PayPal users in the U.S.: International money transfer insights
In an earlier story, we examined trends in consumer sentiment and word of mouth for PayPal during the period surrounding a recent data exposure incident. In this follow-up, we take a broader look at who PayPal’s customers or considerers are, the money transfer landscape and more.
How do Americans send money overseas
Among overseas money senders, U.S. adults who say they’ve done so in the past year - whether once a month or just once every few months, PayPal emerges as the most-used platform, with 52% of this group reporting they used it for international transfers.
Trailing PayPal by a significant margin, Western Union is the second most-used option, with 28% of overseas money senders reporting having used the service in the past 12 months.
Traditional banks also play a role - 17% used their bank's own transfer service, while 16% specifically used Bank of America's SafeSend. MoneyGram was cited by 15% of respondents, and Xoom, a PayPal-owned service, was used by 12%. Wise, a digital-native money transfer service, was chosen by 11% of senders. Wells Fargo Express Send and Payoneer were each used by smaller shares of the audience (9% and 8%, respectively).
Geographically, PayPal’s audience is most concentrated in a handful of key Designated Market Areas (DMAs) - regions where local TV stations dominate viewership.
The top five DMAs for PayPal users are New York (7%), Los Angeles (4%), and Philadelphia, Chicago, and Tampa–Saint Petersburg (each at 3%).
What influences PayPal’s audience to choose one payment method over another? Ease of use is a clear winner.
Over seven in ten of PayPal audiences (72%) say ease of use influences their choice of payment method, as compared of 69% of the general American population citing this reason. At a distant second, a payment being widely accepted is a criterion, preferred by 47% of the PayPal audience and 44% of the general population.
Some of the other factors are the fees involved (32% vs. 28%), transaction security (37% vs. 32%), and rewards (41% vs. 35%).
PayPal in the public view
Established in 1998, the fintech company has spent time in the market building its brand image - sometimes letting the experience speak for itself, other times with actual advertising. In February last year, PayPal saw Geoff Seeley taking on the CMO role. By September 2024, PayPal’s rebranding followed with Seeley calling the ‘Everywhere’ campaign featuring Will Ferrell, “our most ambitious campaign ever.”
Did PayPal’s push move the needle?
According to YouGov BrandIndex, which tracks brand perception on a daily basis, it has been a mixed bag. We look at how the Current Customer score for PayPal has fared since the rebranding effort began, across three income groups.
The Current Customer score among higher-income Americans climbed through late 2024, peaking in early 2025, indicating a short-term win in capturing usage. However, the score has returned to pre-campaign level. At the time of the campaign launch, PayPal’s Current Customer score among this group was 50% which then climbed to a peak of 58% by February 2025 and is now at 48%.
Middle-income users responded with more muted enthusiasm. Also at 50% on the day of the ‘Everywhere’ campaign launch, the score in question slipped to 44% by March 2025 and it finds itself at 49% close to the end of June 2025 - essentially back where it was.
Lower-income Americans appear the least moved by the rebranding push but impacted, nonetheless. The score among this group has moved from 46% of launch day, dipping to 42% by May 2025 and now at 44%.
Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash
Methodology:
YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for the US is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. PayPal’s Current Customer score is based on the question: Have you visited any of the following online brands in the past 30 days? and delivered as a percentage. Scores are based on an average daily sample size of 447 to 1,971 US adults between January 1, 2024 and June 23, 2025. Figures are based on a four-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.