Update 5/31/24: Card regular earning rate is lowered from 2% to 1.5% everywhere. The 3% Paypal remains unchanged.
Update 6/27/23: There is now a business version of the card with the same 2%/3% categories. (ht EW) The business version fromWebbank does not report to the personal credit bureaus.
Update 9/6/22: Bonus is now $150 with $500 spend, found within Paypal login and app. Original posted 6/8/17. Update 4/7/22: I’ve refreshed this review with the updates from this follow-up post and, more importantly, from with the recent addition of 3% cashback anywhere Paypal is accepted and other changes. A reader reports getting an email that existing cardholders are already live with the new 3% benefit. The card is not yet available for new signups. Update 5/17/22: Card is now live for new signups, along with $100 signup bonus which is valid through 6/30/22.
Contents
Card Basics
Live application link | Direct Application Link | FAQ | Terms
The Paypal Cashback Mastercard earns 3% cashback on any purchase paid with Paypal online or in-store and 2% cashback on all other purchases. It has no annual fee and comes with $100 signup bonus for new card applicants.
Card Rewards
- Earn 2% cash back on all purchases with no limits.
- Earn 3% on all Paypal purchases, whether online purchases, sending money to a friend, or in-store purchases via QR code.
- Rewards post immediately without having to wait for statement close.
- There is no minimum redemption threshold; even $.01 will become available for transfer upon statement close.
- Rewards post immediately without having to wait for statement close.
- Rewards can be transferred to your bank account or debit card, or they can be redeemed to your Paypal balance.
Signup Bonus
- New cardholders can get $100 cash back after spending $500 within 3 months.
Card Details
- No annual fee
- 3% foreign transaction fee
- Standard Mastercard benefits
- The card comes with an instantly issued card number until the actual card comes, likely with a small line of credit
Application Information
You apply for and manage your Paypal Mastercard entirely through your Paypal login and thus you need a Paypal account to apply. The card itself is issued by Synchrony and customer service is run by them as well.
Synchrony almost always pulls the Transunion credit report. From data points on Creditboards it seems that most people who have credit scores above 630 are approved. There are some who were approved with less and a couple who were denied with more. Generally, Synchrony cards are from the easier ones to get approved for.
The credit line offered on Paypal Mastercards varies greatly from as little as a few hundred dollars to as much as $10,000 or more. From memory, they do give you automatic credit limit increases early on after you’re in good standing for a few months.
A reader notes that they are not allowing product-changes from the old 3/2/1 Paypal Extras Mastercard to the new Paypal Cashback Mastercard.
Our Verdict
The baseline 2% cashback, along with the 3% rate when used with Paypal, makes this the best straight 2% cashback card out there and an easy choice for someone who wants a simple rewards structure. The $100 signup bonus is an additional perk.
Got approved with a 633 Transunion
Just got an email that the PayPal Business Mastercard is being discontinued. All accounts will close effective Sept 23, 2024. This isn’t that big of a surprise as the credit card application hasn’t been available for over a year.
Is this a regular Mastercard credit card? Can it be used for insurance? Property tax?
Is this thing a debit card? I’m so confused. I guess the crux of whether or not this is beneficial is if the payee accepts PayPal? (My Property tax => yes. My Insurance => no.)
Regular spending gives only 1.5% now.
Source: https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/paypal-cashback-mastercard
No idea on when old cardholders gets affected
Email Received – Existing August 1st.
It’s now 1.5% back on everything else instead of 2% 🙁
Current cardholders aren’t affected by it until August 1.
Just received a letter that this card will begin charging $1.99 per month for paper statements for balances $2.50 or higher + they’re raising NSF payments to $41
waiting for a decent sub to jump in. Kinda want this now after realizng the 3% can be for taxes.
Same here. I think it’s a great card, but a sub would definitely push me over the edge to apply and have it take up a 5/24 slot.
Been mighty tempted by this one bc I can push $900/mo with ppbp. I have a PayPal reward offering $50 just for approval, no spend necessary.
Ultimately waiting to see a proper SUB bc that same $900 is easy organic spend on better cards, but it is mighty attractive and I’ve almost pushed the buttons a few times.
I wish they finally converted now useless PayPal Extras card into PayPal Cashback card.
No more $150 signup bonus?
I got nothing. How did you get it?
No idea. P2 and P3 did not get one.
Zenster
P2? P3?
Player 2, player 3 = spouse, adult child.
Do you have paypal account and marketing notifications turned on? Ir paypal debit card or some other paypal product to possibly get the email?
I got this email, but I don’t see the offer terms anywhere explaining if the $150 bonus is paid in X statement cycles of $500 spend, whether or not it has to be on PayPal and whether the 30 days is from account application, approval, opening or card activation? When I follow the link it looks like a generic application page and doesn’t show more offer details.
FYI You might want to update: the Concerto PayPal Business credit card application has been down since mid- to late-October. Clicking the “Apply Now” button takes you to a site maintenance page; there doesn’t appear to be an alternative way to apply for the business credit card.