PayPal Rewards Card review

• Earn 50,000 bonus points to get you started (spend & approval criteria applies).
• Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on eligible transactions, uncapped.
• Spend your rewards points when you checkout with Paypal to reduce your shopping cart costs or pay off eligible transactions later in your PayPal Rewards Card account using your points.
• No annual fee for the life of the card.

Online payments giant PayPal has moved into the credit card arena in Australia with a rewards card that offers online shoppers 50,000 rewards points just for signing up.

The online shopping credit card for the ecommerce age, the PayPal Rewards Credit Card gives the opportunity to earn a new currency of rewards points. Plus you can spend your PayPal Rewards points at over 750,000 eligible PayPal businesses worldwide. Or after you’ve bought something using the card (regardless of whether you checked out using PayPal) you can select eligible transactions later in your PayPal Rewards Card account and pay it down using your points. There’s the comfort of knowing the card has no annual fee - and no monthly account fee either.

50,000 bonus reward points

If you sign up for the PayPal Rewards Credit Card and spend at least $3,000 within the first 3 months of getting your card, you get 50,000 bonus reward points worth $250 to spend at more than 750,000 eligible businesses both in Australia and overseas.

Uncapped rewards points with no time limit

You don’t have to worry about a limit being placed on the number of rewards points you can earn, simply because there is no cap. Every $1 you spend on eligible transactions will earn you 1 reward point. (Going on the bonus offer above, a reward point is worth 0.5 cents). As well, your points won’t expire.

No credit card fee

Plenty of other credit cards hit you with an annual fee and it’s not a nice feeling to cop that fee when you might least expect it. That’s not a concern with the PayPal Rewards Credit Card as it’s completely annual-fee free.

Use your points to buy things/reduce your repayment balance

Once you’ve enough bonus points, you can use them to make purchases from more than 750,000 participating businesses in Australia and overseas. When you go to the PayPal Checkout, you’ll be able to see how many points you have available. You can also reduce your repayment balance using your reward points in the form of a statement credit.

Chance to save money via a balance transfer

Want to save money on credit card interest through a balance transfer?

That’s another feature of the PayPal Rewards Credit Card. You can transfer up to 80% of your PayPal credit card limit from your other card or cards and enjoy 20 months interest-free to pay it off.

If could save you a heap of money. Once the 20 month interest-free period is over it will revert to the cash-advance interest rate of 21.74% p.a As well, any purchases you make when you have a balance transfer will attract interest straight away - you don’t have a 55-day interest-free period. Another thing to keep in mind is balance transfers don’t earn reward points.

Avoid steep interest rates

You wouldn’t call the PayPal Rewards Credit Card a ‘low rate’ card. Its interest rate on purchases is 20.99% while cash advances are slugged at a rate of 21.74%.

However, the card does offer a 55-day interest-free period as long as you pay off your closing balance each month.

This gives you the chance to use the credit card in the same way as Buy Now Pay Later, but without any upfront payment.

It’s perhaps not as generous as PayPal Credit, which lets you pay off purchases over $99 interest-free if you repay the full amount within 6 months, but it’s still a valuable feature.

Instalment options

In a step towards making credit cards more like Afterpay, Klarna and Zip, this credit card from PayPal offers three different instalment payment plans; for purchases, statements and cash withdrawals so you can pay off the amount over a set period of time at a fixed rate.

Visa Zero Liability

Visa Zero Liability protection means if there’s a fraudulent charge or unauthorised transaction made on your card, you won’t be held responsible for it. So you can shop with confidence using your card at literally millions of merchants worldwide.

Are you eligible to apply?

The card is issued by Citi for PayPal. In order to apply for the PayPal Rewards credit card, you’ll need to:

• Be aged 18 or over
• Be a permanent Australian resident
• Earn at least $35,000 a year
• Have an Australian mobile phone number
• Have a valid email address
• Have or will open a personal PayPal account

PayPal Rewards Card vs Afterpay

The PayPal Rewards Card is a traditional card by all measures, with a few twists and extra benefits. Compared to buy now pay later options (Afterpay, Zip, Klarna) you’ll need to apply and be approved which includes a quick assessment of your credit score, income and credit borrowing capacity. There’s an open ended credit limit of up to $4,000 which you can spend anywhere Visa is accepted. Repayments are monthly. There’s up to 55 days (7.4 weeks) interest free on retail purchases and 20.99% p.a. on any balances you roll over from month to month.

Whereas with Afterpay, is a simpler proposition and you’re kept on a shorter lease! It’s harder to rack up big debts. Practically anyone can get approved without a check of your credit score, you can only use Afterpay where Afterpay is accepted. You’re only able to spend up to $1,000, there’s never any interest ever and repayments are done in 4 instalments over 6 weeks.

Similar credit cards to consider

The key features of this card are that it’s a rewards card with no annual fee. Keeping that in mind, what other cards are out there that offer similar features. Cards operating in a similar orbit include:

• Coles Rewards Mastercard, which offers 40,000 Flybuy points or $200 off a Coles shop if you spend $1500 on eligible purchases within the first two months of getting the card. This card has no fee for the first year and a fee of $99 a year after that.
• Qantas American Express Discovery Card, which offers 10,000 bonus Qantas Points if you spend $750 within the first 3 months. This card has no fee for the life of the card.

Why the PayPal Rewards Credit Card may suit you

If you’re someone who likes to shop online, especially if you use PayPal to checkout when making purchases, this fee-free card gives you another payment option while giving you the chance to earn reward points which you can use to buy things and also to reduce your credit card statement. For those reasons, it could make a lot of sense to consider it.