PayPal lets you link all major credit cards in Canada to your PayPal account. This includes Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards. You’ll still earn rewards when you make purchases with your card through your PayPal account – just be prepared to pay an additional fee on your PayPal credit card for making certain types of transactions.
PayPal accepts credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express. You can link these credit cards to your PayPal account, which allows PayPal to draw from your card to pay for authorized purchases. This option lets you earn PayPal credit card rewards as you make purchases. You won’t be able to top up your PayPal account balance with a credit or debit card.
What purchases can I make with my PayPal credit card?
You can only use the money from your PayPal credit card transactions to make micropayments – such as to send small amounts of money to a friend or to purchase goods and services at an online store. It’s not possible to use the funds to send a mass payment.
You also won’t be able to use your PayPal credit card to load funds into your account, transfer money to your bank account or withdraw money from an ATM or as a cash advance.
What PayPal credit card fees will I have to pay?
PayPal credit card fees
You won’t need to pay PayPal credit card fees for normal transactions with PayPal. There are only two instances when drawing from a PayPal credit card in Canada might cost you more:
If you send money overseas. You’ll pay PayPal credit card fees when you send a payment to someone in another country when you use your PayPal credit card to carry out the transaction.
When you send personal payments using your credit card. You won’t pay more for making purchases in store but you will pay PayPal credit card fees if you use your PayPal credit card to send money to family and friends in Canada.
Will my PayPal credit card transaction trigger a cash advance?
Typically PayPal payments for goods and services aren’t classified as cash advance transactions. However, your card provider may charge a fee if you use your PayPal credit card for transactions typically associated with cash advances — such as buying chips at an online casino or purchasing gift cards.
Can I still earn credit card rewards when I use my PayPal credit card?
You can still earn credit card PayPal rewards when you link your credit card to PayPal. The only issue is that you may not get accelerated rewards for certain purchases. This is because your statement will usually list your transaction under PayPal instead of the actual company name.
For example, you could lose points on travel purchases or bill payments if they come listed under PayPal rewards rather than a travel agency or a subscription service.
What purchases will earn me points through PayPal?
With most PayPal rewards credit cards, you’ll earn points when you buy clothes, mobile devices, makeup, music or for any other retail purchases. You may not earn credit card PayPal rewards for purchases such as gambling transactions, foreign currency purchases, gift cards and any other transactions that may be processed as cash advances.
More difficult to track purchases using your credit card statement
May cause you to lose out on rewards for accelerated categories of spending
Should I link my credit card to PayPal?
You’ll need to link your credit card to PayPal if you want to use it to make purchases through PayPal. You won’t be able to load funds into your account or top up your account balance with a PayPal credit card.
Linking and confirming your PayPal credit card helps protect your account and increase security within the PayPal community. Confirming your PayPal credit card in Canada also makes it much harder for someone to carry out fraudulent transactions on your account.
How can I link a credit card to my PayPal account?
You can link your credit card to your PayPal account by following the steps below:
Log in to your PayPal account.
Click on Wallet at the top of the page.
Select “Link a card”.
Fill in your card details and follow the prompts to confirm your account.
Confirming your PayPal credit card in Canada
Once you’ve linked your account, you may notice a charge of around $2 on your credit card. This is a temporary authorization that PayPal uses to make sure your card is valid. The charge appears on your card statement with a 4-digit code and the word PAYPAL.
Once you get this code, you need to click on your PayPal wallet. You then select the PayPal credit card that needs to be confirmed and enter the 4-digit code when prompted. Once your account is confirmed, the charge will be refunded to you.
How can I remove a credit card from PayPal?
It’s fairly easy to remove a credit card from PayPal if it’s expired or you’d like to move it over to a different PayPal account. All you have to do is open your PayPal wallet, select the card you want to remove and click “Remove card”.
Just be aware that you may not be able to remove a card if you have a pending transaction or a negative balance on your account.
We've chosen the cards on this page based on the providers available through Finder. These cards are not representative of the entire market. Our top credit cards offer the following:
Attractive perks for a range of spending categories including dining deals, grocery discounts and travel rewards.
Welcome deals and promotional offers for new users.
Opportunities for cash back.
Competitive interset rates on purchases, cash advances and balance transfers.
No single card will be the best choice for everyone, so compare your options before picking your new card.
Bottom line
PayPal accepts major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express. You can link a credit card to your account to make payments directly, but you won’t be able to use your credit card to load funds into your PayPal account balance. Find out more about how you can link and confirm a PayPal credit card in Canada.
Yes. You can link a PayPal credit card to your account fairly easily. That said, you won’t be able to use a credit card to top up your PayPal account balance.
Yes. Linking your credit card to PayPal is very safe and can help to protect you against fraud when you make online credit card purchases. PayPal also offers industry-leading security mechanisms and high-level encryption to protect your personal and financial information.
You won’t be able to load money into your PayPal balance using a credit card. The only way you can pay on a credit card with PayPal is if you link your credit card to your account. To do so, you’ll need to get a confirmation code from PayPal to verify your card details.
No. You can only link a credit card to one PayPal account at a time. However, you can register several different cards to a single PayPal account.
You can link a PayPal American Express card to your account since this is an accepted type of credit card. Learn more about which PayPal American Express credit card may be the best fit for you.
Claire Horwood was a writer at Finder, specializing in credit cards, loans and other financial products. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies from the University of Victoria, and an Associate’s Degree in Science from Camosun College. Much of Claire’s coursework has focused on writing and statistics, with a healthy dose of social and cultural analysis mixed in for good measure. In her spare time, Claire enjoys rock climbing, travelling and drinking inordinate amounts of coffee. See full bio
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finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
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