Using MasterCard Gift Card as Credit

[hannahbern]

I attempted to register my MasterCard brand Gift Card as a credit source on Paypal, and it was not recognized as a valid form of payment. However, when I view my card balance on the MasterCard site, it appears as though two $1.00 credit transaction payments were made to Paypal. What's up with this? Am I being charged merely for trying to register the card? This seems fraudulent, as no such charge is at any point indicated.

[TheGannet]

I have the exact same problem with american express prepaid giftcard

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi hannahbern and TheGannet, and welcome to the forums!

Stored value cards will frequently cause this issue. Financial credentials added to your PayPal account may be validated not just to ensure that they are a card number that exists, but also that identity and ownership can be verified. The dollar charge is to ensure that the card exists, but further verification can come up against a brick wall when there is no identity and address associated with the card.

The dollar you're seeing on the card is not a charge, it's an authorization. You may see the same thing in restaurants, gas stations, or anywhere that a card is being checked before purchase to determine if an actual transaction amount will be able to go through when made subsequently. Authorizations will typically time out in approximately 5 days, dependent upon your bank, or sometimes sooner when the actual purchase comes through afterward. Since there won't be a purchase in this case, you'll see the authorizations time out.

If you're looking for a way to use stored value cards with PayPal, consider the Green Dot MoneyPak. These cards are designed to be used with PayPal.

I hope this helps!

Olivia