Guide
Does PayPal work in Pakistan? No, and what to use instead
No. PayPal does not offer accounts in Pakistan and Stripe is not available either, as of October 2026. Wise cannot open you an account but can pay into your bank, and Payoneer is the usual choice for invoices. A US$100 sale costs Rs 916.40 plus tax on Safepay and Rs 1,385 to Rs 1,801 on Payoneer when a US bank pays, assuming a 2% to 3.5% conversion margin.
The short answer: no
No. As of October 2026 a person in Pakistan cannot open a PayPal account to receive money. Pakistan is not on PayPal’s own country page (checked October 21, 2026), where India, Sri Lanka and Nepal all appear. PayPal’s user agreement, updated September 14, 2026, “applies to U.S. PayPal accounts only” and asks individuals to be US residents. Wise’s Pakistan guide (updated January 30, 2026) says “It is not possible to open a PayPal account if you are in Pakistan”, and Payoneer’s Pakistan guide (August 31, 2026) calls PayPal “not officially supported in Pakistan”.
Stripe does not help either: Pakistan is not on Stripe’s list of supported countries (checked October 21, 2026). You can still get paid from abroad. Pick by who pays you:
- A client or marketplace pays invoices: open a Payoneer account.
- Overseas shoppers pay on your website: use a rupee card gateway such as Safepay.
- Family or friends abroad pay you: they send with Xoom or Wise to your bank account or wallet.
- A company pays one large invoice: ask for a bank wire to your account.
Is PayPal coming to Pakistan?
Officials have promised it for years. The latest statements, with their dates:
| Date | What was said | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 6, 2024 | Caretaker IT minister Umar Saif said PayPal was not coming, but remittances would be channelled from PayPal through a third party. | Aaj News |
| February 19, 2025 | Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a written reply to the National Assembly that the State Bank is willing to facilitate PayPal if it follows the electronic money institution and foreign exchange rules. | Bloom Pakistan |
| November 20, 2025 | An unnamed IT ministry official said the government was in talks with at least three major global payment gateway companies. The article says the State Bank did not respond. | Arab News Pakistan |
The Bloom report adds that the January 2024 arrangement did not materialise, because PayPal declined to set up direct operations or a third-party arrangement, and that PayPal’s Singapore company has agreements with four Pakistani banks for remittances but runs no payment gateway. That covers money sent into a bank account in Pakistan. It does not open a PayPal account for you. We found no launch for Pakistani residents as of October 2026.
Why a borrowed PayPal account is a bad idea
Some guides tell you to open PayPal with a US address, a relative’s details or a friend’s account. Payoneer’s Pakistan guide lists “using a U.S. or UAE-based friend’s account” among the workarounds, then recommends Payoneer instead. PayPal’s user agreement lists as a restricted activity “opening new or additional PayPal accounts using information that is not your own (e.g., name, address, email address, etc.); or using someone else’s PayPal account”. If PayPal believes you did either, the same agreement lets it:
- limit, suspend or close the account, and refuse you service in future;
- hold the balance for up to 180 days, longer under court orders, regulatory requirements or other legal processes;
- suspend Seller Protection and recover what you retained under it in the 30 days before;
- charge High Volume Dispute fees, and contact your buyers, your bank or card issuer, or law enforcement about your actions.
On a friend’s account, all of that lands on your friend, while your sales sit in their name and on their statement. It also fails the State Bank’s proceeds rule for goods you ship abroad, covered below. If a relative abroad just wants to send you money, that is fine: they send it in your name, through a service that pays into your account.
What to use instead
These routes work for a Pakistani seller. Fees are as published in October 2026 and change, so check the linked page before you commit.
| Route | What you pay | Speed and notes | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payoneer | 1% when the payer pays from a US bank (ACH) or an EU or UK bank. Up to 3.99% + US$0.49 when the payer pays by card, or by PayPal if the payer is in the US. To a Pakistani bank: a 2% withdrawal fee, varies by bank, and a 2%–3.5% conversion margin. | Pays out to HBL, UBL, MCB, Bank Alfalah and Meezan. Meezan’s app has a real-time withdrawal and emails a Proceeds Realisation Certificate. US$29.95 a year if the account receives under US$6,000 in any 12 consecutive months. | Clients, agencies, marketplaces |
| Payoneer Checkout | Ask Payoneer. Its checkout page says only “No setup fees” and “No monthly maintenance fees” and does not name Pakistan. | Its gateway guide lists Checkout for Pakistani sellers. Get the checkout fee, payout currency and withdrawal fee in writing first. | Overseas shoppers on your website |
| Safepay | 3.2% + Rs 30 on international cards, 2.9% + Rs 30 on local cards, both excluding tax. No yearly or minimum-balance fee. | Buyer pays by card on your site, you are paid in rupees. Needs a CNIC, an NTN and a bank maintenance certificate no more than three months old, per its document list. | Overseas shoppers on your website |
| Xoom | The sender pays a fee shown before sending. Xoom also earns on the exchange rate. | Bank deposits to HBL, MCB, Bank Alfalah and UBL typically take minutes, and reach any rupee account the same day if sent Monday–Friday by 4:30 p.m. Pakistan time. Easypaisa and JazzCash wallets typically take minutes. Senders in the US, Canada, UK, EEA or Australia. | Family and friends abroad |
| Wise (sending) | The sender pays. On Wise’s US page on October 20, 2026, sending US$1,000 cost US$8.36 by direct debit, US$12.75 by bank transfer, US$18.87 by debit card and US$67.94 by credit card. | You need no Wise account to receive, and Wise’s guide says most transfers finish within 1–2 business days. Tell your sender to pay from a bank, not a card. | Family and friends abroad |
| Bank wire | HBL lists inward home remittance and foreign currency remittances as nil in its July–December 2026 schedule. The sender’s bank and any intermediary bank may charge their own fees. | Give the payer your account title, IBAN, bank name, branch and the bank’s SWIFT code, and send an invoice. A Proceeds Realisation Certificate for a transaction older than a year costs Rs 500 at HBL. | A company paying one large invoice |
Payoneer’s pricing page (last updated January 1, 2026) has no Pakistan row. The 2% withdrawal fee and the 2%–3.5% conversion margin come from Payoneer’s Pakistan guide (August 31, 2026), so they are guide figures, not a promise. Payoneer also describes the Meezan link on its partnership page. For local gateways, see our guide to payment gateways in Pakistan.
Before your sender confirms a Xoom transfer, ask for the rupee amount its screen says you will receive, and compare it with the interbank rate of about Rs 277 to the dollar.
What it costs in rupees
A freelancer paid US$300 a month
Assumptions:
- A US client pays US$300 a month from a US bank, so 12 × US$300 = US$3,600 a year.
- Payoneer takes 1% to receive and 2% to withdraw to your bank.
- The conversion margin is an assumption: 2% or 3.5%, the range in Payoneer’s Pakistan guide.
- The account receives under US$6,000 in 12 months, so the US$29.95 annual fee applies.
- Rs 277 to the dollar, with every percentage taken on the full US$3,600. Taking them one after another on the shrinking balance makes the total slightly lower.
| Line | Margin 2% | Margin 3.5% |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving fee, 1% of US$3,600 | US$36.00 | US$36.00 |
| Withdrawal fee, 2% of US$3,600 | US$72.00 | US$72.00 |
| Conversion margin of US$3,600 | 2% = US$72.00 | 3.5% = US$126.00 |
| Annual fee | US$29.95 | US$29.95 |
| Total for the year | US$209.95 | US$263.95 |
| In rupees at Rs 277 | Rs 58,156 | Rs 73,114 |
| Share of US$3,600 | 5.8% | 7.3% |
| Per month, total ÷ 12 | US$17.50, or Rs 4,846 | US$22.00, or Rs 6,093 |
The annual fee alone is US$29.95 ÷ US$3,600 = 0.8% of what the client pays. To compare with Wise, ask your client to price a US$300 transfer on Wise’s send page. They pay Wise’s fee and you pay only your own bank’s charge to receive, so if their fee plus your bank’s charge is under US$17.50, you spend less than on Payoneer even at the low margin.
A US$100 order, route by route
Assumptions: one order of US$100 and about Rs 277 to the dollar (the interbank close on October 16, 2026 was Rs 276.91), so US$100 is about Rs 27,700. The 2% to 3.5% conversion margin is again an assumption, shown at both ends.
| Route | The arithmetic | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| Payoneer, US bank pays, margin 2% | 1% + 2% + 2% = 5% of Rs 27,700 | Rs 1,385 |
| Payoneer, US bank pays, margin 3.5% | 1% + 2% + 3.5% = 6.5% of Rs 27,700 = Rs 1,800.50 | About Rs 1,801 |
| Payoneer, card pays, margin 2% | 3.99% = Rs 1,105, plus US$0.49 = Rs 136, plus 2% withdrawal = Rs 554, plus 2% margin = Rs 554 | Rs 2,349 |
| Payoneer, card pays, margin 3.5% | Rs 1,105 + Rs 136 + Rs 554, plus 3.5% margin = Rs 969.50 | About Rs 2,764 |
| Safepay, overseas card | 3.2% of Rs 27,700 = Rs 886.40, plus Rs 30 | Rs 916.40, plus tax on the fee |
The card rows use the top of Payoneer’s “up to 3.99%”, so treat them as the worst case. Confirm the real figures on the withdrawal screen before you accept.
If buyers pay by card on your website, Safepay costs less than every Payoneer row and has no yearly fee. If a client pays invoices from a US or EU bank, use Payoneer, but count the annual fee: US$29.95 × Rs 277 = Rs 8,296 a year. At 20 orders of US$100 a year that is Rs 8,296 ÷ 20 = Rs 415 more on every order.
To end up with US$100 after Payoneer’s worst bank-paid case of 6.5%, invoice about US$107 (US$100 ÷ 0.935 = US$106.95). Our invoice generator makes the invoice your bank or client will ask for.
State Bank rules for goods you ship abroad
If you sell goods to buyers outside Pakistan and send them by courier, the State Bank’s FE Circular No. 07 of 2020 (December 2, 2020) sets the rules for online sales to consumers. It is Para 39 of Chapter 12 of the Foreign Exchange Manual, which FE Circular No. 05 of 2021 (July 2, 2021) revised with Para 39 kept. We found no later amendment in the State Bank’s circular lists through 2024 and could not open the 2025 and 2026 lists, so ask your bank for the current Para 39 before you register. It asks you to:
- Register as an e-commerce exporter with a bank (an Authorized Dealer) and sign its undertaking.
- Let your courier file the goods declaration for each parcel in WeBOC, the customs system.
- Keep each consignment to US$5,000 or less.
- Bring proceeds back within 60 days of shipment, through a banking channel or an international payment scheme or gateway, to the exporter registered with the bank.
- Send the bank a statement of proceeds received within 5 working days of each month end.
Commission or discount of up to 10% of the invoice value is allowed. If bills of US$20,000 or more are unpaid after 60 days at month end, the bank marks you “Suspended” and you cannot export through the e-commerce module until the unpaid total falls below US$20,000. After 90 days, the bank reports the overdue amount to the State Bank.
Ask your bank two things in writing. First, does it charge e-commerce handling per consignment or per month? HBL’s July–December 2026 schedule lists B2C e-commerce handling at 0.12% with a minimum of Rs 1,500, plus excise duty and sales tax, and does not say what the minimum is measured against, so we cannot tell you what a US$100 parcel costs. Second, will it treat your route (Payoneer, Safepay or a wire) as a banking channel or payment gateway under Para 39, and issue a Proceeds Realisation Certificate for it?
Services are different. Software, IT and freelance services follow the State Bank’s EPD Circular Letter No. 17 of 2023 (October 23, 2023), which raised the retention limit in exporters’ special foreign currency accounts from 35% to 50% of proceeds. For registering the business and tax, read how to register an online business and online business tax in Pakistan.
If your buyers are Pakistanis abroad
If you sell gifts that overseas buyers send to family in Pakistan, those buyers have two ways to pay you, and neither needs PayPal.
- Card on your website. A gateway like Safepay accepts their international card at 3.2% + Rs 30 and pays you in rupees. On a Rs 5,000 order the fee is 3.2% × Rs 5,000 = Rs 160, plus Rs 30 = Rs 190, plus tax. That is 3.8% of the order.
- A transfer to your account. The buyer sends the order value with Xoom or Wise as a bank deposit or wallet transfer. The sender pays the transfer fee and sees it before paying, so your cost is only what your own bank charges. Ask your bank whether a payment for goods counts as an inward remittance on its schedule: HBL’s nil line is for inward home remittances, and you should not assume it covers a sale.
For the second route, send this: “Your order total is Rs 5,000. Please send it with Xoom or Wise as a bank deposit to account title [your name], bank [your bank], IBAN [your IBAN], and send me the receipt. I will pack your order once the money shows in my bank app.”
Mark the order paid only when the credit shows in your own banking or wallet app, never from a screenshot. Fake receipts are a documented fraud in Pakistan: The News reported on March 10, 2026 that Lahore police arrested two men who allegedly bought shoes from private factories and sent fake JazzCash transfer messages without paying. TechJuice’s January 2026 scam guide describes Android receipt apps that make a screenshot saying a payment of Rs 10,000 succeeded. Match the amount, the sender and the time in your app before you pack. If you have been cheated, file a complaint at complaint.nccia.gov.pk, the portal TechJuice’s guide points to. If your buyers are in Pakistan, see how Shopify payments work in Pakistan for the local options.
Where your store fits
On Storelala, Lite is free forever and takes cash on delivery. Core, at Rs 2,000 a month or Rs 1,000 a month billed yearly, adds JazzCash, Easypaisa and debit or credit cards at checkout. Storelala adds no fees on any plan, so what you pay on a payment is what your gateway or bank charges. For money from abroad, use a route from the table above and confirm it in your own bank account before you pack. See pricing, or read Storelala as a Shopify alternative in Pakistan.
Questions sellers ask
Does PayPal work in Pakistan?
No. As of October 2026 a person in Pakistan cannot open a PayPal account to receive money. Pakistan is missing from PayPal’s own country page, and PayPal’s user agreement, updated September 14, 2026, applies to US accounts only. We found no launch in 2026. People abroad can still pay you through Xoom, a PayPal service that sends money into Pakistani bank accounts and wallets.
How do I receive money from PayPal in Pakistan?
You cannot hold a PayPal balance in Pakistan, so pick the route by who pays you. A client or marketplace paying invoices can pay your Payoneer account, and a US payer who only has PayPal can pay it too, at up to 3.99% + US$0.49. Overseas shoppers on your website can pay a rupee card gateway such as Safepay, which charges 3.2% plus Rs 30 on international cards, excluding tax. Family abroad can send with Xoom or Wise to your bank account or wallet, and a company can send a bank wire.
Can I use Payoneer in Pakistan, and what does it cost?
Yes. Payoneer’s Pakistan guide calls it fully available, in partnership with the leading national banks. On a US$100 sale paid from a US bank, the cost is about Rs 1,385 to Rs 1,801 as of October 2026: 1% to receive, a 2% withdrawal fee to a local bank and a conversion margin we assume at 2% to 3.5%, all on Rs 27,700. If the buyer pays by card it is about Rs 2,349 to Rs 2,764. Payoneer also charges US$29.95 a year if the account receives under US$6,000 in any 12 months.
Can I use Wise in Pakistan?
You can receive Wise transfers but you cannot open your own account. Wise’s guide to receiving payments in Pakistan, published September 29, 2024, says residents of Pakistan cannot directly sign up for Wise accounts. A client abroad sends through Wise to your Pakistani bank account and you receive rupees, usually within 1 to 2 business days according to the same guide. The sender pays Wise’s fee and sees it before paying.
Does Stripe work in Pakistan?
No. Pakistan is not on Stripe’s list of supported countries as of October 21, 2026, and Payoneer’s gateway guide says Stripe is not officially available in Pakistan. Safepay takes international cards and pays you in rupees. Payoneer publishes no Checkout fee for Pakistan, so ask it for the fee in writing before you rely on it.
Will PayPal launch in Pakistan in 2026?
We found no launch as of October 2026. In February 2025 the finance minister said in a written reply to the National Assembly that the State Bank is willing to facilitate PayPal if it follows the electronic money institution and foreign exchange rules. In November 2025 an unnamed IT ministry official said the government was in talks with at least three global payment gateway companies. No date was given, so do not wait for it.
