Those of us who blog and accept adverts, features and reviews tend to use PayPal as our preferred method of payment by PR’s and Companies. PayPal means that we don’t have to issue our bank details to the many strangers who contact us to do some work for them.
Yes, we pay a fee for any money that is deposited into our accounts, but that is a small price to pay for the security of using a third party Company who take care of our financial details. There are some teething problems with PayPal at times, and it can be hugely frustrating if we send or receive an e-cheque instead of direct funds, but most of us can live with that.
PayPal have introduced new features to their accounts, and I am happy with the iPhone app that has seen me pay my blogging host without having to open up my laptop and log on. Technology moves forward as a fantastic pace, and although I wish it had been around when I was much younger, I am happy to use new features and apps that come out and give them a go.
This is not a paid for post, just in case some of you were wondering, but I did feel the need to share what I have found out about the new PayPal Access Card that they are offering. I use PayPal a lot, so it seemed sensible to me when I read about the new Card that meant I didn’t have to pay for everything directly from my PayPal account, or wait 7 days (sometimes more) for any transfers from my PayPal account to transfer to my bank account.
I signed up and so far, I have been massively pleased with the result. It comes as a MasterCard clonealike, with the words PayPal Access written on it, and the MasterCard logo on the bottom. The beauty of it though, is that you can only use it if you have money in your PayPal account. If you don’t have money in your account, it won’t work. It also has the wi-fi technology built-in which allows it to be used up to £15 in non touch transactions using PayPass which means that we don’t have to enter our pin for small purchases if the merchant has the right technology to use it.
As with anything PayPal related, the fees are worth looking at, as are the limits.
PayPal charges for Access Card
- Taking money from ATMs costs £2 each time.
- Withdrawing foreign money has a fee lf £3 + 2.75% so that is a little hefty if you are trying to get holiday money.
- If you lose your card, it will cost you £4.95 for a new one.
- If you want a paper statement, it will cost you £5.
- Using the card for Internet gaming will set you back 3%
Using the card to pay online or directly with a merchant does not have a charge attached to it, so it really is good for using instead of cash, but not to take cash out directly.
Card Limits
- The daily withdrawal limit is £250.
- The biggest single transaction you could make is£1,500.
- The maximum daily spend limit is also £1,500
- Over the course of 7 days, you cannot take out more than £3,000
- Cash withdrawals over 7 days cannot exceed £1,000
What do I think?
Honestly, I am glad I have it. It was easy to apply and set up, and I just followed the usual PayPal login for my blog PayPal account and followed the instructions. It did arrive pretty quickly and at the risk of sounding mega cheesy, I would say that my PayPal has now improved to be a real pay pal. Bah boom tish.
Hi, Thanks for your great post, there are much nice information that I am sure a huge number of guys and gals don’t know.
I would love to get one of these, sounds so useful. I’m a big eBayer and often it’s easier to keep funds in the paypal account to re-use when I buy. However, after looking through paypal, I can’t find out how to get one!!! Perhaps it’s by invite only
Vicki recently posted..Frightening feelings and new lows…
Please don’t get too smitten – this card has had major technical issues since December 2011. I have long got over the embarrassment of your card has been declined at the till!! Except it hasn’t been declined -you have to do the transaction again for merchant to be happy but you have been charged twice and will have to ring them up (on an expensive 0845 number) to get your money back (unless it’s under a £100 and they give it back to you after 10 days ) But here is the warning if you don’t have enough in your Paypal account you won’t be able to do the second transaction and will have to leave your purchases behind unless you have another card/cash to pay with. It gets worse On Sunday I used it to withdraw the maximum daily limit of £250 with the £2 fee and I looked at my online account tonight and that too has gone down as a duplicate transaction. With my card being declined 7 times today in shops – I will have to ring them in morning to claim back a whopping £550 I had to double pay and try and get my £252 back from Sunday’s cash point. I am really worried about that one and have contacted the financial ombudsmen for advice (have complained to Paypal a few weeks back and they have offered me £50 as final settlement – but I have run up £42 in calls ringing them) and the problem hasn’t been resolved.
The card works fine sometimes for weeks and then this problem starts for days at a time.
Am sorry to put a damper on this – I was so excited at first- then mortified at numerous tills and now angry and worried – oh and it also declines on online purchases but again charges you. I have a business and thankfully normally have the money for a duplicate transaction but at times have had to resort to cash/debit card. I never thought I’d say this but it’s awful and I think it should be withdrawn until it is fit for purpose – After today ( and having to beg for £65 petrol a few days ago that had gone through twice to be credited back) I am not using it any more until they really have resolved the many issues it has.
I picked up on a point you made about online transactions and would like to pose everyone a few hypothetical question:
What is the point in using a PayPal card for online purchases when you can just use your PayPal account in almost every online shop?
If the card is not even reliable online, then why not just use your regular bank debit card if a partiuclar shop doesn’t take PayPal directly?
There is already the ability to fund your bank from PayPal (often without paying a fee), so why put up with that unreliability and double-debits?
Surely if the card is so unreliable – and it is, my card is terrible for refusing transactions but I have never presented a transaction twice for FEAR of double debits – then the only use for it is as a wallet-sized ice-scraper. The company that produces the cards is notorious for their inability to process transactions properly.
The PayPal card is not a “proper” card in the UK. Just because it is MasterCard branded does not make it a bona-fide MasterCard.
Some shops don’t accept paypal though, so that’s why people would use it online. The point of using the card is that the money can take about 10 days to transfer to a bank account. Some people can’t afford to wait that long.
I must be lucky as I’ve not had any problems with mine at all.
Thanks, it would be good for ebayers as well.