Paypal Automatic Withdrawal or Auto Sweep Option

This article describes Paypal’s Automatic Withdrawal or Auto-Sweep option, to automatically withdraw your Paypal balance to your checking acount.

Paypal Auto Sweep

Paypal offers an "auto sweep" automatic withdrawal option to qualified Business and Premier accounts. This option is not available to Personal accounts. When enabled, any Paypal balance will be automatically transferred to a designated checking account every night around midnight to 4:00 AM. This option is a great convenience to merchants with high transaction volumes, so they do not have to log in and manually withdraw the funds periodically. It also avoids the risk of having Paypal freeze your account and any funds within it.

Requesting Auto-Sweep Capability

To enable Paypal Auto Sweep, log into your Paypal account. Click the "Contact Us" link in the footer, and then select "Call Us". Call in and ask if Auto Sweep can be enabled on your account. The Paypal representative will check your eligibility, and enable the option if you are qualified. You may have to provide your social security number and/or lift any withdrawal limits in place. It is not clear what the qualifications are, but most likely, they will look at your transaction volume, transaction types, and account age.

Enabling Auto-Sweep

Once enabled, you will see an "Auto Sweep" option in your Paypal Account Profile page. It is located uncer My Money > Paypal Balance > More > Auto Sweep. You can enable or disable auto-sweep, and select the checking account where to deposit the funds. The funds will be transferred via the Automated Clearing House system, and will take 3-5 business days to settle in your bank account.

Auto-Sweep Disabled Automatically

Note that auto-sweep will automatically be disabled in the following circumstances:

• You initiate an electronic funds transfer from your bank account into your PayPal account. (To prevent added funds from immediately being withdrawn.)
• You disable it from 'Edit Profile'.
• Funds are paid out from your account while there is a pending transfer. (The pending transfer will be reversed in order to prevent a negative balance.)

If this happens, you simply go back to "Edit Profile > Auto Sweep" to re-enable it.

Comparison to Google Checkout

Interestingly, Paypal does not provide any information on their website regarding the Auto Sweep to Checking option. It appears that for security and fraud reasons, they do not offer the option to all accounts or promote the option. By comparison, Google Checkout automatically sweeps your funds to your Checking account by default. Two business days after you charge your order, the funds are automatically sent to your checking account.