Question regarding prepaid debit cards...

[jaglet]

If I purchase a prepaid visa or mastercard debit card, like say from Wal-Mart or another retailer, will I be able to add that card to my paypal account and transfer a balance from my paypal account to that prepaid debit card? Any help would be appreciated.

[snowshoe · Accepted solution]

This is what you can do with the funds:

* Leave the money in your Account Balance.

* Withdraw it to your Bank Account (free)

* Request a paper check (there's a fee to process the check and can only be delivered to a physical street address - no PO Box)

* Withdraw at an ATM using a PayPal Mastercard Debit Card (fees apply).

* Transfer the funds to a Walmart Money Card.

What you cannot do is withdraw to a credit or debit card with the exception to what was stated above.

[jaglet]

Thank you so much for your assistance this was a big help to me!

[tennvolsfan78]

Hello..i also bought a prepaid walmart master card..sed greendot on it.. Put money on it..activated it..then when i tried to transfer funds to my paypal acct.,it woodnt let me without linking a bank as well..routing number acct number ect..well how in the **bleep** can i giv a routing number and acct number on a prepaid mastercard? ..theres none ..the card just has the card number..3digit code..and exp date..i tried to use the card number but it wouldnt work..this is becoming more of a headache than ever expected..can u help?

[jaglet]

I had the same concerns BEFORE I purchased that Walmart VISA debit card. I reviewed Paypal's policy AND I called them AND sought advice here in this forum. They rep read their posted policy to me over the phone that I had already reviewed myself. You are led to believe ANY debit card with the Visa logo is valid. The policy does not state it has to be linked to a bank account. After I was unable to transfer funds to my Walmart Visa Debit card I called Paypal again for assistance and went through 2 reps who couldn't understand why I wasn't able to, then they transfered me to a supervisor who was confused as well. The rep finally asked me what the "point of origin" was for the card and I told her I purchased it from Walmart and went through the process of activating and confirming it via Paypal with no issues. She said well that is the problem, it wasn't obtained through Paypal. I read the policy back to her and told her NOWHERE does it state that the card has to be issued through Paypal. That is a serious flaw in their policy and as long as they have been around I fail to believe they haven't encountered this issue time and again to the point they couldn't accurately update their policy and make it clear. So basically the only way to transfer funds to a Visa/Mastercard debit card WITHOUT it being linked to a bank account is if it is issued through Paypal. If you purchase/obtain a Visa/Mastercard Debit card through any other means you must link it to a bank account to be able to transfer funds to that card. That's an easy thing for them to do to update their policy to clearly indicate that. It's a disservice to customers to not be clear and delays or prevents Paypal customers from being able to access their funds. Your other choices to be able to retrieve your funds are to apply for a card through Paypal and hope you are approved, but the process will delay access to your funds even if you are. I should also mention that each rep I spoke to offered to e-mail me information to be able to apply (which I had already done anyway) but I never received any of that info. My e-mail is valid and linked to my Paypal and I receive all the other spam from them and I checked just in case to make sure it didn't get sent anywhere else. Another option would be to have them send you a check for your available funds, which there is a small fee for plus the delay in processing and having it mailed to you. One other option is IF you have a trusted friend or family member who has a Paypal account that IS LINKED to their bank account, you can send them the funds using the option that you are sending money to a friend or family member (not payment for goods or services) and then have them make a withdrawal and hand over the money to you once it is in their bank account. It's an awful lot of red tape to go through to retrive funds that you may have worked hard for, only to find out you don't have access to those funds. Their policies are designed for our protection (as well as theirs) but Paypal seriously needs to revise the wording of their policies and make sure their reps are informed so we are provided the proper information in the beginning and every step of the way, not through a research/discovery process that requires hours/days of e-mails/phone calls only to find out you can't access your funds without anohter lengthy process.

[GaHuskies4sale]

I don't know about the Greendot card, but with a Rushcard you can ask customer service or online help to provide a routing number and account number that acts as the bank information needed.  You can get a Rush card online (Rushcard.com)