✨ Please note: Online payments are available on the Lite plan or above.
Customers can usually pay via PayPal without creating an account by using the guest checkout option with a credit or debit card. This makes the payment process faster and more convenient.
This article explains how to configure PayPal to accept card payments from customers who do not have a PayPal account.
Exceptions
There are two exceptions to the guest payment option:
In some countries, even with a PayPal Business account, PayPal may require customers to use a PayPal account for payment.
If a customer has spent over £1900.00 via PayPal's guest checkout, they must use a PayPal account for all future transactions.
With PayPal Express, the default is to prompt customers to log in to their PayPal account (or create one). However, if you prefer to offer card payment as an option immediately, you can do this if your credit card is linked to your PayPal account.
Enabling an optional PayPal account
To enable an optional PayPal account:
Select your profile in the top right corner, then select Account settings:
On the right-hand side, select Website payments. From the options, select Update next to Website preferences:
Scroll down to PayPal account optional and select this option to On:
Once completed, save your changes.
Why some customers may still need to sign up with PayPal
Even with this setting enabled, some customers using PayPal may still be prompted to create an account. This usually depends on their PayPal history, cookies, or IP address, which can trigger PayPal to limit guest checkouts and request account creation.
We’ve set up PayPal to minimise these prompts, but PayPal controls this process and may still show non-card options occasionally. If this happens frequently, we recommend using Stripe as your payment provider, which always offers card-only checkouts.
💡 PayPal has recently enforced that all purchases must be made via a PayPal account in Australia.