard? I find difference of atleast Re 1.

    Reply
  9. Shrey

    Its always cool to know 10x hacks.please share any other 10x which can help us save specially something with utilities bill payments

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      Try paying bills for all your utilities via PayZapp (This requires HDFC Cards other than Diners Cards). You’ll get 10X points for all transactions on PayZapp.

      Reply
      1. Gaurav Taparia

        I do not see 10X any more for utilities in Payzapp and also the utilities payment option is no more there on Smartbuy website. Kindly confirm if it is still possible.

        Reply
  10. Tathagat

    i have earlier used paypal to book airbnb but have found that it loads 5% over the airbnb amount even when paying in Dollars !! Any advice how to cut that ?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      If your Airbnb says that you’re paying in dollars and PayPal is mode of payment you’ll be charged exactly as shown in your Airbnb bill by PayPal. Booked a home stay a few days back and I can vouch for it. Make sure that the currency is not changed.

      Reply
      1. Tathagat

        First of all Thank you for the prompt reply !!
        I am confused going by what you are saying…. it was a while back… i tries to book some airbnb’s in europe and the airbnb app was giving some error when trying to pay through a Credit Card.. something like ” card not being from the point of origin ” or something like that…don’t exactly remember…so chose paypal as a payment option…was alarmed to see the bill get inflated by 5%…. this happened on all 4 bookings and as paid a huge margin for using paypal…..in fact..the activity tab also has records of payment in dollars i.e. it mentions both 122$ & Rs. 8,530.94 !!

        Reply
        1. Abhishek Roy Post author

          Yes. If you pay to PayPal by any other currency apart from the card’s own native currency then PayPal is going to use their own currency converter. Avoid that. While you are taken to the PayPal website from the payment checkout, use I want to be billed in my seller currency and let my bank decide what I’ll pay. I think this is what might have happened.

          Reply
      2. Prashant Gupta

        I have also made booking on airbnb via paypal and was exactly charged what i was shown in USD.

        Reply
  11. Prithvi

    In case of using Paypal internationally, it does not ask for 2FA (VBV), does it ask for India?

    Reply
  12. Ashish Nikhare

    How do we activate Global Value Program for Diners cards. I dont have Savings acc with HDFC hence no Netbanking from where i could activate it. Also, Credit card Netbanking doesnt show any way to activate it. I even called customer care, they say it has to be done through netbanking and they cannot activate over phone call request. How to proceed ?

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You have to activate the program by calling customer care. Mine was done effortlessly. It’s a very good program and gets you lots of value back. 🙂 We routinely save a lot of money because of it on top of the 10X points for the foreign transactions.

      Reply
  13. AP

    I made 147 usd payment via paypal from my hdfc diners club credit cvard ON 17TH jULY18. I got a msg for debit of 9845. But when I checked my credit card unbilled transctions it showed Rs.10,228 plus 3% bank conversion charges (306) plus gst (55.23). I am not sure why I was charged 10228 when I got a msg for 9845.

    Reply
    1. Abhishek Roy Post author

      You have to ignore the message that you receive in cases of foreign transactions. The amount shown on the unbilled transaction on your netbanking is the final amount that you’ll have to pay. It is based on the conversion ratio between the USD and INR on the day this transaction was settled. I hope this makes things clear. 🙂

      Reply
      1. Mrinal Malhotra

        Hi Abhishek

        I intend to make a payment on Airbnb for xxx EUR. Should I make the payment directly via my Diners Black card or use Paypal (linked to Diners Black) in order for me to get the 10x rewards point advantage ??

        Also, as you have mentioned above Airbnb doesnt show me which currency is the underlying currency as I can change the currency and it shows me a rate.

        Thanks & Regards
        Mrinal

        Reply
        1. Mrinal Malhotra

          Also, where would the conversion charges be lower
          (a) Using Diners Black directly on AIRBNB website OR
          (b) Using Paypal on AIRBNB. PAYPAL is linked to Diners Black

          Basically does DinersBlack have more conversion charges or Paypal ?

          Reply
          1. Sharathkumar Anbu

            Using Diners Black directly in AIRBNB website will be better and it will fetch you 10X reward points for international transactions (current offer)

            You can use Paypal as well and don’t use Paypal conversion system for charging your card in INR, Charge your card in USD itself. Then also you will get 10 x reward points for international transactions

        2. Abhishek Roy Post author

          If you are getting an option to pay with Diners Card directly then always chose that. If you have to use PayPal to pay via Diners, then it’s advisable to always use USD to pay. PayPal have a term with Diners wherein they can only charge your Diners card in USD. So say for example, if you want to pay in Euros by PayPal, the latter will use its conversion system to convert EURO to USD and then charge your Diners Card. This way you lose some money. But overall, you get good points from 10X so this loss is easily compensated

          Reply
  14. Prashant Gupta

    Airbnb does not accept diners…..u will have to use paypal…. always make payment in USD otherwise multiple conversion charges will apply..

    Reply
    1. Mrinal Malhotra

      Hi Prashant, Abhishek

      AirBnB does accept Discover Cards and the Diners Black card gets included in that. Probably they have added new payment methods since the last time you checked.

      It anyways has the Paypal option.

      Thanks Abhishek for the revert.

      Reply
  15. NEELAM SISODIYA

    SIR I HAVE CASHBACK VOUCHER OF 500 RS ON PAYPAL.
    I WANT TO ASK IF I PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM MYNTRA SHOPPING BELOW RS 500 AND PAY VIA MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT. I HAVE TO APAY ANY MONEY. OR MY CASH BACK AUTOMATICALLY USED.

    Reply
  16. Bhushan Dhawle

    Can I get hdfc infinia credit card 3.33% reward on paypal

    Reply
  17. Vinod

    Is it possible to pay for imports (in Euro or USD) using PayPal?
    Supplier prefers Paypal payment over Bank Transfer.

    What are the rules by RBI?
    – Is it allowed?
    – If yes, is there a limit to payment amount?
    – What about Customs? What documents they will need for the same?
    thank you

    Reply

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