How to Set up PayPal API in the UK

If your business makes or receives PayPal payments, it could be useful to know about PayPal APIs.

APIs are gateway tools designed to automate tasks, such as payments in this case. By setting up PayPal API integration, you can accept payments from customers on your website, make mass payouts and even invoice customers. It can all be set up to run automatically.

But how do you actually set up PayPal APIs? Read on to find out, as we’ll run through everything you need to know.

We’ll also show you an alternative for automating payments, the Wise Business API. This can be a game-changer for international businesses, as it offers easy automated batch payments, invoicing and payroll for multiple currencies. Once set up, it could save you time and money.

💡Learn more about Wise Business

What is PayPal API?

PayPal offers a number of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These can be used to automate all kinds of tasks, including sending and accepting payments.

PayPal payment APIs can be used to connect together all of the entities involved in a particular transaction, allowing them to talk to each other. For example, the ecommerce platform, payment processor and gateway.

APIs can be used for pay-ins (i.e. accepting customer payments on your website) and for payouts (i.e. sending payments, such as to pay bills and invoices).

PayPal APIs can also be customised in a variety of different ways. This means you can create unique payment set ups (i.e. for credit or debit card payment processing). This allows you to get a custom set up for your business that meets its exact needs.

For UK businesses which use (or allow their customers to use) PayPal, APIs can offer a number of benefits. The main advantage is time-saving, as you can automate repetitive manual tasks like invoicing and payment processing. These would otherwise take hours of work to complete.

APIs can also improve the customer experience, speed up and streamline payment processing and make accounting easier too.

How do PayPal APIs work?

APIs make requests and receive responses. The request is a message from your application (i.e. your website) and will contain set parameters. For example, transaction amounts, item quantity and shipping address. Once this is issued, a response is sent back from the API to your application, and the task should be carried out.

For users with a PayPal business account,¹ you can set up payment APIs to automate the process of sending and receiving payments via PayPal. These come in a variety of types depending on the nature of the task, which we’ll look at in more detail later.

APIs aren’t available with PayPal personal accounts. You will need a business account to carry out any commercial transactions with PayPal, as personal accounts are just for individual use. Find out more about the differences between PayPal personal and business accounts here.

How to set up PayPal API

To get started with PayPal APIs, there are a few routes you can take. It often depends on which type of PayPal API you want to use.

For example, for the PayPal Payouts API, you can request access via one of the following:¹

1. Login to your PayPal business account and select ‘Payouts’ under ‘Pay & Get Paid’
2. Contact PayPal Customer Support
3. Contact your PayPal Account Manager.

For other APIs such as PayPal Express Checkout, you can sign up with a partner (i.e. a PayPal recommended shopping cart or payment gateway provider). Alternatively, if you have the technical knowledge, you can start a custom integration.²

To start with though, you’ll need to set up a PayPal business account if you haven’t already.

How to get PayPal API credentials

In order to set up and use PayPal APIs, you’ll need to get API credentials. These are unique identifiers which give a user permission to use API tools. It’s a way of authenticating a user, ensuring that your business, PayPal account and system is protected from unauthorised access.

To get API credentials with PayPal, you’ll need to follow these steps:³

1. Login to your PayPal Business Account
2. Select the ‘Activity’ tab
3. Choose ‘API Access’ from the drop-down menu
4. Select the ‘Grant API permission’ link.

Types of PayPal APIs

There are a few different types of PayPal APIs, each designed for different types of payments or transactions. They include the following:⁴

• PayPal Express Checkout API - used for fast customer checkouts on your website, including one-time payments, refunds, recurring payments and more.
• PayPal Mass Payments API - used for automating batch payments to a large number of recipients at once.
• PayPal Payouts API - used for sending multiple individual payouts in one API call
• Invoicing API.
• PayPal REST API - used for accepting payments, processing refunds and creating billing plans.
• PayPal Payflow API - used for hosting a PayPal page within your site (with PCI compliance handled by PayPal) and accepting credit card payments directly on your site. Available for a monthly fee.
• PayPal Braintree API - used for accepting payments via PayPal, Android Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo, Coinbase and credit cards.

PayPal payouts API

The PayPal Payouts API is one of the most useful tools for businesses. It lets you automate the process of paying bills and invoices. You can use it to send multiple individual payments from your PayPal business account, all under one API call.

Recurring payments PayPal API

One of the most useful tools for UK business is the recurring payments API, which sits under the umbrella of the PayPal REST API.

You can create and activate billing plans and agreements, and let the API execute regular and recurring payments.⁵

Automate payments with Wise Business

Automating payments with API tools can save most businesses time and money. But it’s even more crucial for international companies, who face extra challenges when processing payments in multiple currencies.

The Wise Business API is the ideal solution for global businesses.

Open a Wise Business account and you can manage your company’s finances in 40+ currencies, all in one place. You can make batch payments to clients and suppliers all over the world in just a few clicks, and manage expenses easily using Wise Business cards. Wise also integrates seamlessly with your accounting software.

But one of the best features of Wise Business has to be its powerful API. You can create and manage API tokens to automate payments and recurring transfers. It’s also a great tool for running payroll.

Want to see it in action? Take a look at this real-life example of Wise Business powering payment automation for Open Collective.

💡 Read Open Collective's complete case study

Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

After reading this guide, you should have a better understanding of how to setup PayPal APIs. And of course, how they work and how they can benefit your business.

Many APIs can be set up easily through your PayPal business account, while others will need technical knowledge - or the help of an experienced developer.

*Disclaimer: The UK Wise Business pricing structure is changing with effect from 26/11/2025 date. Receiving money, direct debits and getting paid features are not available with the Essential Plan which you can open for free. Pay a one-time set up fee of £50 to unlock Advanced features including account details to receive payments in 22+ currencies or 8+ currencies for non-swift payments. You’ll also get access to our invoice generating tool, payment links, QuickPay QR codes and the ability to set up direct debits all within one account. Please check our website for the latest pricing information.

Sources used for this article:

Sources checked on 01-12-2023.