PayPal Debit Card Tips

Cash Benefits
When you get your debit card, sign up for PayPal's Preferred Rewards program. This program provides one percent cash back when you use a credit option rather than entering your PIN number to pay for purchases. Consider adding your bank checking or savings account as a free back-up funding option to ensure you can still use your card even if you do not have sufficient funds to pay for a purchase.
Student Cards
The PayPal debit card carries the option to apply for a student card for your child. If the child lives away from home or attends college, this is an easy and instant way to transfer money from your PayPal account to your child. Another feature allows you to monitor how your child is spending the money you send by allowing you access to his transaction summary. Except for an ATM fee, there are no fees for setting up or using a student debit card account.
Cautions
If you use your debit card to pay for gas, pay inside rather than at the pump. Using your card at the pump may be convenient, but a process called pre-authorization can tie up funds for up to five days. Pre-authorization is a way PayPal verifies you have money in account to pay for a gas purchase, but clearing the pre-authorization charge does not happen immediately. Understand that if you use your PayPal debit card at an ATM or in an over the counter transaction at your bank, PayPal will charge additional fees. As of 2011, the ATM fee is $1 per transaction and using your card to get cash at a bank will cost $3 per transaction.
Considerations
Pay attention to PayPal debit card spending limits to avoid a decline of your purchase or ATM request. As of 2011, PayPal places a daily spending limit of $3,000 and ATM limit of $400 on debit card transactions. Make sure that if you move, you update profile information. When your PayPal card comes close to its expiration date, PayPal will automatically send you a new card to the address in your account profile. If your address is incorrect, the post office will not use a forwarding address, but rather will send the card back to PayPal.