How to Find Your Merchant ID in PayPal

If you’re using PayPal to sell goods and services or collect payments for your business, some instances may arise when you need to locate your PayPal merchant ID. This guide will explain everything you need to know about PayPal MID numbers, including how they work and how to find yours.

What is a PayPal Merchant ID?

A PayPal merchant ID, also known as a PayPal secure merchant ID, is a 13-digit string of letters and numbers that’s automatically assigned to every PayPal business account. This merchant ID number is used to identify merchants without sharing the merchant’s email address with web crawlers or spammers. 

When you create a payment button using PayPal checkout, you have the option to display your merchant ID number instead of your email address. 

PayPal secure merchant IDs are only assigned to business accounts. Individual or personal PayPal accounts are not identified with an ID or account number. Instead, personal accounts are identified by their email address or phone number.

How to Find Your PayPal Secure Merchant ID

Finding your PayPal merchant ID is easy. Just follow these quick steps:

1. Go to your PayPal “Account Settings”
2. Navigate to the “Business Profile” menu
3. Click “Business Information”

PayPal Merchant ID vs. Merchant Account Number (MID)

Your PayPal merchant ID only identifies your business for transactions processed through PayPal. You may have another merchant ID number that’s issued by any other payment processor your business uses to accept credit or debit cards.

For example, let’s say you use PayPal to process online transactions through your website or through a third-party marketplace. But you have a different processor that handles payments accepted in person at your brick-and-mortar locations. 

In this scenario, your PayPal secure merchant ID will be different from your other merchant ID number.

Is PayPal a Merchant Account?

PayPal is not a traditional merchant account provider. Instead of providing individual merchant accounts to every business that uses PayPal for processing, PayPal aggregates those merchants into one merchant account. 

This is known as an aggregate merchant account which is issued by a PayFac (payment facilitator). It reduces the underwriting time and allows merchants to sign up and start accepting payments right away. But PayFacs often have higher fees, and often come with some stipulations—like a rolling reserve or account holds. 

PayPal still issues a merchant ID to businesses. But this ID is more like an account number, and not quite used in the same way as a traditional MID number. 

Is PayPal Merchant ID the Same as a Tax ID?

PayPal merchant IDs are not the same as tax ID numbers (TIN). Your PayPal merchant ID is just used to identify your seller account for transactions in PayPal, whereas your tax ID number or employer identification number (EIN) is used to identify business entities for tax reporting purposes. 

Your tax ID or EIN is issued by the IRS, whereas your PayPal merchant ID is provided by PayPal when you create an account.

However, you need to provide your EIN or tax identification number to create a PayPal business account, which means you can’t get a PayPal merchant ID without one. 

Is the PayPal Merchant ID the Same as Transaction ID?

Transaction IDs represent the movement of funds between a buyer and seller, which is not the same as a merchant ID.

PayPal generates two unique transaction IDs for each sale—a credit (for the merchant) and a debit (for the buyer). 

What is My Personal PayPal ID?

For non-business accounts, your personal PayPal ID is the email address you use to log in. To receive funds from someone on PayPal, you can simply provide them with this email address.

Read more about PayPal fees here.