PayPal Adapative Payments

Question

I'm considering using either PayPal's adaptive payments or Stripe (depending on setup time) for a new web application! I've heard the approval process can take weeks with PayPal but I'm hoping this isn't the case. Can anyone answer the following questions for me;

1. Can I use adaptive Payments with a standard business account?
2. Does the account need to be verified and if so, how long does this take?
3. What if anything can I do to speed the process up?

Answer 1

1) Yes.

2) Yes. Verification can be instant if you have an online banking account compatible with PayPal's verification system. Otherwise you have to wait for them to deposit to small amounts into your account and then verify those amounts once you see them, which can take a few days depending on your bank.

3) Get all of your specs worked out and a demo put together on the PayPal sandbox, and then submit everything very clearly to PayPal when you do the application for you App ID. As long as everything is pretty straight forward they've been auto-approving apps pretty much instantly. If you have something unique about your application that they need to look into further it can take a few days to get done depending on the details.

Keep in mind that Stripe is credit cards only. PayPal Adaptive Payments is the whole PayPal wallet aspect of things, with credit card payments available through "guest checkout."

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. If I knew more about your application plans I could give you a better recommendation on which one you should go with, but I can tell you right now PayPal wins in almost every instance, in my opinion.