Coinbase has recently established itself as one of the most popular exchanges for buying and selling cryptocurrency. It offers a wide variety of coins at a decent price with high liquidity, making it easy to trade between digital currencies or withdraw.
But what if you want to put fiat currency (USD) in your Coinbase account? How do you do it?
This article will guide you through the process of depositing funds into your Coinbase account and prepare you well for trading.
How to Deposit Money in Coinbase on PC
If you're in the United States, you can fund your Coinbase account with money via wire transfer, ACH transfer, or PayPal. Let's see how each option works:
(a) Bank Transfer
A wire transfer is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another. When you make a wire transfer, you are effectively asking your bank to transfer the money from your account to your Coinbase account.
Here's how to initiate a transfer from your bank account to your Coinbase account:
- Open your browser and visit the official Coinbase website.
- Enter your credentials to login.
- Once you have logged in, click on “Trade” to access the trading section of your account.
- Under “Wallet balance”, click on “Deposit”. The “Wallet Balance” tab is on the left side of your screen.
- Click on "Currency type" and select "USD" from the drop-down menu.
- Click on “Bank transfer”. You will then receive a unique referral code or personal account number to help you initiate the transfer.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the process.
Once you initiate a wire transfer, the money is credited to your Coinbase account within 24 hours. In fact, if you start the process before 13:00 PM PT, the money will arrive in your account the same day.
On the other hand, each bank transfer will cost you $10.
Additionally, Coinbase will only accept feeds if the following conditions are met:
- The wire transfer name must match your Coinbase account name. This means that you cannot make a bank transfer from someone else's account.
- Transfer must be initiated from a US-based bank account
- The transfer must be initiated from an account already linked to your Coinbase account
- The bank transaction must include your preference code or Coinbase account number
(b) ACH Wire Transfer
If you are not comfortable paying $10 to deposit funds into your Coinbase account via bank transfer, you can try a 100% free ACH bank transfer. But what is it and how does it work?
An ACH (Automatic Clearing House) wire transfer is an electronic system used to transfer money between banks. Unlike a transfer, an ACH transfer does not use your bank's internal transfer system. Instead, the money goes through an approved external clearinghouse.
- Open your browser and visit the official Coinbase website.
- Enter your credentials to login.
- Link your bank account to your Coinbase account.
- Click on “Trade” to open your trade management section.
- Select “Deposit” from the “Wallet Balance” sub-menu.
- Click on "Currency type" and select "USD" from the drop-down menu.
- Click on “Bank account”.
- Select your bank account from the drop-down menu. Note that the bank account will only appear here if it is already linked to your Coinbase account.
- Enter the amount you wish to deposit.
- Click on “Deposit USD” to complete the process.
And that's all. The only downside is that ACH bank transfers take three to five days. This method will not work if you want to deposit funds and start trading on the same day.
(c) PayPal
Coinbase initially allowed customers to top up their accounts using a wire transfer or ACH transaction. Nowadays, you also have the option of adding funds directly from your PayPal account.
This is how it works:
- Link your PayPal account to your Coinbase account.
- Click on “Exchange”. This will open your transaction management section.
- Click on “Deposit” in the “Wallet Balance” sub-menu.
- Click on "Currency type" and select "USD".
- Click on “PayPal”.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the process.
How to Deposit Money into Coinbase from an iPhone
If an iPhone is your mobile device of choice, you can use it to deposit funds into your Coinbase account. iOS devices support the following deposit methods:
(a) Bank Transfer
To transfer funds to your account:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and log in.
- Link your bank account to your Coinbase account.
- Open the “Portfolio” page.
- Tap your USD wallet.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Select "Wire Transfer" from the available options.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.
(b) Transfer ACH
The Coinbase app for iPhone also supports ACH funds transfer. Here's how this option works:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and log in.
- Link your bank account to your Coinbase account.
- Tap "Wallet". This should open a new section where you can manage your fiat wallet.
- Tap your USD wallet.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Select "Bank account" from the available options.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.
(c) PayPal
To deposit via PayPal:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and log in.
- Link your PayPal account to your Coinbase account.
- Open the “Portfolio” page.
- Tap your USD wallet.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Tap "PayPal".
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the process.
How to Deposit Money into Coinbase from Android Phone
If you have opened a Coinbase account through its dedicated Android app, you can easily add money to your account in preparation for crypto transactions. As with iPhones, you can do this by bank transfer, ACH transfer or PayPal.
(a) Bank Transfer
To add money by bank transfer, here is the procedure to follow:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and enter your credentials to login. If you don't have the app, you can get it from Google App Store for free.
- Link your bank account to your Coinbase account.
- Once you have linked your bank account, open the “Wallet” page.
- Tap your USD wallet.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Select "Wire Transfer" and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
(b) Transfer ACH
Coinbase is also available for Android devices. The app supports ACH funds transfer, which means you can transfer money between your bank account and Coinbase in seconds. Here's how:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and log in.
- Add your bank account as a payment method to your Coinbase account.
- Tap "Wallet".
- Press “USD”.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Select "Bank account".
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.
(c) PayPal
To add money via PayPal:
- Open your Coinbase mobile app and log in.
- Link your PayPal account to your Coinbase account.
- Tap "Wallet" to open your cash management section.
- Tap your USD wallet.
- Tap "Add Money".
- Tap "PayPal".
- Follow the on-screen guide to complete the process.
How do I link a payment method on Coinbase?
As you may have noticed, you need to link your preferred payment method to your Coinbase account before you can successfully deposit. For wire transfers and ACH, you need to link your bank account, while for PayPal deposits, you need to link your PayPal account.
The good thing is that adding any of these payment methods is simple.
To add a payment method while using a PC, follow these steps:
- Open your browser and visit the official Coinbase website.
- Log in to your Coinbase account and click on “Payment Methods”.
- Click on “Add a payment method”.
- Select the type of account you want to add and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.
To add a payment method through the Coinbase mobile app:
- Open your app and go to settings. To do this, click on the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner.
- Tap "Payment Methods".
- Select the type of account you want to link from the list of available options.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your new payment method.
Additional FAQs
Are there any fees for depositing money in Coinbase?
Some payment methods incur fees, but others do not. For example, adding cash via wire transfer has a flat fee of $20, but there is no fee if you deposit via ACH or PayPal wire transfer.
How long does it take to deposit to a Coinbase account?
Electronic transfers are processed within 24 hours, but if you initiate the transfer before 13:00 p.m. PT, the money will be deposited into your account the same day.
ACH transfers take three to five days, but PayPal deposits happen instantly.
Does Coinbase allow credit card deposits?
Currently, the Coinbase-PayPal transfer system does not support deposits to credit cards, prepaid cards, or business account cards. But luckily these days you also have the option to add funds directly from your PayPal account. However, your PayPal account must be linked to your bank account.
Add money and unlock orders
Coinbase provides an easy way to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies. If you want to invest or trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or any other digital currency in the market today, all you need to do is add money to your account and start placing orders.
Do you have a Coinbase account? Have you tried adding money using any of the methods described in this article? We would like to know how everything went.
Feel free to share your experience in the comments section below.