Ever since we published our introductory post, other blogs have also started writing about it. At this point, you could basically say everyone is getting in on it. PayPal is obviously not a charity, so this will probably die sooner or later, or end up coding as a Cash Advance (CA).
In addition to the standard use cases covered in the original post, this article adds some notes, data points (DPs), and cautions on a few non-standard uses.
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PayPal Key BINs
There are at least two BINs: 520593 and 558158. Both are currently Debit cards. Also, 520593 appears to have broader acceptance. If you have 558158 and a bill payment does not go through, you may want to try replacing the card and see if you can get 520593, which may work in more places. (Note: this is KUKU’s personal test and may not be fully accurate.)
Spending limit and FTF
If your PayPal account is strong enough (used frequently and very active), you may be able to spend up to $10,000 per day. The foreign transaction fee (FTF) on non-U.S. transactions is 1.1%, which is not too high. For details, see PayPal’s official explanation.
Although the cap is fairly high, you should still be careful when pushing it too hard.
Transfers and cash reload-type transactions
The author tested many options, and almost all were declined by PayPal. Note that these were declined by PayPal itself, which suggests PayPal has proactively banned these merchant types. Examples include Serve, Venmo, cross-border transfers, remittance platforms, and virtual-card stacking. Even though you can add the PayPal Key Mastercard in those places, the final transaction will most likely still be declined by PayPal. Presumably PayPal already expected people to try this.
Decline rate for regular transactions
It is not surprising if these special techniques get declined. Here we are talking about ordinary merchants: as long as your PayPal account is very active, declines are rare. Of course, if you make repeated charges to the same merchant within a short period of time, later transactions may still be declined even if your account is active. International transactions also seem more likely to be declined.
Some DPs
Here is a summary of DPs from the WeChat reader group and the comments on the blog post.
Plastiq
After we published the article, many readers used Plastiq, and the checks were all mailed out on the first day after the holiday. Congrats to everyone who maxed out Discover’s 5% quarterly category and various minimum-spending bonuses with new cards (with a 1% fee).
Discover quarterly 5%
Quite a few readers also maxed out this quarter’s Discover 5% with PP Key + PQ, or PP Key + Google Play/Shopping, or PP Key + Amazon.
Reloading Amazon gift cards
If you do not have much spending to put on the card, you can use PayPal Key + Discover and the “Checking + Debit” method to reload Amazon gift cards directly. That gives you an extra 2%, for a total of 7% cash back. If you are reloading Amazon, the activity level of your Amazon account is very important. If the account is not very active, it is recommended not to exceed $1,000, and ideally keep it within $500. Of course, if your account is very active, a single $1,500 load may also be fine, though splitting it into multiple transactions is still recommended. Otherwise, it may trigger Amazon Fraud review.
Paying taxes
There are several fee structures. One especially attractive option is certain third-party tax payment service providers. For example, Payusatax charges only a $2.55 Convenience Fee per transaction, and then you can wait for the tax refund check.
Paying tuition (not PQ)
According to reader DPs from WeChat, some schools work and some do not. My personal suggestion is to try both BINs, 520593 and 558158. 520593 seems to work better. More DPs on paying tuition are welcome.
Paying rent (not PQ)
Many apartment complexes have their own payment systems. Debit card payment fees can vary a lot: some are as low as $3.95 per transaction (HT: WeChat reader Hongdie), some are $6.95 per transaction (HT: WeChat reader NXL), and some charge 3%–3.3% for any card.
Summary
- PayPal is not a charity. If you want to use this, do it sooner rather than later.
- If a charge does not go through, you can try changing to a different card BIN by deleting and reapplying, though it is also possible that all newly issued cards are now 558158.
- The activity level of your PayPal account matters a lot. Regular use can help. The more you use PayPal, the more money it makes, so everyone is happy.
- Transfers, remittances, and cash reload-type transactions are all easily declined. I have already tested many of them for everyone, so I do not recommend trying them yourself, to avoid drawing unwanted attention from PayPal.
- For non-standard merchant transactions such as taxes, rent, tuition, and PQ, remember to check the posted transaction information after it appears, in case it ends up coding as a CA.
If your PayPal account is not strong enough, abusing PayPal Key can get your account shut down. Think carefully about the pros and cons before doing large amounts of this. Feel free to join the discussion and share more DPs!