Confirm the PayPal payout prerequisites before you connect anything

Before you connect PayPal, make sure you have a PayPal business account with access to PayPal Payouts, verified identity and email, a linked bank account, and enough funds to cover both rewards and fees. GrowSurf also requires a default campaign currency before PayPal can be connected.

When you connect the account inside GrowSurf, use the primary PayPal account holder login. The official docs note that using a team member login can cause payout permission issues later.

Connect PayPal in GrowSurf and decide whether Referral Trigger should stay on

In Campaign Editor > 4. Options > Integrations, click Connect to PayPal. For referral programs, GrowSurf enables Referral Trigger by default after PayPal is connected, which lets GrowSurf trigger referrals from new PayPal charges when the customer email matches a GrowSurf participant.

If PayPal payments should be the event that triggers referrals, leave that setting enabled. If you already trigger referrals another way, turn the PayPal referral trigger off and keep PayPal only for payouts.

Connect the reward you want PayPal to send

Open the Payouts tab, click Connect a Reward, and select the reward that should be delivered as cash. This is where you decide which reward in GrowSurf should result in a PayPal payout.

If your campaign uses manual reward approval, keep in mind that the payout is not sent until the reward is approved.

Set the payout amount, note, and any advanced payout settings

For the connected reward, enter the payout name and note that the PayPal recipient should see, then choose the payout type and amount. If you need different payout values for different referred customers or plans, GrowSurf's PayPal docs also support dynamic rewards for more advanced reward rules.

After you save the reward, GrowSurf shows the PayPal payout integration as enabled for that reward.

Approve, send, and confirm the payout

When a participant unlocks the reward, GrowSurf issues the PayPal payout tied to that reward. If first-time email confirmation is enabled, the participant will receive an email to confirm the PayPal email address to use before the payout is released.

To verify that the reward actually went out, check the participant detail or activity log in GrowSurf and then review PayPal Transactions History for the matching payment. If there is a failure, GrowSurf notes the issue for the campaign owner and you can manually issue the payout from PayPal if needed.