How can I make a credit card my primary funds source?

[dafydd]

I just purchased a product using PayPal; I expected to be sent to the PayPal site to pick which method of payment... but instead, the transaction simply completed without me seeing the PayPal screen at all.  It took the funds from my bank account, and I never had the opportunity to select a credit card instead.

I logged onto PayPal, clicked My Account -> Profile, then clicked My Money:  The screen shows my bank account, a credit card, and a debit card (all are correct); next to the bank account is the parenthetical label (primary).

I clicked on the Debit and credit cards update button, edited the credit card, and checked the Primary checkbox; but that didn't change the profile page, which still lists the bank account as (primary).  (I think the checkbox on the Debit and credit cards update screen just selects which of the cards is the primary card.)

I want the credit card to be the primary payment -- and I also want every purchase to take me to PayPal, so I can select whether to accept the primary funding source or else pick one of the others (bank account, debit card).  How do I do this?  I cannot find instructions in the Help tree.

Thanks,

Dafydd

[tgue]

OK, so where do I go to change the hierarchy?  I am now on credit card and want to make it pay pal balance-bank-credit card.  Can't figure out how to do this

tgue

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi tgue, and welcome to the forums!

The hierarchy cannot be changed. The hierarchy is the same for all accounts. You may change the funding method on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The default is balance - bank - card already. If you're talking about a specific billing agreement, you can find instructions for changing the funding source here.

Thank you for coming to the Community Forums to research your question!

Olivia

[Jozgrdn]

So if I have this right, forum moderator/volutneer, Paypal always takes from your bank account first. In other words, you have no option to use your credit card first. Wow, so that means my bank account balance has to be zero before my credit card is accessed for funding. Under this scenario, there is no real reason for me to expose myself to the possibility of hacking by listing that card as a funding source. I shall remove it. **bleep** you Paypal. 

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi Jozgrdn, and welcome to the forums!

That's not quite correct. Please allow me to clarify.

You can switch to your credit card as long as you do not have enough funds in your PayPal balance. You can do this for every single transaction, except in the rare circumstances where the card has been ruled out for that specific transaction by the security models. It just cannot be set as the default funding method.

PayPal has absolutely no idea how much money is in your bank account. The bank would be the first funding source presented as a default if there is no balance. If you proceed with the transaction using the default selection, then PayPal attempts to use that funding source to carry out the instructions that you gave us when clicking to complete the payment with those settings. The request will be sent to your bank for funds. If the bank reports insufficient funds, the request will be sent again a couple of days later. If it fails again, then the backup funding source is charged.

You always have the option to change the funding source for each individual payment. It is vital that you check your funding source on every payment because seller preferences and risk factors may cause certain funding methods to be unavailable for use on some transactions, even if they're the default method. Being certain of the funding method being used for each transaction is something that a buyer needs to make part of his or her checklist when checking out. Relying on the default is a practice that can lead to mistakenly using a funding source you did not intend to use.

[rg1]

I am responding to the statement about relying on a 'default payment' would result in using a funding source that you did not intend to use. I must disagree with you because I have one account that I use to purchase ALL my on-line products. That way I do not run the risk of overdrawing my primary checking account that my regular monthly expenses come out of.

Pay Pal should allow user to choose a 'primary' payment method just like eBay does. What's up with that? RG

[laytonio]

This is no longer true- I have the paypal credit account and the debit card, and lately papal has been hitting my bank account instead.  Can this be fixed?

[EWebPro]

You miss the point. People would like to change their funding hierarchy from, say,  Balance -> Bank -> Card  to Balance -> Card -> Bank. How can we do that, or should I ask, why can't we do that?

[MoxieWear]

Here was my situation - I wanted to use my credit card for personal purchases, and my bank account to deposit business income (from selling on Etsy or eBay) directly into my savings account.

After reading all of these posts - and that there really is no solution to this problem - I just created a second account for personal - and made my current account (which was already all set up for business purposes) my primary business (income) account.

There were no problems in setting the second account up - I did use a different credit card for the 2nd account to make sure that I don't accidentally get them mixed up - but it's all good now.

Maybe a consideration for others?

[SkipH]

This is total bull and It seems like no one at PayPal cares. I want to use my credit card most od the time but there is no option to do that now, only bill me later and bank transfer. No more using paypal for me until this is fixed.

[p5ycho29]

I just created an account, credit card only.  I have purchased 2 items. total 280 dollars. When I go to click payments, there is no credit card in the options at all.. just a link that says add a bank.  I am even a premier member as well.  Any ideas?