One of the number 1 questions that has been asked for the past several years is, How to Receive Funds from Paypal in Trinidad and Tobago.

You might recall in March that I had some news about Visa taking a decision and Paypal responding by blocking push payments or deposits to Visa Enabled cards for the Caribbean. Now that message is still coming up for MANY people across the region.

From my personal correspondence with Paypal, they have been addressing this on a case-by-case scenario. If you are someone experiencing issues from receiving international clients, you need to report the error message to Paypal and their account specialist will review your account to rectify the issue.

So without further adieu, let’s break down the Paypal payment process for us here in Trinidad and Tobago.

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What You Need

Here are all of the things you need to receive money from Paypal if you are in Trinidad and Tobago:

1. Visa Debit Card from JMMB, Venture Credit Union, PSCU Credit Union or a Visa Credit Card from ANY bank except RBC. (Linx Visa Debit Cards CANNOT be connected to Paypal…Look for Linx Logo on Visa Debit cards). Also, the Visa Debit Cards from these institutions will only be given out with Personal Accounts.
2. You need to ensure that your PayPal account is a Trinidad account. When registering, look at the bottom right-hand of the page and look at the flag to ensure you see Trinidad and Tobago. *If you created a US PayPal account and used a US address, you will need to close it and PayPal doesn’t allow you to transfer the money out of that account. Count that as a loss.

You can receive money internationally regardless if your account is a personal or a business account in Paypal.

JMMB and the banks listed only give out their Visa Debit cards when you open up personal accounts with them, so keep that in mind. The account can either be a Personal Chequings or Savings account to receive the Visa Debit Card.

Paypal usually takes a $5usd fee to manually deposit the funds to your account but because of Covid, they are waiving that fee. The processing fee is currently at 5.4% per transaction in USD.

Most people either have instant deposits to their JMMB or VISA cards, that show up within minutes or Paypal has put their account on a 30-day hold before releasing the funds. This is completely up to PayPal and their review of your account.

Paypal also reserves the right to not grant you access to receiving the funds at all, so try doing a small test amount to see if they give you access to receive those funds.

Paypal also does a free 1x Per Month transfer to your bank account that happens on the first of every month. This is what they called their “Automatic Transfer”.

Charles Schwab International Account

One of the best things you can do if you receive money internationally through PayPal — whether for business, remote work, salaries, freelancing, or support from friends and family abroad — is to set up a Charles Schwab International Account.

The Charles Schwab account acts as a form of U.S. dollar banking infrastructure that Caribbean people can legally access remotely.

One of the major benefits is that the account can connect directly to PayPal, allowing you to receive funds into a legitimate USD-linked banking ecosystem.

The account also gives you access to:

• ACH/direct deposit functionality
• a Visa Debit Card (pending approval)
• international ATM withdrawals
• global online spending
• USD storage outside of local banking limitations
• international transfers and payments

For many Caribbean entrepreneurs, creators, freelancers, and digital nomads, this is one of the strongest financial infrastructure accounts you can set up.

The application is free, can be completed online in about 15–20 minutes, and is available to Caribbean applicants.

I created a full guide showing:

• what the account is
• why it matters
• how it connects to PayPal
• what you need to apply
• how to set it up step-by-step

You can read the full Charles Schwab guide here –> Charles Schwab Set up Guide

You can also check out a full video of the process right here.

Start Watching from the 23rd minute. I provide a FULL walk-through of the entire process, from setting it up to depositing the funds.

Using Wise With Paypal in Trinidad and Tobago

You can also use the Virtual Bank service Wise to receive money from PayPal. Wise will allow you to connect its virtual account to PayPal, it will receive the money from PayPal to the Wise wallet and then wire transfer the money to ANY bank account! If you want your funds to go directly to your business account, this is the best option for you.

It doesn’t matter if the account is a Chequings or Savings, Wise will wire transfer the money to any account with any bank.

Here’s how it works!

1. You will need to create a Personal Wise account, do not use a business account as it has not rolled out in the Caribbean.
2. Fill out all the information for the Personal Wise account and it will ask you to pay a registration fee of $20usd with a credit card or you can wire transfer the funds from your bank. You will get the money back after registration.
3. Wise will allow you to sign up for an account in almost any currency but for standard use, sign up for a USD account.
4. Wise will give you the Bank Info with a routing number and account number. Take that information and add it to the bank account section in PayPal. When adding the account, if PayPal says that “You need help adding this account to PayPal”, then you will need to CALL them and ask them to have the account added. If you message their chat team, they will not add it, you must CALL them.
5. Get the SWIFT code for your local bank or Routing number and register the bank account to Wise under the Recipient section. This is the local bank account that Wise will deposit the funds into.
6. All of the fees are listed on Wise website and the funds take about 2-4 business days once you withdraw from Wise, to show up in your local bank account.

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Using Colour From Wipay To Receive Funds From Paypal

This is something that everybody in Trinidad and Tobago can do. You can receive your funds from PayPal and deposit the money into your Colour account. The benefit to this is that now you have an official way from a local company to receive these funds without having to go and sign up for a bank account as mentioned above.

With Colour, you can apply for their Colour Visa Debit card. Downloading the app and creating an account is free, you can order the card and it will cost $100ttd, which they will then mail you the card. Once you receive the card, you will add it to your PayPal account as shown in the videos above.

What Happens When The Funds Hit Your Colour Account

1. You can leave the funds in your Colour app and use the Colour card to spend the money. You can use the card at ATMs or at Point of Sales.
2. You can connect your Bank account to the Colour App, and then deposit the funds from the Colour App into your local bank accounts in Trinidad and Tobago.

Adding The Colour Card To Your PayPal:

1. Select Pay & Get Paid
2. Click on Banks and Cards
3. Under Credit & Debit Cards, Select “Link a Card”
4. Enter in the Colour Card Number and Details
5. Click “Link Card”

Download the Colour App from any of the app stores or you can download it from the Colour Website.

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That’s all you need to receive money from PayPal in Trinidad and Tobago.

I hope this is the missing link for some of you to finally get past the hurdle of receiving payments online or from international clients. If you have a question that has not been answered in this article or the videos, you can contact me here —> Contact.