Transfer money from gift card to bank account paypal

  • You can add a gift card to your PayPal account to use as a payment method.
  • However, the gift card has to be a prepaid gift card from brands like Visa, American Express, MasterCard, or Discover in order to use it on PayPal.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One of the obvious perks of the holiday season is gift cards galore.

Prepaid gift cards sold by credit card companies are a particularly great gift, because you can put the balance toward just about anything — including your PayPal account.

And adding a gift card balance to your PayPal account might be a good idea if you often use PayPal. 

It's also a great way to eliminate the possibility of forfeiting your funds before you've even had a chance to splurge — a lot of us are prone to losing physical copies of things. 

Here's how to add a prepaid gift card from Visa, American Express, MasterCard, or Discover to your PayPal account.

How to add a gift card to PayPal

1. Go into your PayPal Wallet on a desktop computer.

You'll need a PayPal Cash or PayPal Cash Plus account to transfer money from a bank to your PayPal account, but anyone can add a prepaid credit card gift as a payment method, whether or not you've elected for one of the Cash services. Emma Witman/Business Insider

2. Click "Link a debit or credit card."

3. Tap "Link a card manually" if given the option to link manually or through a bank.

4. Enter the gift card information.

5. Tap "Link Card."

Once linked, you can select the prepaid card a default payment option if you'd like. Emma Witman/Business Insider

Sometimes, you might run into an error trying to add a gift card to your PayPal account as a payment method because gift cards lack personal identifiers, unlike traditionally-issued credit cards. 

If you run into this kind of trouble, register your gift card — there should be instructions on the card that will direct you to a website for registration.

Additionally, there are also ways to exchange non-credit card gift cards for money in your PayPal account, but the cost of the transaction is significant — usually a minimum of 10% of the value of the gift card.  

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

  • How to delete your PayPal account on your Mac or PC

  • How to link your PayPal account to your Twitch channel so viewers can donate to your page

  • How to check your PayPal balance on desktop or mobile

  • 'Does PayPal have fees?': Yes, but not for all transactions — here's how you can avoid fees on PayPal

Emma Witman is an Asheville, NC-based freelance journalist with a keen interest in writing about hardware, PC gaming, politics, and personal finance. She is a former crime reporter for a daily newspaper, and has also written extensively about bartending for Insider. She may or may not judge your drink order when behind the bar. Follow her on Twitter at @emwity.

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Hello everyone!

I just wanted to pop in and provide a little clarity here.

If you're adding a pre-paid card, you want to try to add it like a regular credit card, not send yourself money.

Why?

Well, for one, you can't pay yourself in PayPal.

For two, using a card to send yourself funds is actually a violation of your agreement with the card company, and is considered "cash advancing fraud." 

For your safety, please don't commit fraud or ask others to commit fraud. 

Thanks!

Adrian

Was my post helpful? If so, please give me a kudos!

Did my post solve the issue? If so, please accept it as a solution!

A gift card is a card that can be used to purchase at retail stores, restaurants, gas stations, and other specific locations. With these cards, money must be loaded before they can be used, and some allow you to transfer your balance to online platforms. For this reason, today, we will learn how to transfer your Visa Gift Card balance to PayPal.

In most cases, these cards can be reloaded for free, although there are some fees to purchase them. Some are reloadable, but the vast majority are useless once the funds are depleted.

So, if you want to know how to transfer the balance of a Visa Gift Card to PayPal, I invite you to read on carefully.

How can a gift card be purchased?

Gift cards can be purchased both online and in physical stores, and they usually come in different denominations. You can easily buy them with cash in a physical store, and you can even use your credit or debit card to pay for the transaction.

These cards are loaded electronically with the specified amount, allowing you to send those to someone else for them to use. One of the most accessible stores to buy gift cards from is Walmart. These cards can also be purchased online really easily and quickly. You can buy a tangible card or an electronic one to suit your needs.

How do you use gift cards?

These cards are simple to use, as they can be used at the store that issued them. However, some are tangible gift cards, which can be used to purchase products at different stores or even online.

Tangible gift cards can be used both online and in physical stores, and when you run out of funds, you can easily throw the card away. If the card is reloadable, you can keep it and reload it whenever you want.

PayPal is a money transfer platform that allows you to transfer money from one person to another. In addition, you can transfer the balance of a Visa Gift Card to your PayPal account to use it for different types of transactions.

To do this, you can link the gift card to your PayPal account so that the money can be added to the balance. The linking process is straightforward; follow these steps:

  • Log in to PayPal, either on the App or on the online version.
  • Go to the PayPal Wallet section.
  • Look for the option “Link a debit or credit card.”
  • Click on “Link a card manually.”
  • Enter the card information.
  • Select “Link Card.”

When the card has been successfully linked, you can add the balance to your PayPal account. Go to “add money to your account” and choose the gift card as the money source. This balance can be used to fund all your PayPal transactions.

Can I use PayPal to buy a gift card?

Some gift card merchants allow you to purchase gift cards through PayPal. You select the gift card you want to buy and use PayPal as your payment method to authorize the transaction.

Should you not have enough credit to make your transaction but you have a linked bank account or card, the money will be withdrawn from there. You must make sure that the gift card balance can be used on PayPal.

Is it possible to transfer money from PayPal to Cash App?

It is not possible to transfer money directly from PayPal to Cash App because the two platforms do not allow the transfer of funds between each other. However, there is an option to transfer the money from Cash App to a standard bank linked to PayPal and use it as a bridge to transfer the funds.

In order for you to do this process, both apps must be linked to the same bank account. This is a process that may take longer, but in the end, you will be able to transfer funds between the two platforms.

Can a Visa gift card be loaded with PayPal?

PayPal can be used to purchase a gift card, and some gift cards also support reloading through PayPal. However, you must ensure that the Visa card can be reloaded with PayPal, a bank account, or at a physical branch using cash.

You can also transfer money to a debit card instantly, the same way you transfer money to a bank account. In these cases, you can go through the same process than when transferring money to a bank account, but you must select a compatible Visa card instead.

Why is it beneficial to add your Visa gift card to PayPal?

Note that adding a Visa gift card to PayPal has many attractive benefits, such as:

  • You can pay for the items you purchase with your PayPal account by drawing the funds directly from the card. This makes it more secure and flexible than using the card, and you will be able to shop at any merchant that does not accept prepaid cards as payment.
  • You are able to move funds between PayPal and the prepaid card in a straightforward and fast way.
  • You can use PayPal as a hub to transfer the money from the Visa gift card to your bank account. This can be very useful if your bank does not support free transfers between your current account and the prepaid card.
  • You are able to send and receive money from your friends using your prepaid card as the source or destination of the funds. The funds can easily be moved to your card for you convenience.

There are many advantages to transferring funds from your Visa Gift Card to PayPal, especially as it is very versatile. This way, if you get such a cards as a gift, you can use it for any purchase you want.

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