This guide walks you through the steps to link Referral Reactor to your PayPal account. This lets you send a bonus payment instantly to people that send you referrals through the app.
Heads Up!
This video has been recently outdated as PayPal has made changes to their website. However the steps are still similar.
Contact PayPal
If you are having trouble using PayPal, the best person to contact would be PayPal. You can contact them on their website through a chat assistant, or call them at 888.221.1161
Overview
- Create a PayPal Business Account
- Link a Bank Account to your Business PayPal Account
- PayPal requires money in your PayPal Business account to send bonus payments. It can take a couple days to transfer this over.
- To confirm your Bank Account, PayPal may make a small deposit in your account which you can then confirm in an email they will send you.
- Request Access to the Payouts API
- This step is important. Errors in sending payments can lead back to this step. PayPal encourages you to contact your account manager or customer service if you still have not gotten Payouts Access. Just ask that they enable Payouts for your account.
- If your account has not been verified, then PayPal will not grant you access. PayPal will list the steps for verification on your dashboard. We also provide some documentation.
- Copy the Credentials to Referral Reactor
- This is another important thing to check. This can be incorrect if there is an extra space even, when you paste the Client ID and Secret into Referral Reactor.
- Make sure you selected "Live". Otherwise, with Sandbox, you will be sending fake money.
If you have more questions, there are instructions at the bottom of this page.
Step 1: Create a Business PayPal Account
The first thing you need is a business PayPal account. If you already have a PayPal account for your business you can skip this step. It all starts with going to paypal.com, clicking Sign Up, and selecting Business Account. They also have a nice video that goes through the steps:
Step 2: Link a Bank Account to your Business PayPal Account
The next step is to link your PayPal account with your bank account. This allows you to add money to your PayPal account so that you can pay out referral bonuses. PayPal has another video about linking a bank account:
Please Note:
Your bank account may already have confirmed without PayPal having to make the deposits. To check, you will need to log in to your PayPal business account and scroll down to the heading "Banks". If confirmation is still needed it will show a warning on your bank account listed here.
It takes 3-5 business days to transfer money from a bank account to your PayPal account so you want to transfer enough to cover the bonus payments you want to make.
Step 3: Request Access to the Payouts API
While you are getting your bank account linked and waiting to add money to your PayPal Account, the next step is to request access to the PayPal Payouts API. This is the API that Referral Reactor uses to send your bonus payments. To request access, go to the PayPal Payouts API landing page and click on Get Started. You can also navigate there by selecting Business Tools and scrolling down to the heading Make Payments. Once there select the Payouts icon.
Fill out their short questionnaire, and they will tell you to expect a response within 24 hours. From our experience it tends to be 3 business days for PayPal to approve your request. If you do not hear back from them, you will need to call them to inquire after your access to use Payouts. All you have to ask is that they enable Payouts for your account.
Step 4: Copy the Credentials to Referral Reactor
You are almost there! The last thing you need is to copy and paste a Client ID and Client Secret into Referral Reactor.
To do this go to the Apps and Credentials in the Developer Dashboard. Make sure Live in the top right corner is selected. After that you can select Create App.
Once you do that just put in a name for the app. It can be anything but we usually recommend you name it Referral Reactor.
After you create the app, it will bring you back out to your dashboard. Click on the app that you just created and you should see the Client ID and Client Secret:
Now that you have your Client ID and Secret go back to Referral Reactor. In the side menu select Reactor Configuration and then Bonus Options.
Then scroll down and you will see the place to paste your Client ID and Secret from PayPal and click Save PayPal Credentials.
And you're done!!!
You can now use Referral Reactor to send people bonus payments through PayPal or Venmo!
How do I verify my PayPal Account?
Your PayPal Account will be verified once you complete the 3 steps listed below. PayPal has a guide to walk you through the verification process when you login into your account on paypal.com.
- You will first need to fill out a quick questionnaire about your business.
- Then, look through your email inbox for an email sent by PayPal. Follow the directions in that email message.
- Lastly, you will need to link a bank account.
How do I transfer money from my bank account to my PayPal Account?
This process is done through your dashboard. To transfer money, select "Add Money" and then follow the prompts.
How can I see if PayPal granted me access to their Payouts API?
As a business account holder, you can access the developer portal at developer.paypal.com/dashboard/accountStatus. Once there, make sure Live is turned on in the top right corner. Then you can scroll down to the second table of information provided. At the bottom it will say "Payouts" and will show you the status by giving a green checkmark or saying submitted.
Have Questions?
We know that is a lot. If you run in to any problems or have any issues, feel free to reach out to us and we will help you get this done! You can also book an appointment today!
Toll Free: (855) 341-1759
