How to request money on PayPal, step by step

What is a money request on PayPal?

A money request is a message from PayPal asking someone to send you a set amount. It takes nothing from them by itself. PayPal emails them the request, and they open it from their Dashboard or Activity and choose Send Payment, then Send.

You can send a money request to anyone with an email address. You need a PayPal account with a confirmed email yourself, and PayPal emails you when the request is paid.

How do you request money on PayPal?

The steps differ a little between the website and the app.

On PayPal.com

1. Go to Send & Request.
2. Open the Request tab.
3. Enter the person’s name, email or mobile number, then click Next.
4. Enter the amount and choose the currency.
5. Select the request type, and add a note if you want to.
6. Review the request, then select Request Now.

In the PayPal app

1. Tap Send/Request.
2. Enter the amount and pick the person.
3. Add a message if you want to.
4. Tap Request Now.

To ask several people for a share of one bill, PayPal.com has a Split a bill option that creates a money request for each person you select.

How do you send a reminder, cancel a request or decline one?

Reminding and cancelling both start in Activity, and declining happens on the other person’s side.

• Remind: open Activity, open the request, select Remind, then Send a reminder. PayPal words its reminder cap for invoices, at up to 2 manual invoice reminders per invoice within a 24-hour period, so do not assume the same number for a plain request.
• Cancel: on the website, go to Activity, select the request, then Cancel and Yes. PayPal gives these steps for a suspicious money request or invoice.
• Decline: in the app, the person you asked can tap Decline, which PayPal describes for a request they do not recognize. For those, PayPal’s advice is not to pay.

A reminder works best with a reason attached. How to politely remind a friend to pay you back has wording that keeps it friendly.

Can you ask with a request link instead?

Yes, but each link takes one payment. The person paying has to log in to a PayPal account, the link allows one payment, and it expires after 10 days if nobody accepts it.

For a group, that means one link for each person rather than one link pasted in the chat. Someone without a PayPal account can pay an invoice by card, but do not count on that for a money request.

Does PayPal charge to request money?

PayPal’s fee page lists no separate fee for requesting money. The fees that matter are on the payment itself. As of October 2026, the fee page (last updated May 19, 2026) lists these for personal payments, meaning money between friends and family that is not for goods or services.

Personal payment	Fee
From a PayPal balance or bank account	No fee
From a card	2.90% plus $0.30
International send, on top of the fee above	Adds 5.00% (minimum $0.99, maximum $4.99)

Receiving a personal payment has no fee when no currency conversion is involved. Say you paid $240 for concert tickets split three ways, so a friend’s share is $80. If it goes through as a personal payment and they pay from a bank account, there is no fee. If they pay by card, the fee is $2.32 (2.90% of $80) plus $0.30, which is $2.62.

Which PayPal payment type suits friends?

PayPal describes Friends and Family as the everyday exchange of money between you and your friends and family, for example splitting a lunch bill. If a seller you are buying from asks for it, treat that as a red flag, because the payment will not be covered by PayPal’s Purchase Protection. PayPal Friends and Family scams explains what is and is not covered.

A request carries one amount, so for rent or a shared subscription you would create a new one each month. In EvenOut, an expense can repeat weekly, monthly or yearly, so the amount owed is already there when the date comes. You still pay through PayPal and record it under Settle up, because EvenOut records the payment and does not move money.