topic Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card - RECENT UPDATE in Credit Cards

Earn 3% on everything using one card -Dead !-

patoot10 — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 18:30:44 GMT

As of March 2019 this trick is dead as Paypal started phasing it out in batches. It was a good run and I am proud of presenting such a solution to a great community that helped me build my credit like a pro from the get go.

Hello,

If you have paypal cashback card that means you earn 2% on everything.

Paypal offers a debit card for PayPal business accounts that is funded by your paypal balance so let's say you have PayPal business debit card and you have $50 paypal balance then you can use your PayPal business debit card to make purchases up to $50. To get a PayPal business debit card you just request it and you receive it in the mail. This is how the cards looks with a really cool chip.

This card earns 1% cashback and if your paypal balance is zero you can link this card to a backup funding method so you can still use it and earn 1% cashback. Backup options are bank accounts and debit cards. You can also link it to credit cards offered by paypal as a backup option. If you link it to paypal cashback card you will earn 2% from the credit card and 1% from the debit card so 3% cashback in total.

Couple of things to consider:

- You only earn 1% cash back on purchases that don't require pin code (buy online giftcards then use them at THAT store).

- You must earn at least $1/month for cash back to post to paypal account i.e. spend at least $100 on the card per calendar month.

- You need to keep paypal balance at zero before making any transaction that way the whole amount goes through the 2% credit card.

- YOU CAN USE THIS CARD AT PLACES THAT DON'T ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS AND STILL EARN 2% CASHBACK (DMV, some gas stations, small stores).

I hope you find this useful.

=====================================

RECENT UPDATE

In a desperate attempt to promote their new PayPal personal debit card, PayPal made the business product exclusive for PayPal business accounts. Some users who got this card on their personal PayPal accounts have received an email that their business debit card will be shutdown by September. If you are currently using this 3% setup on a personal PayPal account I highly recommend upgrading your PayPal account to a business account. Also people reported that they can't apply for the PayPal 2% cashback credit card if they have a PayPal business account, they had to downgrade to PayPal personal account to be eligible to apply for the 2% credit card. If you are trying to get into this setup I recommend applying for the credit card then upgrading your account to business and applying for the debit card.

Thanks

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

toadsworth — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 20:46:00 GMT

anybody have any input on this? Wouldn’t it not get the 2% in the same way that a cash advance doesn’t get the 2%?

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

patoot10 — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 20:56:40 GMT

I already used this this method and earned cash back on the credit card.

I used plastiq, coinbase, regular purchaes.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 21:31:30 GMT

Hm! Intriguing, young skywalker. How long have you been doing this? You sure they're not gonna slam you with some bs fees? Cash advance does seem a likely culprit.

So you're paying with the debit card, automatic 1% as long as you spend $100 in the month, and the credit card is the "back up", effectively primary, funding source, and in that process it earns 2% back.

What's great about this vs the Kasasa cash back checking is those accts are capped at a few hundred $ in spend to get the CB each month, and you have to do like 10 or 12 qualifying transactions each month. This has no caps or such hoops.

If this pans out and sticks around I may have to get in on it after I finish my app queue of 7 more cards lol.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 22:27:58 GMT

@patoot10wrote:
Hello,

If you have paypal cashback card that means you earn 2% on everything.

Paypal also offers debit cards that are funded by your paypal balance so let's say you have paypal debit card and you have $50 paypal balance then you can use your paypal debit card to make purchases up to $50. Debit cards come in two versions (personal and business) however you don't need to own a business to get the business version. To get a paypal debit card you just request it and you receive it in the mail.

The card I am talking about in the topic subject is Paypal Business debit card.

This card earns 1% cashback and if your paypal balance is zero you can link this card to a backup funding method so you can still use it and earn 1% cashback. Backup options are bank accounts and debit cards. However you can also link it to credit cards offered by paypal. If you link it to paypal cashback card you will earn 2% from the credit card and 1% from the debit card so 3% cashback in total.

A couple of things to consider:
- You only earn 1% cash back on purchases that don't require pin code (buy online giftcards then use them at that store).
- You must earn at least $1/month for cash back to post to paypal account i.e spend at least $100 on the card per calendar month.
- You need to keep paypal balance at zero before making any transaction that way the whole amount goes through the 2% credit card.
- You can use this card at places that don't accept credit cards and still earn 2% cashback (DMV, some gas stations, small stores).

I hope you find this useful.

I’ve read about this strategy elsewhere before but I haven’t seen any follow up post indicating it actually works. Have you been able to confirm 3% overall cashback and that PayPal doesn’t shut it down on one of the cards?

This would be pretty cool as I already have both. I guess that also means I can try it out myself too. Lol.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Jetboy — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 23:26:19 GMT

@AnonymousThis would be pretty cool as I already have both. I guess that also means I can try it out myself too. Lol.

Please do. There are no data points that says this works. It looks like it would work on paper but actual use may be another story.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 23:29:29 GMT

@Jetboywrote:
@AnonymousThis would be pretty cool as I already have both. I guess that also means I can try it out myself too. Lol.
Please do. There are no data points that says this works. It looks like it would work on paper but actual use may be another story.

I’ll give it a go and report back when I know.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

woodyman100 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 03:05:16 GMT

I suppose you could still get 3 percent with a couple of extra steps.

earn the 2% and transfer it to your PayPal balance on the statement date.

Then use the debit to spend the PayPal balance this earning 1% on those purchases.

admittedly it would stretch out over many months if there wasn’t massive spend.

Even then it would be a 2 month process at a minimum

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

601flyguy — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 05:54:33 GMT

I can confirm that it works. It doesn't matter if the funds come from paypal balance or backup funding, all signature purchases receive 1% cash back. As far as the credit card, there will be no cash advance fees. The charges will show up like any other paypal purchase.

For reference, i used my paypal debit card with discover as backup funding. I used to pay my ebay fees with paypal card essentially earning 3% back on the fees. I highly suggest this to ebay sellers.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 11:24:31 GMT

Hm say, am I missing something, or is there any reason why you can't do this trick with any rewards earning credit card as the funding source for the PayPal debit card? Eg if I have a freedom unlimited in place of the PayPal MasterCard, would I effectively get 1.5x ur points (with CSP transfer) per dollar spent plus 1% cash back on the PayPal debit card?

Moreover, can you change funding sources instantaneously, such that you could effectively use the PayPal debit card to earn an extra 1% back when you use any of your credit cards? Obviously this may be too much of a hassle for small transactions or whatever, but in principle could you just swap CCs as the funding source on the fly and effectively get an extra 1% back on all of your credit cards?

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

patoot10 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:01:24 GMT

When you try to pick your backup funding method it will list the accounts that you added to your paypal minus visa gift cards and any credit card not issued by paypal. That's why paypal cashback 2% is essential for this method.

Also I don't understand why people are asking in the comments whether this actually works or not and if they will get hit with cash advance fee. This is kind of insulting, I am publishing good information about a method that changes the cash back game completely (at least for the time being) and people thinking that I copied something that I read online.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:13:13 GMT

Thanks for clarifying about the backup funding method, but dude - insulting? Really? Surely you are aware of how many reward setups end up being not as lucrative as they seem. You should be pleased: you've presented something so lucrative that people here are actually skeptical about it because it seems too good to be true. So take a chill pill and enjoy your 3%.

Personally, I still think I stand to gain more value from the Spirit Airlines MasterCard as a non-category spend fallback (because I can easily avoid their fees, my airport is only 2nd to Spirit's main hub in terms of the number of destinations they offer, and I can take advantage of the reduced redemption rates of their off peak dates), but 3% cash back on everything is solid too, especially with no annual fee. This setup kills the alliant card and basically any other non-category spend card that I'm aware of. Although there is a very selective credit union I think in the green Bay area that offers a card that's 5% back on everything capped at $1k a month I believe it is - not bad especially if you supplement it with other 5% cards.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

patoot10 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:27:10 GMT

If you can earn 3% on everthing using paypal method or any other method that really limits the cash back (no annual fee) game to these cards:

The rotating 5% capped cards (Cash+ - Discover - Freedom)

Uber for 4% dining year round

Ducks for 5% gas year round

And paypal business debit

I don't think you can earn more than 3% in any major category not listed above.

And let's not forget that using this card earns you cash back at places that don't take credit so if you are looking to optimize it's a must.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:41:37 GMT

*opens wallet* you left out the Nusenda Platinum Cash Rewards, another 5% rotating category card but it's effectively 6% (I got $48 back on an $800 purchase), the Vantage West Connect Rewards (similar to the Us Bank Cash+ except you can pick only 1 category but the list tends to be more useful than the cash+ options), and the Chase Ink Cash (5% back on internet, cable, phone services and office supply stores). There's also the target red card, but there's a debit version which I linked to a Kasasa checking account that gets 5% cash back on up to $200 in purchases a month - so potentially I can get 9.75% off at Target. Not to mention the 5% card on everything I spoke of in my last post, though very few people will be able to get that one.

for anyone who does travel I still think the CSP is a worthy addition, even though theres a $95 fee, because it boosts the return on the Freedom and Ink Cash - double without much trouble, triple or even quadruple if you put more effort into it and can get the stars to align. Since my Nusenda card gets restaurants in q2 and q4 every year, and I bought gift cards at my favorite restaurant when they had a great deal in December ($600 gift card for $400), I'm pretty much in the camp of screw the Uber card. Mostly forget Barclay for putting the kibosh on the Sallie Mae Rewards card - the Commence card they stuck us with is basically useless.

You do bring up a great point on being able to use the PayPal method anywhere that doesn't accept credit, though. I did order a PayPal debit card yesterday after reading your post, and if this still works long term (which I suspect there's a good chance as I don't imagine the number of people taking advantage of this will be statistically very significant: I expect anyone clever enough/willing to put the effort into doing it will supplement this 3% catch all with several 5% cards and thus won't be using the 3% for most nearly everything).

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:41:50 GMT

Im probably too average to follow this method as it seems too complicated ( to me anyway) to try and get an extra 1% . Lol. I do remember something along this method was posted earlier in the year but if i recall in the end the method wasnt going to work real well for op. Good thread though patoot. Some lively debate is healthy lets just make sure its stay on topic

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

patoot10 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 12:44:38 GMT

The cards that you mentioned are good however they are credit unions cards.

With those cards you actually need to pay money to some instituion you never heard of to be eligible for membership and some of them are not available to the public.

Once again you might get cashback as travel credit using more expensive cards. But if you wanna stick to no-hassle no-fees cards. The list above is conclusive.

People might argue about that citi card that no one can apply for again but the categories are really weird on that one like super not everyday or even every month categories.

I do agree that cash+ categories are not the best but fast food and phone bill are semi-solid ones.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 13:08:46 GMT

@patoot10wrote:
When you try to pick your backup funding method it will list the accounts that you added to your paypal minus visa gift cards and any credit card not issued by paypal. That's why paypal cashback 2% is essential for this method.

Also I don't understand why people are asking in the comments whether this actually works or not and if they will get hit with cash advance fee. This is kind of insulting, I am publishing good information about a method that changes the cash back game completely (at least for the time being) and people thinking that I copied something that I read online.

That wasn’t my intention. I merely wanted to know if you’ve seen the end results of that process or if you were simply speculating that it would work.

You’ve since answered that question. Thanks 🙏 for clarifying as it’s a valuable bit of information.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

DaveInAZ — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 14:30:08 GMT

@601flyguywrote:
I can confirm that it works. It doesn't matter if the funds come from paypal balance or backup funding, all signature purchases receive 1% cash back. As far as the credit card, there will be no cash advance fees. The charges will show up like any other paypal purchase.

For reference, i used my paypal debit card with discover as backup funding. I used to pay my ebay fees with paypal card essentially earning 3% back on the fees. I highly suggest this to ebay sellers.

I think only PayPal credit cards (and bank accounts) can be used for backup funding for PPDebit, but if they do allow Discover wouldn't disco only pay 1% rewards? But thanks for the idea, I missed that one - I'm not a big eBay seller but do sell occasionally & have my eBay fees going straight to a 2% card, I might as well set my PP Debit for eBay fees & get an extra 1%, as I do have the PP 2% MC.

We need to be careful to avoid drifting into MS (manufactured spend) in discussing this PP Debit + PP2% MC method, as MS discussion is rightfully not allowed on MyFico. Also if folks go crazy doing this PayPal may shut it down. But it can be useful. I'm going to try it for my property taxes due next month. My county's 3rd party processor charges a 2.5% fee for CC payment, but a flat $2.50 for debit, which for my taxes is much less than the 2.5% fee. So I'll use PP Debit w/PP 2% MC for backup funding. Yeah, I'll get a bit extra cashback rewards, but the main goal is to save on CC fees.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 16:44:06 GMT

@patoot you don't pay money to the credit unions to become eligible, you donate to an affiliate of theirs (I donated I think it was like $15 each to the new Mexico wilderness alliance and an organization in Arizona that does quality of life things for the aging and elderly). I already donate to charity so I had no problem giving to such worthy causes.

Also, the Target and Chase Ink cards are very available and don't require such things.

Not available to the public? That's just the last one I mentioned and I made it very clear that hardly anyone would be eligible for it. The other 4 cards, Target, Chase Ink, Vantage West, and Nusenda cards are available to anyone, the former two with aforementioned small, one time donations to worthwhile causes.

The Citi card that nobody can apply for? You mean the Dividend, which you can product change to? Yeah, I did leave that out, its categories do tend to kinda suck. But the rewards structure is better than the other rotating category cards as it's a $6k per year cap rather than a $1.5k per quarter cap, so you can blow the whole thing on the single most useful category or what have you. Worth applying for a card just to PC to it in a year? Probably not. Worth PCing to with a card you no longer have use for? I fail to see why not. It does offer airlines, hotels, home improvement, furniture, best buy - not completely useless, especially if someone is foregoing the excellent travel rewards cards with fees and doesn't have a good one for airlines or hotels. Personally, I plan to get the Citi AAdvantage Platinum for the 60k AA miles with no fee in year 1, then downgrade to the Dividend in year 2. Why not? I'm not gonna go for the double cash or Costco cards, and I'd rather not close the acct if there's a decent no annual fee cash back card I can product change to...and there is - the Dividend.

Man, I splayed out 4 additional 5% cards for you that are easy to get for anyone in the country, 2 of them without joining a credit union. Just because donating a few bucks to a charity is something that is apparently too much of a hassle in your eyes (?) doesn't mean that the cards aren't worth it. Since they both function as long term keeper cards, you'll earn what you donated back in cash back in due order. Not to mention: credit union cards have better rates and fee schedules. The Vantage West card, for example, has no balance transfer fee or cash advance fee ever and 0% apr for the first 6 months. 0% apr for 6 mos isn't too uncommon but no BT fee or cash advance fees ever, especially on a 5% cash back card, are highly unusual if not unheard of from major banks. So don't write off those 4 cards just cuz you didn't think to list them or whatever. Besides someone else in this thread just said that your system seems too complicated to be worth setting up, and look at the form which they're a member. I really doubt that if someone finds the target red card or even one of those CU cards too much hassle to get that they will find this PayPal method approachable.

Fast food and cell phone bills? Dude, the single most useful category on Cash+ is bookstore, since it codes for a lot of stuff at amazon, including Amazon gift cards, but in q2 that category is being replaced by one that's arguably more valuable: utilities. Of course if your utility company charges a 3% fee to use a credit card...but whatever mine doesn't lol.

Re: Earn 3% on everything using one card

MrDisco99 — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 16:54:08 GMT

~~What do the purchases post as on the backing card? If they all post as PayPal, I can see how this could be a problem for other cards.~~

EDIT: I just saw where you said non-PayPal credit cards are excluded, so that makes more sense.

That's actually a nice little scheme you've got there. How are rewards redeemed? Do both cards just add money into your PayPal account? Any fees associated with cashing that out?