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Digital wallets and online payment systems like PayPal can make it easier to transfer money or make electronic payments.
Need friends to pay you back for concert tickets? Done. Quickly send your league manager that fantasy football buy-in you forgot about? Easy. Buy that cute gift you wanted to grab off Etsy? Just a few clicks and voila!
Online payment methods including are rising in popularity. But credit cards aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Do PayPal credit cards offer the best of both worlds?
In this in-depth review, you’ll learn about the PayPal Cashback Mastercard and the PayPal Extras Mastercard. We outline the main benefits, programs, fees, and drawbacks of each so that you can answer that question for yourself!
Hot Tip: These cards are often confused with PayPal’s prepaid Mastercard options (debit cards). If you are looking for PayPal’s Cash Mastercard (a very similar card name!) or PayPal’s Prepaid Mastercard, see our article on those Paypal cards.
PayPal Mastercards At A Glance
Image Credit: paypal.com.
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PayPal Cashback Mastercard
PayPal Extras Mastercard
Main benefits
1.5% cash-back on all purchases
Unlimited 3% cash-back when you checkout with PayPal
Redeem cash-back directly to your PayPal account (no min or max to redeem)
Standard Mastercard benefits
3x points per $1 spent on restaurants and gas
2x points per $1 spent on Paypal and eBay purchases
1x points on all other purchases
Redeem points for gift cards, merchandise, travel vouchers, or cash-back to your PayPal balance
Standard Mastercard benefits
Annual fee
$0
$0
APR*
The prime rate plus:
20.24% (Account Type 1)
31.99% (Account Type 2)
34.99% (Account Type 3)
The prime rate plus:
16.74% (Account Type 1)
20.74% (Account Type 2)
23.74% (Account Type 3)
Late fee
Up to $40
Up to $40
*APR as of May 13, 2022
Both PayPal Mastercard Credit Cards are issued by Synchrony Bank under a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Both of these cards can be used for purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
If you don’t have a PayPal account, you’ll need one to reap the full benefits of these cards, including redeeming cash and points directly to your PayPal account.
PayPal Credit Card Differences In Benefits (In-Depth)
As you can see from the table above, the most significant differences between these cards are in their rewards and benefits. Let’s check them out.
There are no restrictions on the type of purchases that earn cash-back. Cardholders enjoy 1.5% cash-back* on all purchases. Qualifying purchases do not include balance transfers, cash advances, convenience checks, disputed or unauthorized purchases, fraudulent transactions, or any other transactions that aren’t eligible to earn rewards.
Bonuses
Bonus rewards may be available for certain purchases from time to time, offering a higher percent cash-back than the standard 1.5%.
An Everyday Spend Card
The PayPal Cashback Mastercard is an everyday spend card, as there are no category or quarterly bonuses.
If directly linking your cashback to your PayPal account is crucial to you, this card may be a good choice. If you want an everyday spend credit card that earns you cash-back on almost all of your purchases and you don’t care about PayPal, see the Alternative Rewards Credit Cards section below.
Redeeming Your Cashback
Cash rewards are available for redemption on a monthly basis. Rewards are available for transfer to your PayPal Account the billing period after the period after you earn them. You’ll earn one month and can redeem the next.
To make the transfer, cardholders should:
Log in to your PayPal account
Access your Rewards Summary Page
Transfer the amount of your choosing to your PayPal balance
Once complete, rewards will be ready to use once.
There is no minimum redemption threshold to transfer cash rewards.
Hot Tip: Remember, to utilize the Cash Rewards Program (to earn or transfer cash-back), your credit card account and PayPal account must be open, in good standing, and linked to each other.
⛽ 3x points per dollar spent on gas purchases 🍽 3x points per dollar spent on restaurant purchases 💻 2x points per dollar spent on PayPal and eBay purchases 🛍 1x points per dollar spent on all other purchases
The 3x points on gas and dining is a nice bonus. The 2x points on PayPal and eBay purchases may or may not benefit you depending on how actively you utilize these options to shop.
PayPal is becoming more and more widely available as a means of payment, including many online retailers including Target, Best Buy, Hotwire.com, Macy’s, and Under Armour, and sometimes within Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
Earning Your Points
Rewards points are credited to your account on a monthly basis the billing period after you accrued points, so you earn points one month, and they’re credited the next. Points are calculated day-by-day with the daily total purchase amount rounded down to the whole dollar.
The points you earn through your PayPal Extras Mastercard are subject to a limit. The maximum amount of points a cardholder can accumulate is 50,000 per account year (beginning the date you opened the account).
Redeeming Your Points
When redeeming points with the PayPal Extras Mastercard, consider the point value per dollar spent.
Paypal’s advertises that cardholders need 6,000 points to earn a $50 PayPal Cash credit. This equates to about 0.83 of a cent per point earned, which is a poor value considering the typical earnings ratio for most cards is 1:1 (at a minimum). The points of some specific credit cards are valued much higher if you optimally redeem them. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Ultimate Rewards points that are extremely valuable when transferred to the Chase travel partners.
PayPal offers the following categories for points redemptions:
💰 PayPal Cash (in $50 increments placed into the cardholder’s PayPal account) ✈ Air travel 🏨 Hotel awards 🚗 Car rentals 🎁 Gift cards and merchandise 🏝 Vacation awards
Choose a category to search for reward redemption options
Make your redemption
Hot Tip: It’s important to note that you forfeit the ability to earn and redeem points if you don’t make a minimum payment when due. Additionally, your account must be in good standing to utilize the program.
PayPal Account Requirements
Cardholders don’t technically need to have an active PayPal account linked to their card. However, without one, you won’t get to make purchases through PayPal, earn rewards on PayPal purchases (2x points), redeem points online for rewards, or utilize the online account management option.
Without an active PayPal account, you can use your Mastercard and earn points outside of PayPal and redeem points for a statement credit. With this option, you can only redeem your statement credit by calling the number on the back of the card.
Although it’s possible to use the card and earn rewards without a PayPal account, other credit cards offer better rewards without PayPal. You can see those in our Alternative Rewards Cards section below.
Additional Card Benefits and Features
In addition to rewards, these cards come with standard Mastercard benefits. These include (but aren’t limited to):
Extended warranty coverage guarantees double the original manufacturer or store brand warranty for up to 1 year.
With price protection, cardholders may be reimbursed the difference if the item price drops within 60 days of purchase.
Identity theft resolution means cardholders may receive ID theft alerts, credit card replacement. ID Theft Affidavit assistance is available for victims of identity theft.
Microchip technology is utilized by most mainstream credit cards today and ensures increased protection, as chip-enabled terminals are reportedly a more secure way to pay.
Fees and Drawbacks of the PayPal Credit Cards
Each credit card has a maze of fees and drawbacks to navigate. The tables and summaries below explain what you can expect from PayPal’s credit cards.
Fees
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PayPal Cashback Mastercard
PayPal Extras Mastercard
Annual fee
$0
$0
APR
20.24% variable (Account Type 1)
31.99% variable (Account Type 2)
34.99% variable (Account Type 3)
16.74% variable (Account Type 1)
20.74% variable (Account Type 2)
23.74% variable (Account Type 3)
Cash advance APR
34.99% variable
The prime rate plus 23.74%
Minimum interest charge
$2.00
$1.50
Cash advance fee
$10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance (whichever is greater)
$5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance (whichever is greater)
Foreign transaction fee
3% of each transaction
3% of each transaction
Late fee
Up to $40
Up to $40
As you can see, there are quite a few fees listed above. Being a responsible cardholder is the best way to avoid these fees.
You should pay off your balance in full, each month. If you can’t pay off your balance in full, you need to pay off as much as you can and always at least the minimum payment.
Interest charges can quickly add up if you’re not paying off your balance in full each month. Depending on your creditworthiness, you could have a high APR. An APR of 17.24% is about average to above average. Anything above 20% is high, and 29.24% is absurd (especially as there are many credit cards with 0% interest.
If you’re at all confused about how credit cards, credit scores, APRs, fees, and other credit details work, take a look at some of our articles on Credit Basics.
Additional Drawbacks
In general, most reviewers are reasonably pleased with the PayPal Cashback Mastercard. Positive reviews are to be expected, as there aren’t any glaring negatives for this 1.5% everyday cashback card.
The obvious drawback to the PayPal Extras Mastercard is the low points value-to-dollar ratio. Your money won’t go as far with PayPal’s rewards as other rewards-based credit cards offering a 1:1 value (or higher).
Furthermore, points redemptions with the PayPal Extras Mastercard can be complicated.
For example, there are minimum thresholds a cardholder must meet before redeeming points, and these thresholds are different for each points redemption category.
Gift cards: 800 points
Merchandise: 3,000 points
Cash-back to PayPal: 6,000 points
Travel rewards: 15,000 points
If redeeming for a travel reward, then all air, hotel, and car rental rewards must be redeemed at least 21 days in advance.
Alternative Rewards Credit Cards (Our Recommendations)
If you want to keep things simple and like cash-back, the PayPal Cashback Mastercard can be a good choice. But the Citi Double Cash® Card is a strong alternative. This card earns 2x points that can be redeemed as cash-back (1x when you purchase and 1x when you pay off your statement).
It’s a little easier than the PayPal Cashback Mastercard because you don’t need to transfer the money anywhere to redeem it.
If rewards are more important to you, then you can definitely do better than the PayPal Extras Credit Card. The value of those points is only 0.83 of a cent, whereas you can quite easily achieve 1.25-1.5 cents for each point with some other credit cards. That adds up to 50-80% more.
Recommended Credit Score
PayPal Cashback Credit Card: With 3 separate APR tiers, applicants can be approved with a range of credit scores.
PayPal Extras Credit Card: Some credit card review sites report you’ll need a very good to excellent credit score for approval. However, others state an above average to good score. Since there are 2 APR tiers offered, that gives the impression that applicants can get approved with a range of reasonably solid credit scores.
You can apply for either PayPal card online. You can apply for the PayPal Cashback Mastercard here, and the PayPal Extras Mastercard here.
PayPal Login and Online Account Management
You can log in to your PayPal account to make payments online. Go to paypal.com and click Log In at the upper right-hand corner.
Image Credit: paypal.com.
From there, select your PayPal Mastercard from your Wallet.
Image Credit: paypal.com.
Then, find your PayPal Mastercard on the left-hand side. If you have not already done so, you will need to link your credit card to your account.
Image Credit: paypal.com.
Once you click on your PayPal Mastercard, you’ll be transferred to a Synchrony Bank portal where you can check on your account, make online payments, and more.
Final Thoughts
If you’re an active PayPal user, chances are you’ve considered getting the PayPal Cashback Mastercard or the PayPal Extras Mastercard. Is either one the best card for your wallet? That depends.
Bottom Line: If you use PayPal a lot and you need a good card for rewards on everyday spending, the 1.5% cash-back on all purchases with the PayPal Cashback Credit Card is a pretty good deal.
However, once earned, cardholders have to actively transfer their cash rewards over to their PayPal account to utilize them. Also good to note: the cash rewards you earn in any reward period won’t appear in your rewards summary until the billing period after the reward period.
While the PayPal Extras Credit Card may look good on paper due to its tiered points earning strategy, the redemptions are quite complicated. Plus, a significant consideration is the value of points for your spend. If you base the value on the advertised cash-back PayPal credit (6,000 points for $50), 1 point is a below average 0.83 of a cent.
Lastly, if you’re a points and miles earner (or want to become one), this isn’t best rewards card for you.
The information regarding the Citi Double Cash® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
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