PayPal+ debit card: 1% cashback and up to £420 a year in rewards

Okay, there is a new cashback card to tell you about and it comes from PayPal.

It is a debit card links to their new membership scheme, PayPal Plus. For most

of you, that debit card is going to be earning you 1% back on your purchases, which makes it one of the best cards out there right now. And in fact, there are ways once you've earned those points to increase the value of that cash back to

1.2, 1.3, if not 1.5%.

There are also extra perks and savings that some of you will be able to get assuming you spend enough on the card during the year. So, how does this work?

What is PayPal Plus? Uh, as I said, brand new scheme has launched in the middle of November. And it is completely free to join whether you're on the entry level, which is the blue tier, or you manage to move up to the gold or the

black tiers. There is no annual cost

black tiers. There is no annual cost associated with any of those. Now, most

of the time you're going to be able to earn these points, it's through using PayPal for your spending. There are a number of ways of doing this. There

obviously is this new PayPal debit card.

Now, this is the best way to use PayPal Plus. Uh when you do this, you'll get a

Plus. Uh when you do this, you'll get a point for every pound that you spend.

That's that 1% spending. Uh if you're using the card, which you can order a physical one via the PayPal app or uh using the one that links through to your Apple or Google Wallet via the app,

really simple. Just tapping it, you're

really simple. Just tapping it, you're spending it, and you get that full 1%.

At the moment, there's no virtual card, but I think that is coming at some point. And at the moment, I can't see uh

point. And at the moment, I can't see uh any way to actually access those card details on there. So, if the details if you need to enter your card details on, then you're going to be stuck for now, but hopefully that will will change.

But, broadly speaking, uh 1% back a great way to do this. Now, the other ways will get you a lot less, 0.1%. So,

if you use PayPal checkout, now this is the way most of us will probably usually usually use payout PayPal. uh you go to a retailer, lots of places will use it, some of them don't, but if you get the

option to pay by PayPal, you click on that, long as you've opted in to PayPal Plus, uh then you will get one point every10 that you spend. So that's 0.1%.

Equally, if you're using PayPal credit, so that could be a 0% finance they offer, it could be the paying three, you'll also get that 0.1%. So one point for every10 that you spend. Uh and

finally, the other way to earn points, what they call it always on. So these

things are not changing, they're not varying, they're always going to be on, is you get a point for every10 pounds you spend uh by sending money abroad via PayPal. So those ones, 0.1%. On the

PayPal. So those ones, 0.1%. On the

whole, probably not worth it. You want

to focus on uh that 1% back from the debit card. You have to order that as

debit card. You have to order that as part of your kind of signing up process.

Really simple to do it via the app.

There's no credit check. Uh you need to set your select your PIN as you do that.

Um but again, really simple to do that.

So, I would definitely suggest you go for that one as the main way to spend.

There is one uh little quirk here though that's worth pointing out to you right now because you can also use your PayPal debit card when you use PayPal checkout.

Now, that doesn't double up the cards available to you, but it is obviously a way for you to spend online right now if PayPal is accepted because again, there are no details to type in yourself. Now,

if you do this, um, if you don't have the full amount preloaded onto your PayPal account and it needs to access the money from your linked debit card or bank account, then

you get a mix of cash back rates. So,

let's give you an example. Let's say you want to buy something that costs £10.

You've got £5 of credit on your PayPal account. You go via PayPal checkout on

account. You go via PayPal checkout on this online website uh and use your PayPal PayPal debit card to pay. that

first £5 will be covered at that 1% rate. But then because it needs to add

rate. But then because it needs to add money from your connected card or your connected bank account, it then defaults to doing that via PayPal checkout, which means you default back down to that

0.1%. So if you are going to be do

0.1%. So if you are going to be do buying via PayPal checkout via your PayPal debit card, make sure you preload in advance how much you want to spend the cost of that particular item you're

going to shop with, okay? To get that full 1%. Bizarrely, this doesn't happen

full 1%. Bizarrely, this doesn't happen if you're out and about using the card and you're shopping with it physically or the Apple Pay, whatever it might be, and it's connecting is taking the balance from your connected card, you'll still get the full 1%. It's a bit weird.

You've got that quirk between them, but it's something really important to bear in mind if you're going down that route.

So, some good news as well is when you're earning these points is you will earn them on p partial spending as well.

So, you spend 40p, okay, with your debit card and that means uh you will get 0.4 four points, which is great because a lot of cards will only give it to the four pound. Sometimes it's a five pound,

four pound. Sometimes it's a five pound, it rounded up, whatever it might be.

This is partial and obviously you can't use those until you've got more partial points to take you over the full penny equivalent. But that is it means every

equivalent. But that is it means every penny you spend, you will be earning money back, which is great. So really

nice to see that. It's also really interesting this card is fee free to use uh overseas both for purchases and cash withdrawals. So, you'll be earning that

withdrawals. So, you'll be earning that 1% on your spending, holiday spending, which is probably making it one of the best holiday uh spending of broadcast right now as well. But these are not the only ways to earn some points. You can

also get additional offers which will vary from time to time. You'll find them in the app. It's probably worth turning on any email notifications as well, so any things that come along, you don't miss them if you're not regularly in that PayPal app to check them. So, there

are specific merchant offers. Haven't

seen any of these just yet, but you imagine it's going to be what we're already familiar with for the likes of American Express or the cash back deals sometimes linked to current accounts and other credit cards. So, uh, you know, get 15% off when you spend £100 at this

retailer. I imagine that's what it's

retailer. I imagine that's what it's roughly going to be like something like that, which if you want to shop with those particular brands and that's great news. Again, bit hit or miss, but if the

news. Again, bit hit or miss, but if the one's there when you need it, then that can be really good. You can earn points through refer a friend offers if they've not got a PayPal account at all right now. There's something called shopping

now. There's something called shopping challenge offers. Haven't seen any of

challenge offers. Haven't seen any of these yet. don't know what they are. I

these yet. don't know what they are. I

imagine they're going to be uh you know, shop at five different retailers in this particular month to earn x number of extra points or spend £1,000 this month to get an extra bonus, things like that.

But again, we haven't seen any of those just yet. There are also a couple of

just yet. There are also a couple of extra ways to earn points if you are on one of the higher tiers, those gold or black tiers. So, one of them is a

black tiers. So, one of them is a subscription cash back. Again, not a huge amount of details on this or which subscriptions count, how they kind of, you know, so imagine at some point they'll publish a list for which ones you can get this with, but I currently

pay for Spotify, for example, via PayPal. Um, if you are on the gold tier,

PayPal. Um, if you are on the gold tier, then you can uh earn up to £12.50 a month or £150 a year in points. Uh, and

if it's black members, then you can get uh capped at £1666 a month or 2000 a year back for paying with subscriptions.

Obviously, you'd need to spend a lot on those subscriptions to get that amount back, but that's really good to see a little extra there. Uh there's also something called Checkout Friday. Now,

check out Friday is the first Friday of every month. Again, only for gold and

every month. Again, only for gold and black tier uh members. And this is where if you basically spend £10 on uh as a gold member cumulatively, it doesn't be in one go. It could be across a number

of different things. Then you'll get a,000 points back, which is worth a tenner. Um but for black members that's

tenner. Um but for black members that's doubled to 20 uh back or 240 quid a year max. So you can see how if you are doing

max. So you can see how if you are doing take advantage of all of those things that for a free cashback card these are great little extras to have and really should hopefully rack up your points um

as the year uh goes on and your returns.

That is of course uh as we'll get to in a moment if you can qualify for those additional tiers. Uh something else

additional tiers. Uh something else worth talking about here is exclusions.

Now the terms and conditions on PayPal plus and on debit card in terms of this cash back are it's not an exhaustive list but they mention a few things. They

talk about domestic personal transactions, money transfers to and from third party providers or third party account funding activities, payments related to lotteryies, casinos, sports betting, fantasy sports, social

gaming or other forms of gambling, porn shops and dating services. So it does say this isn't a full list. So there

might be other things they do exclude.

It's a shame they haven't given that full list right now. It does say to contact PayPal to find out if something is going to be excluded or not. Uh,

interesting. It doesn't talk about some of the things that you often see excluded. It doesn't talk about uh

excluded. It doesn't talk about uh buying a car or paying a tax bill, things like that. Again, I imagine they would be excluded because they are everybody everywhere else, but again, doesn't say anything like that at the

moment. Um, so that's how you earn the

moment. Um, so that's how you earn the points. Um, and the extra savings you

points. Um, and the extra savings you can get from them. What are they worth?

As I said, it's worth 1% if you are on the blue tier and you're using your debit card. The gold tier, uh, this can,

debit card. The gold tier, uh, this can, uh, the redemptions when you've got your points and you use them to buy something, uh, you get a 20% boost. So

that 100 points rather than being worth1, it's now worth 120. Uh, if it's the black tier, there's a 30% boost. So

those 100 points are worth 130. Uh, and

this is kind of uh, you know, you would go to make a purchase uh, with PayPal and you would select pay with points and you could select how many you want to use and you can pay partially if you want to. So you can pay partly with

want to. So you can pay partly with points and partly with again whatever kind of funding you've got, whether it's a balance you've added to PayPal or one of your connected cards that are linked to or accounts linked to your PayPal

account. Now this increases again on

account. Now this increases again on gold and black to uh, 50% boost if you use it to uh, spend it on groceries, dining out or takeaways. So you get

effectively for 100 points you get 1 pound50. So ultimately if you've got

pound50. So ultimately if you've got these points and you're on gold or black the best way to spend them will be on on those kind of areas if you can of course um and that might be again kind of slightly limited and restricted there

because you have to be using the PayPal app to make that purchase. PayPal

checkout Facebook you can't obviously do it with the card and redeem them with the card. Uh these rates they've got are

the card. Uh these rates they've got are guaranteed until the end of 2026 at least. Um so uh that's good to know. It

least. Um so uh that's good to know. It

could obviously change after that, but this is a means it's going to be a good earner for at least another year and a bit. Of course, that's again talking

bit. Of course, that's again talking about the value of them. Uh if you are okay, the points are worth whatever they are, but the equivalent I gave you before of that kind of 1% back or 1.5% whatever it might be. Again, that is

assuming you're using a debit card.

Remember, it will be lower if you have also earned the points from uh the other kind of ways of doing it, the PayPal checkout or maybe some of the welcome bonuses somewhere in between. Now, to

qualify for those tiers with those extra uh valuations when you redeem your points or those extra ways to earn some money, you obviously have to spend and you have to spend a decent chunk. So,

you need to earn 25,000 points in a year to qualify for gold and you need 50,000 points to qualify for black. Now, that's

cumulative. So, if you earn 25, you don't have to end another 50 to hit black. It's 25 and then another 25,000

black. It's 25 and then another 25,000 on top of that. Um, now that is actually a lot of points to earn. If you are earning them at 0 point, you know, one point for every 10 pound that you spend,

it's going to take you a long time. In

fact, it would cost you 250 grand just to get yourself onto gold in a year, which is, let's face it, not going to happen. But if you are getting uh a

happen. But if you are getting uh a point for every pound that you spend, then it's a more achievable £25,000.

Now, that is still a lot of money. It's

just over two grand every single month that you'll need to be spending, which uh if you are transferring all of your spending across to PayPal's debit card, you hopefully will hit that. I imagine

just with things like groceries, transport, other bits that you purchase.

And since it's a master card, you're not going to fall into that problem where something isn't accepted. Although,

obviously, as we've discuss discussed already, you might find some online retailers, if you don't have the card details that you can type in yourself and it doesn't have a PayPal checkout, you might not be able to use that. But

most places, most people, I think you can do that and you can hit that total.

Uh to get the black version though, the black tier, that's 50 grand in a year.

That is a lot, four grand, more than four grand every single month. So I

think that's only going to be really, really high spend if you've got a really big purchase you want to make or potentially some of those other offers that will top this up that we don't know about right now. They might be ways to get earn you more points as you go

along. But if you are not using uh that

along. But if you are not using uh that debit card, as I say, you're never going to hit that. You know, 25,000 points in a year is 250 grand at one point for every 10 pound spent. So, uh that is,

you know, not going to happen at all.

Now, this qualification period uh lasts a calendar year. So, uh in a year, soon as you hit a tier, you will get it for the rest of that year and the rest of the following year. So, let's say you uh

manage to spend a lot of money for whatever reason by May 2026, you will stay at gold until uh the end of 2027.

Okay? So, it's not just a few months, the end of the year, you get it for a full year plus whatever's left of the year you earned it in. But every year, your points will reset. So, then you'll start earning for the year after that

and so on. Now this first year that is launching you'll actually uh earn in November and December 2025 will be part of that learn earning period for the whole of 2026 as well. So you got a bit

more time to uh reach those levels. Now

if you don't spend enough in a year um to continue at a higher tier level you will drop back down to blue. So again

there something that they want to keep you spending uh on with the PayPal uh plus in order to keep you getting those extra perks which again I think are pretty generous. They sound generous at

pretty generous. They sound generous at least to start off with. So, certainly

something to consider. Now, if you are thinking about moving all your money across to PayPal, uh, a couple of things to think about here. I wouldn't put too much of a balance on there straight away because your money isn't protected by

the financial services compensation scheme. So, only put small amounts along

scheme. So, only put small amounts along as you need to. I mean, this is how I operate with my trading 212 card right now. I'll put some money across um, and

now. I'll put some money across um, and then I'll top it up as I go along as I need more money on there. certainly

would be doing that with with PayPal in particular, but also you'll lose your section 75 protection if you are using this instead of a credit card. You'll

also lose your section 75 protection if you are linking uh you know with a lower rate, that 0.1% cash back, but you're using a cashback card for it um because PayPal breaks that um section 75, that

legal protection there. So you might not want to make all your purchases despite that higher cash back rate with the PayPal debit card or just PayPal itself.

You might want to be sticking to directly with your MX, your B card, whatever it might be. Equally, you might want to uh stick with those other cards if there's other benefits that come with those spending. Again, I'm thinking here

those spending. Again, I'm thinking here about those really boosted welcome offers you get from American Express.

Again, you can absolutely connect that to uh PayPal Plus and get that lower 0.1% because you earn your points you'll get from your MX card or whatever it might be plus that little bit extra. I

wouldn't necessarily want to swap it to the PayPal debit card because again that won't that will mean you're not spending enough in order to earn those trigger those bonuses. Similar if you're trying

those bonuses. Similar if you're trying to get a companion voucher from uh the uh British Airways uh American Express or the AIOS Barkley card or things like that, the Virgin one. So, you got to bear that in mind if you are going to

use this PayPal Plus. Do you want to actually get the higher rate with a debit card or are you wanting will that mean you'll miss out on other perks elsewhere? So, I know I've covered a lot

elsewhere? So, I know I've covered a lot there. Uh, couple other quick things to

there. Uh, couple other quick things to say. So, what's my take on it? Is it

say. So, what's my take on it? Is it

worth it? Definitely worth signing up for it. If you use PayPal anyway, you

for it. If you use PayPal anyway, you may as well earn these points even if it's just occasionally. They don't

expire unless you don't earn any points or use any points within three years. So

you could very easily every three years make sure you've got a note there to remind yourself just to buy something with PayPal to get another point and it would keep all the old ones live as well. There's no harm doing that at all.

well. There's no harm doing that at all.

I definitely think it's worth looking at that debit card as well to get 1% back uh home and abroad. Uh very very difficult to beat that right now. The

American Express Nectar card matches it, but there is a 30 annual fee with that.

Uh the Train 212 card uh sometimes is boosted to a higher 1.5%. The offer

right now is due to end this month in November. Now, that could be extended.

November. Now, that could be extended.

It's been extended a few times, but that does have that 15 pounds cap every single month. So, you're still only

single month. So, you're still only limited to earning at 1.5% on the first 1,000 you spend. So, this would be a great second card to have. And the other cards with 1% Chase, the Santander Edge Explorer, for example. Again, they're

capped every single month and they're limited to certain purchases, groceries, and some travel. So, for most of your spending, unless you are, I say, going for one of those big welcome offers uh that you get from AMX and such, uh this

is probably going to be one of the better ways to do most if not all of your spending. So, definitely worth

your spending. So, definitely worth thinking about that debit card. There

are a couple of exceptions here as well, potentially, not many, where you could get more by not using the debit card. Uh

the main one here probably is the John Lewis partnership credit card for spending at John Lewis online via PayPal checkout because you get 1.25% 25% back on your John Lewis purchases via that card because he knows you're shopping

with John Lewis because that's the way you're clicking through for them. Uh but

you also get that 0.1% on top. So that'

be an equivalent of 1.35%. But there

aren't many like that which are merchant specific which will give that higher boost above 1% um to combine them two together. The trading 212 card again

together. The trading 212 card again that 1.5% doing that via PayPal if you can do that will give you again 1.6%. So

obviously that's going to be higher. So,

there are going to be some exceptions, but on the whole for most people, this is probably the simplest way to go about it. And if you can get yourself onto

it. And if you can get yourself onto gold, if not black, um, then that also could potentially be worth another, you know, 100 200 quid a year, particularly

that Friday checkout thing. Uh, the

subscription thing could be really useful as well. So, certainly worth looking at that. Now, these ones, I should say, they won't actually start until January, but again, you've got to spend, say, 25K most likely to trigger that. So, it's going to be a while

that. So, it's going to be a while before you're getting to that uh in terms of earning that money from those ones. But, if you can get on to them, it

ones. But, if you can get on to them, it sounds for a free card like a really good extra. More information about this

good extra. More information about this card, my full review over at be cleverwithyoucashe.com.

cleverwithyoucashe.com.

My name's Andy Webb. Thank you so much for watching. Check out these videos

for watching. Check out these videos here for more ways to make the most of your money.