I recently got my own PayPal debit card and have had a chance to use it and see how all the little tricks work. Technically, I got a PayPal Business Debit Card, but I don’t see any differences from the regular one.

Is a PayPal MasterCard Debit Card a Good Deal?

PayPal is no different than any other for-profit company, they want to make money. They take a commission on certain types of payments and charge fees for things like receiving international currency in your PayPal account and for letting customers or clients pay you via credit card.

The PayPal debit card is another way for PayPal to make money while giving you more ways to access the funds in your PayPal account, which the company hopes in turn will encourage you to use it more. Like other credit card companies, PayPal earns fees from the retailer every time you use your PayPal MasterCard.

The big lure of the PayPal Debit MasterCard is that you can use it to pull cash out of your PayPal account by ATM instantly. The catch is that PayPal charges you a $1 fee for each ATM withdrawal, in addition to any fees charged by the ATM itself. Unlike many bank ATM cards, the PayPal ATM card is not a member of any ATM network, so no ATM is a free ATM for PayPal debit cards unless it is a surcharge-free ATM.

Read here to learn about the Capital One rewards catalog.

In fact, when I recently started an ATM withdrawal and then changed my mind after seeing that the ATM charged $3 for a withdrawal, I clicked decline. But, since the ATM processed that as a withdrawal and then a credit, PayPal charged me the $1 fee anyway!

I am currently trying to get that refunded. Which, brings me to another drawback to the PayPal debit card.

PayPal is an eBay owned company that does everything online. That isn’t bad in itself, but PayPal sticks closely to the less if more business strategy of online business. There is no 1-800 number or anyone to call at a bank to take care of issues. You get to use the automated online links for predefined issues, but for something like an incorrect ATM surcharge, you’re stuck with emailing and waiting for an answer.

The one dollar surcharge makes the PayPal debit card a bad deal for withdrawing money. Be sure to only make large withdrawals, or if your time permits, just make the free withdrawal transfers to your bank account instead.

The other option is to take advantage of the MasterCard part of the card that lets you charge things instead.

PayPal Debit Card Features

There are some valuable benefits from using the PayPal debit card. First, as a MasterCard, you can use your PayPal card just like a credit card at any merchant, online or offline, that takes MasterCard. Good luck getting Red Robin to let you pay for your meal with PayPal without the card.

Second, the PayPal Debit MasterCard offers 1% cash-back on all purchases made with the card. However, you get this feature ONLY IF you sign-up for cash back rewards online.

The sort of PayPal debit card scam here is that you have to link your PayPal account to an eBay seller account that accepts PayPal as a preferred method of payment. This is not a big deal if you already have a PayPal account and don’t mind making it a preferred method of payment, but it seems like a bit of a credit-card company trick to withhold your chance to earn one-percent cashback until you do something with eBay.

For those of us that use PayPal for payments and not for online auctions, this is an unnecessary step to get one of the benefits of the PayPal debit card. However, if you plan to use your PayPal MasterCard to charge things, take the extra time to setup an eBay account and link it to your debit card to get your 1% cash back. You never have to sell anything, you just have to link the accounts. Just open an eBay seller account and then never use it.

There is another catch to PayPal Debit Card cash-back. It only counts on transactions where you do NOT use your PIN number. So, tell the cashier to use credit, or hit the cancel button on the little payment screen when it asks for your PIN number or you are throwing your cashback away.

The good news is that once you have activated PayPal cash back, it is seamless and easy. The 1% cash back gets credited to your PayPal account balance every month, so there is no waiting until the end of the year or waiting for a check in the mail.

PayPal Debit Card ATM withdrawals are limited to $400 per day and the maximum daily spending limit for the card is $3,000.00.

You can link a backup form of payment to your PayPal card if you choose. Basically, you link another credit card to your PayPal card and if you don’t have enough money in your PayPal account for your transaction, PayPal will pull in the money from your backup credit card.

Personally, I would just use the backup credit card directly, but I can see situations in which someone might want to take advantage of this feature.

PayPal Debit Card Email Notifications

One other interesting feature of the PayPal debit card is that it sends you an email confirmation for every purchase you make. On the one hand it’s great to have that notification. On the other hand, do you really need an email each time you buy a hotdog or fill your car with gas?

Obviously, email filters and such make managing the PayPal notifications easy, but it is something to know before you get the PayPal debit card and start using it everywhere you go.

I downloaded the PayPal Android app and it lets me see transactions as soon as they show up on the system and monitor my account balance and transactions from my phone. Obviously, you can also manage your PayPal account online.

Finally, the one other bad thing about the PayPal debit card is that as an accessory to your PayPal account, it only offers online statements for the last three months. Most banks and credit cards keep your statements online for much longer.

All PayPal accounts only offer the previous three months of statements online. Unless your PayPal account is seldom used, for record-keeping purposes, you’ll need to get into the habit of saving your online e-statements before they get too old and disappear from the system.

In the end, there is no reason to not have a PayPal debit card is you frequently get money in your PayPal account, just know the gotchas and be smart to avoid unnecessary fees and take advantage of your cash back rewards.

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2. Some Banks Not Charging Monthly Debit Card Fee

PayPal Debit Card Worth It? originally published at Finance Gourmet

Finding out which reward credit card program is best takes a little bit of research. One of the most important factors in choosing the right rewards card is picking one that you will actually use both for spending and for redeeming points and miles for rewards. There is no sense in getting a Capital One Rewards credit card for free travel if you never really fly anywhere.

A top credit card rewards offer for people who don’t travel a lot is the Amazon.com Rewards Card which offers cardholders points for every dollar spent on a wide variety of purchases. Instead of redeeming points for free plane tickets, Amazon credit card users get free gift certificates to Amazon.com

Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card from Chase

The Amazon credit card rewards program comes with a lot of advantages for card holders with good credit scores. New customers looking for a credit card for people with bad credit or credit cards for people with recent bankruptcy might have to look elsewhere though.

New Amazon rewards card holders get $30 cash back with their first purchase on the Amazon Visa card.

Amazon rewards members earn points for every dollar spent on the card.

The big earnings come from shopping at Amazon.com which is not surprising. Cardholders earn 3 points for every dollar spent on amazon.com. In addition, credit card holders earn double points, or 2 points for every dollar spent at gas stations, restaurants and drug stores. All other places like grocery stores, bookstores, and clothing stores earn 1 point for every dollar spent.

Is Amazon Reward Card Worth It?

The best credit card reviews include not just the credit cards interest rate and whether or not the card has an annual fee, but also the value of the rewards offers and what is included in the credit card rewards catalog.

The Amazon.com Visa card is a great credit card to review because it is so easy to examine the card’s overall value.

The top value of Amazon Rewards Visa comes when you use the card a lot on Amazon.com.

The main item in the Amazon rewards catalog is a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate for 2,500 points. Other rewards in the rewards point chart are $50 cash back for 5,000 points. That makes the Amazon Visa a top value in credit cards issued by U.S. Banks.

If you spent all of our money on the Amazon credit card, earning 2,500 points would take spending just $833.33. That makes a best cash back value reward of $25 cash back for every $833 of purchases. The cash back percentage on the Amazon.com Visa card at this level equals 3% cash back on purchases made at Amazon.com. That is one of the highest cash back offers of any credit card. It is higher than cash back from Fidelity credit card and higher than the cash back rewards in the Citibank rewards catalog.

Of course, the cash back value declines with each dollar spent somewhere other than Amazon, but for heavy shoppers at Amazon this card is a great value.

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Amazon Rewards Visa Credit Cards originally published at Finance Gourmet

While there is always tension between a company that must turn a profit and consumers who want to get as much as possible for the lowest price, with most relationships between a business and consumer there is at least some degree of fairness.  Unfortunately, this is seldom the case for the relationship between credit card company and credit card user.  Instead, in this relationship, the credit card company works hard to hook a customer and then slowly tries to squeeze the maximum profit out of them.  Between absurd fees, sudden contract term changes, and just plain old subterfuge, your credit card company is out to get you if you stop paying attention.

Top Credit Card Company Tricks – 0% APR Credit Card Offers

While there are many areas the banks that issue credit cards are less than forthright, one area that the tricks come fast and furious is with 0% credit card offers.  Whether it is a zero percent interest balance transfer offer, or an offer for 0% interest for an introductory period, you have to stay on your toes to stay ahead of all the little tricks credit card issuers play.

Here, are the most common credit card company tricks on 0% interest credit cards.

1. Transaction Fees – Buried in the middle of the text of a full-page letter or even on the back of the page in lighter gray text is the notification that this particular 0% offer is not a free offer.  Instead, you’ll be charged a transaction fee of 3% typically.  That means when you write a credit card check or fill out the balance transfer form, you’ll be charged 3% (or more sometimes) immediately.  No grace period, no chance to pay it off before there are interest charges.  If you take $5,000 with this 0% interest credit card offer, you’ll be charged $150 the second you get the money no matter how fast you pay it back.  In other words, you don’t have to pay off $5,000 before the offer expires, you have to pay off $5,150 before the offer expires. 
2. Payments Credited to Lowest Interest Balance – Here is the one that even financially savvy consumers miss.  Buried in the fine print of your zero percent interest balance transfer offer is the fact that every payment you make will be used to pay off the part of your balance that is being charged 0% interest.  Any other charges you make are going to get hit with full interest charges.  Oh, and by the way, those interest charges?  You’ll be charged interest on it too until you pay off the whole zero percent balance!  In other words, if you take $5,000 at 0% and then next month you charge $300 thinking that you will make a payment of $300 to cover it without being charged interest, you’ve fallen into the trap.  Instead, when you send in your $300 payment, the credit card company will reduce the amount you are paying 0% on by $300 and nothing will be credited to the $300 which you are going to be charged interest on.  So, after the first month you have $4,700 at 0% and $300 at the full rate.  After next month it will be $4,700 plus the $305 or whatever your interest rate makes it.  In other words, you cannot use your credit card in anyway until after you have paid off the free offer, whether that is 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months.
3. Minimum Payment Still Required – Some zero percent offers require you to still make the minimum monthly payment.  If you are late by just one day at any time, the whole 0% interest rate promotion can be revoked immediately and you start paying the full interest rate. Call and complain, and you might get this one reversed, but don’t count on it.
4. Zero Percent As Long As Balance Is Paid By End of Offer – This one is most common with department store credit cards.  The way it works is that the credit card company keeps track of how much interest you would owe if you didn’t get 0% interest rate.  Then, if you don’t finish paying off the whole zero percent balance by a certain time, then you have to pay ALL the interest, not just the interest going forward.  So, if you buy a $6,000 bedroom set with a 24 month same as cash offer and you haven’t paid off the full $6,000 then you will pay all of the interest for each and every one of those 24 months.  And how will you pay it?  It will be added to your balance so they can charge you interest on that too.

Using a zero percent interest rate credit card offer can make good financial sense, but you have to be careful to follow the rules exactly to avoid coming out worse than you thought.

Smart Rules for Using 0% Interest Offers

How do you keep from becoming another cash cow sucker for the credit card companies?  Follow these simple rules and you’ll be ahead of most of their tricks.

1. Watch Out For Transaction Fees – Use no transaction fee offers whenever possible.  These are less common from credit card accounts you already have, so you might have to look at offers for getting a new credit card.
2. Stop Using the Card – Take the card out of your wallet or purse and do the same for your spouse.  If any kids have a card on that account, get theirs too.  Put them in a safe or other place where they can’t be accidentally used until the whole zero percent balance has been paid off.
3. Setup an Automatic Payment – Many cards will allow you to setup an automatic payment.  This is a must if you have an offer that still requires an on-time monthly payment.  If you have a card that must be paid off by a certain date to avoid being charged all accrued interest, make your automatic payment enough to pay off the balance over the free time period. At minimum write down the date your account must be paid by in big colorful letters on every calendar you have.  Don’t cut it close, pay it off a month or more in advance to avoid any mishaps like lost checks or a family emergency that keeps you from remembering.
4. Don’t Zero Percent Hop – Some people try and get too cute and keep swapping one zero percent interest rate offer for another 0% offer.  While this sounds smart in theory, your odds increase of making a mistake that could cost you enough to wipe out any savings you’ve gotten up until then.  If you have no other options, then by all means, another zero percent offer is better than nothing, but focus on paying that one off right away.  Otherwise, if you want to take advantage of multiple 0% offers, close out the first one and then move on to the next one.  That way, you’ll make sure you are starting fresh each time.

Want to get benefits and make money back from using your credit cards?  Get the right rewards card and use it wisely.  Then, the benef
its you earn will out weigh the hoops you have to jump through.

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Credit Card Company Tricks and How To Beat Them originally published at Finance Gourmet

Looking for some creative ways to save some money with the economy looking shaky and the holiday shopping season fast approaching?  Here is one way to save some potentially big dough.

Microsoft Live Search CashBack

Microsoft is literally giving away money to get people to try out its new search engine called Live Search.  You can find it at www.live.com.  Make sure you sign up for the CashBack program and use the right CashBack search screen, not the regular Live Search screen.  Read all the technical details about Microsoft Live Search CashBack.

Some vendors have pretty big cash back amounts.  JR.com is a big electronics outfit and they currently have 6% cash back offered.  Sound good?  I’m glad, but keep reading.

Pair this up with a good Cash Back Credit Card and you can be talking about some real savings.  Even if you are out of your special offer period and only get 1% cash back, that adds up fast.  A $1000 digital camera package would qualify for $60 in cash back from Live Search CashBack, plus the extra $10 you would get from your credit card cash back adds up to $70 in savings.  That would buy your nephew a really nice Christmas present for free!

Keep an eye on the FinanceGourmet.  We’ll be bringing you great savings tips to help out during these tough financial times all through the holidays, and into next year.

Remember, only 64 shopping days until Christmas!

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Save Big with Microsoft Live Search CashBack and a Cash Back Credit Card originally published at Finance Gourmet