PayPal has launched a pre-paid card that can be used to fund a PayPal account. It had been developed with those who prefer to pay in cash or don’t have a bank account (the ‘underbanked’) in mind so that they can make purchases online. The product has a new homepage here at paypal-cash.com.
Called the PayPal My Cash Card, it’s fairly straightforward to use. You simply buy a new card at anyone of 30k outlets in the US with cash and then use it to charge up a new or existing PayPal account with funds. PayPal charges a one-off $3.95 activation fee when you start using the card.
This is quite a nifty product that I can see having a wider appeal than at first meets the eye and I do hope we might see something similar over here in the UK. It will be of interest to those who don’t have a bank account at all and those who do bank but don’t have the relevant card associated with it. It also appeals to the wary. It’s a safe way to use PayPal and shopm online for people who are petrified of sharing their banking details. It could also be quite a nifty gift idea.
4 Responses
I think this is a fabulous idea. For those that don’t live near the bank, it also gives another means of bank deposit. For example, say it’s a 20 mile round trip to your bank (we’ve lived in places where it’s been more than 20 miles!), and you need to deposit some cash. You can pop to your local shop/post office etc, presuming they’ll use topup technology or paypoint technology here. Once in your paypal account you can then transfer them money to your bank account.
Now they’ll probably charge for use of it, like they did when the paypal top-up card (now the master card linked to the account) was first launched, it was £1 per non-paypal load. However, £1 to load cash to your paypal account, is still cheaper than putting fuel in the car and paying for car parking, or a bus ticket to get to the bank.
So I really do hope they’ll role it out here soon, I’ll be signing up as soon as it’s ready!!
great way to launder money too?
There are some Banks where you can already pay in and indeed withdraw monies at a Post Office. I Bank with Santander and I know that I can and in fact do regularly. I would suggest that if your Bank is many miles from home that you enquire at the local Post Office to see if there is any way that you can do your Bank Business in the local Post Office. If there is not then perhaps you should have a session looking at alternative Banks and which you can use the Post Office and which you cannot.
This is a wonderful idea from Paypal. I hope this will be rolled out soon!