PayPal's ease of use and identity protection makes it the preferred payment solution for many businesses and consumers around the world. For security and financial reasons, PayPal places limits on how much money you can withdraw and receive unless you complete certain security procedures.

Unverified Accounts

As of March 2011, PayPal allows you to use its service with certain limits until you verify your personal information. PayPal states on its website that these restrictions are for security reasons. PayPal requests your credit card or bank account information but prefers the latter so it can send and withdraw money directly from your account and avoid the transaction fees associated with credit companies. It also requests your personal information to simplify the process of monitoring for fraudulent activities. Until you provide this information, PayPal places restrictions on your account that may only affect you if you make large or frequent transactions.

Your Withdrawal Limit

Until you verify your account, you may only withdraw a total of £325 per month from PayPal. You can receive payments of £195, £32, £13 and £19, for example, and still be within £65 of your limit for any given month. The beginning of the month for you may vary from other users since PayPal bases it on when you open your account. For example, if you open your account on the 15th of the month, your months start on the 15th.

Transaction Limits

You may send one payment of no more than £2,600 if you don't have a PayPal account, but you can't receive money through PayPal. If you do have an account, you can send up to £6,500 in a single transaction. With a verified account, there is no limit on the total amount of money you can send with PayPal; with an unverified account, there is a limit, which varies by user.

Lifting Your Limit

To learn the withdrawal and transaction limits on your PayPal account, sign in, click the "My Account" link then click "View Limits." Click "Lift My Limits" and follow the instructions to receive higher limits on your account. You may have to verify your account.