Switching my default payment method

missdogmom
Contributor
Contributor

I was wondering if there is a way to switch the default account from which my payments are taken. After checking for a PayPal account balance, PayPal currently takes the money from my bank account, unless I manually change it to my credit card, which is what I always do. To eliminate these extra steps, I would like to set my credit card to be the default after any PayPal balance. Is there a way to do this?

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86 REPLIES 86

miskomacko
Contributor
Contributor

Neither of those links work.

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PayPal_Ashley
Moderator
Moderator

Hi @miskomacko

 

I apologize for the inconvenience. The links provided are to the US Help Center. Here are the instructions for setting a default funding source for purchases:

 

  1. Log in to your PayPal account.
  2. Click Wallet.
  3. Click the preferred funding method.
  4. Click Make this preferred when paying online.

 

And here's how to set a default funding source for preapproved payments:

 

  1. Log in to your PayPal account.
  2. Click the Settings icon next to "Log out."
  3. Click Payments.
  4. Click Manage pre-approved payments.
  5. Click the merchant whose agreement you want to change under "Merchant."
  6. Click Change next to "Backup Funding Source."
  7. Choose the payment method(s) for your pre-approved payment.
  8. Click Save at the bottom of the page. 

 

Not all countries may have the ability to set a preferred payment method for regular purchases, but all will be able to select preferred methods for preapproved payments. 

 

-Ashley


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miskomacko
Contributor
Contributor
Thanks for the explanation Ashley, at least now I know. But why does PayPal exclude this option for certain countries? Could it be that you withhold the option until national legislation demands it? I guess I'll be contacting my local consumer protection agency...
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JohnnyCanuck1
Member
Member

" I guess I'll be contacting my local consumer protection agency... "

I think you should. As I said in another post I had already gone through this last year and yet it was changed back to my bank account without my knowledge (until a recurring payment came through). If you check other websites this issue has apparently had a long history of complaints which include options silently being reset and PayPal clearly making it difficult to find the option itself.

 

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ginandtonic4114
Contributor
Contributor

I think I found another option, which has worked for me anyway :

 

I live in Europe, on my Paypal account there is no option for "Make this preferred when paying online".

Also, I cannot remove my bank account at the moment because there is a pending transaction, which can take 10 to 14 days to clear.

 

I solved the problem by logging into the classic Paypal site (thank you DRLx2):

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_profile-ach&nav=0.6.6

 

and disabling the direct debit authorisation (you can re-activate it anytime), so that now all Paypal payments default to my credit card...

 

 

 

 

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markbotond
Contributor
Contributor

I was happy to see the post but when I clicked the link it ended up with this text:
We're sorry, the page you're looking for is no longer available. Please try your search again in our Help Center if you have a question or want to contact us.

So I am afraid that this issue is the sacred cow... 😞

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JohnnyCanuck1
Member
Member

I had already gone through this last year and yet it was changed back to my bank account without my knowledge (until a recurring payment came through). If you check other websites this issue has apparently had a long history of complaints which include options silently being reset and making it difficult to find the option itself.

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