Preferred way to pay

[TonyT666]

Hi,

   I have several recurring transactions in my account. Normally these are charged to my credit card. But recently I received a gift money transfer from my family. Then what happened, instead of the recurring payments using the credit card as it always had, it used my available Paypal funds. I would have preferred to have used that money for a gift for myself. I checked my preferred way to pay setting in my account and it's set to my credit card. How can I make sure that when I receive money again it won't use that to pay my bills?

Thanks,

Tony

[sharpiemarker]

@TonyT666 

The preferred payment method settings does not apply and is separate from your recurring or automatic payments settings which uses your balance first as per https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/how-do-i-set-a-card-as-a-preferred-payment-method-help821.

You can confirm this by going into the merchant profile in the recurring or automatic payment settings: What is an automatic payment and how do I update or cancel one?

In the Payment Method section you’ll see the text, “We’ll use your balance first. Then we'll use:” just above your funding source.

You’ll have to spend it right away, withdraw it, or move it into your PayPal Saving account temporarily until you’re ready to spend it.