Sometimes, one of your best bets for a credit card is with a company you have an existing relationship with. If you have an active PayPal account and use it often, this PayPal credit card review may interest you. It is worth noting that PayPal has two credit cards: PayPal Cashback MasterCard and PayPal Extras MasterCard.
PayPal Credit Card Features
The main difference between the two PayPal credit cards is that one provides cashback rewards while the other allows you to earn redeemable points. Both cards are issued by Synchrony.
PayPal Cashback MasterCard
Do you want to earn 2% back on all eligible purchases? Then you’ll love this card. Here are additional perks to consider:
- Unlimited cash back earning possibilities
- Extended warranty on qualifying purchases
- Identity theft protection
- Price protection
- No foreign transaction fee
- No annual fee
Drawbacks: You must have a PayPal account to apply, and the cash back earned goes to your PayPal account. This may create complications for redeeming your cash back if you don’t use your account often. The interest rate is also very high; it tops out at 26.99%.
PayPal Extras MasterCard
This card works similarly to the other, but the points system is more varied:
- 3 points for every dollar spent on gas and at restaurants
- 2 points for all eBay and PayPal purchases
- 1 point for all other purchases made with the card
Cardholders can then redeem these points on a number of items. These include travel vouchers, gift cards, cash rewards and merchandise.
Drawbacks: It shares the same disadvantages as the PayPal CashBack card. In addition to this, unlike your cash back rewards, the points do expire after 24 months. This may frustrate people who like to save rewards for several years toward big goals.
Paypal Credit Card Review and Ratings
PayPal’s credit cards earn mixed reviews across the board. The Balance’s PayPal credit card review is one of the lowest at 3.4 stars. The reviewer loved that PayPal offered one of the highest rewards on the market with no fine-print catches on how to earn it and when to redeem it. However, she disliked the high APR and the lack of bonuses. The Balance ranked the PayPal Extras credit card even lower.
NerdWallet provided a much more generous PayPal credit card review with 4.8 stars. It highlighted the same cons but decided that the rewards made up for them. NerdWallet pointed out that cardholders did not need to keep track of multiple percentage categories, like many other cards. Naturally, this only applies to the cashback card.
Because of the high APR and lack of promotional offerings, we agree with The Balance’s 3.5-star rating for the PayPal Cashback Mastercard. However, we rank the PayPal Extras Mastercard slightly higher because it has more options for redeeming rewards, including cash back.
When To Choose a PayPal Credit Card
If you do a great deal of your online shopping on eBay or use PayPal to make your payments, the PayPal credit card may be an excellent idea. It may work especially well for people who purchase big-ticket items on eBay, such as laptops or smartphones. For everyone else, the need to create a PayPal account may seem cumbersome, especially when they may still need to access the card online via Synchrony’s platform.
When To Consider Its Competitors
If the primary reason you use PayPal is to pay for goods on eBay, you may be better off getting an eBay card. In fact, eBay has two MasterCards for its hardcore users. Like PayPal, one of these is an Extras MasterCard that works by a points system.
Another top contender is the Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Card issued by Chase. This Visa card offers as much as 5% back at Whole Foods and Amazon if you have a Prime membership, and Amazon occasionally runs promotions that provide up to 10% back. You can also pay for some products in interest-free instalments for up to six months.
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