Update: DEAD! Don’t miss it if this becomes alive again. Sign up for deal notification alerts here!
Paypal Key is a virtual card number that you can assign to any credit card in your Paypal account. There are no fees or hard credit pulls needed to get it.
You can use the Paypal Key card number just like any other credit card online.
I assigned one of our 6 Chase Freedom cards to a Paypal Key and then reloaded 50 cents to my Amazon account with the Paypal Key virtual card number to see if the transaction would qualify for 5 points per dollar with Q4 spending on Paypal and Walmart.
Sure enough, it earned the Paypal bonus:
That means you can earn this month’s quarterly bonus with spending anywhere online with your Paypal Key virtual card number!
Chase Freedom Flex and Freedom are excellent no annual fee cards thanks to their quarterly 5% categories. You can read about the differences between those cards here. While the rewards are marketed as 5% cash back, you’ll actually get 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent which can be worth much more than 5% cash.
If you max out the $1,500 in bonus spending per quarter you will earn at least 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points over the course of a year (7,500 points per quarter at 5 points per dollar spent). My wife and I have 6 Freedom cards, which makes it all the more lucrative!
You can now start spending on the Chase Freedom Q4 5% categories.
You must register here for 2020 Q4 spending which is valid 10/1-12/31 at:
- Walmart and Walmart.com, including gift cards sold for other stores.
- Paypal, including purchases, charity, or payments.
- All purchases made with a Paypal Key virtual card number.
You can currently earn a $200 signup bonus in the form of 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points for spending $500 on the Freedom Flex Mastercard. You’ll also earn 5 points per dollar on up to $12,000 of grocery spending in your first year, so you can earn another 60,000 points on your grocery spending! Plus you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on drugstore and dining purchases and 5 points per dollar on all Travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. Read more about the Freedom Flex card here.
While Chase Freedom Flex is a great card for the bonus categories, it’s not a great card for everyday spending. However the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card also has no annual fee and the same signup bonus, plus it’s excellent for everyday spending thanks to 1.5 points per dollar that can be earned everywhere with no limit, though it doesn’t have rotating 5x categories! Read more about the Freedom Unlimited card here.
The no annual fee business version of Freedom Unlimited is the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card Card, which offers $500 in the form of 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 within 3 months plus 1.5 points per dollar spent. Read more about the Ink Unlimited card here.
Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink Unlimited alone can’t transfer points into much more lucrative airline or hotel miles, but if you or your spouse has an Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or card then you can transfer points from Freedom to one of those cards and from there to your favorite travel currency. Those cards also allow you to redeem your points for paid travel or other select consumer categories and business categories at a value of 1.25 or 1.5 cents per point. The Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, or Ink Unlimited card can also keep your points alive for free if you do close one of those premium cards.
The value of the points will be based on where you use them, but if you use those points for a trip worth where they are worth 2 cents each then you’ll have effectively earned 10% back on those “5 point categories.” The sky is the limit of the value of airline miles as they aren’t tied to the cost of a ticket. That’s good for people in the know and bad for those who are not. 1 mile can be worth 0.25 cents or it can be worth 25 cents, it all just depends on how you use them!
Where will you make your Q4 purchases?
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69 Comments On "Use Paypal Key To Earn 5x Points Everywhere With Freedom/Freedom Flex This Quarter!"
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Brilliant! Thanks!
Interesting how they gave you 2x on the 0.50 reload
If you wanna do 3,000 0.50 reloads, you’ll actually end up with 9,000 points instead of 7,500 for the quarter
Right, that’s standard rounding.
But you’re much better off with Rewards+ which rounds up to 10 points per $0.50 reload.
https://www.dansdeals.com/credit-cards/earn-60000-thankyou-points-citi-premier-card-terrific-citi-trifecta/
Only 9 points you don’t get the poin for the actual transaction if its less then a dollar
Yes! I saw this and set it up when I set my freedom flex as my primary card for PayPal.
Is this paypal key option for the 5%, part of the up to $1500 in spending?
Or is it unlimited %5 cash back.
Yes, it’s the $1,500 (per card) of Q4 bonus spending.
is it considered a debit or credit card? my son’s yeshiva allows me to pay tuition via debit card for no additional fee (unlike a credit card that’s +3%).
It’s processed as a MC debit card, are you able to pay them online?
no. fill out a paper form the old fashioned way.
Might be able to use Plastiq, and have them mail a paper check to yeshiva.
Can’t he just give the Yeshiva the PayPal Key card number, and they can run it?
I don’t shop very often at Amazon, so I’m not sure how to take advantage of the Paypal Key. I mostly shop at Costco and Walmart
Do what I just did – buy Costco gift cards online with this PayPal MasterCard.
You can use this at any place that takes a credit card. Heck I may even pay tuition or property tax with this. They charge high fees (2.5%+) but if not maxing out all 4 of my Freedoms it would be worth it to max out at 5x points which is 7.5% since I have the Sapphire Reserve.
I think you’d pay far less fees just buying VGC at WalMart, no? Just 1% on a $500 VGC.
Yes but then I’d be stuck with a VGC which would cost 2.5% for me to use for my tuition or property tax bill.
i dont get it. whats the advantage of using a PPK funded by your freedom card vs. paying straight on your freedom?
Q4 bonus for Freedom is 5% – for Paypal purchases
If you use this method, you’ll get 5% cash back on all online purchases, instead of just 1%.
now i understand. thanks
If I get the PayPal debit card, and use it in grocery stores and Costco, will I get the 5% cashback? Can I load funds or pay off the debit card with my Freedom card?
Ya, I thought about this when doing Amazon didn’t think it would lead to DansDeals
Trick dead in 4..3..2..
Come on man don’t talk about this stuff so openly. You know it’s a loophole and they are watching
how’s it a loophole?
This has been covered by others for a good month already. Dan covering it won’t be the reason why it dies.
Hmmm I wonder if you can add the PPK number to samsung pay wallet to use in store…
Terms specifically exclude mobile wallets
No, if you have a cashier that will manually enter it , that has worked for some based on DP on DoC.
I just called in an advance dinner delivery order and gave them my PPK “card” number. It is showing as pending. I think the only time you’ll have a problem is where they need a physical card.
Thanks for sharing!!
Anyone else not seeing all of their Freedom cards show up as an option when setting it up? (on the screen that says “Choose how you’ll pay with your PayPal Key”) One of my Freedom cards shows up but another doesn’t.
It lets you add another card.
Thanks. That did the trick. Odd, because the card was already in my wallet (and was my default / primary payment method for regular PayPal transactions).
Anyone know if this will stack with chase offers? For example 10% at Lowe’s etc ..
No, it would code as a PayPal purchase, not a store purchase. So it won’t stack.
I tried loading my Paypal Key on to my apply pay and google pay, but wouldn’t work. Anyone else have success?
Someone else said that “terms specifically exclude mobile wallets.”
I did all my Amazon prime day shopping with pay pal key and my freedom. Unfortunately, Google pay and apple pay will not let you set the card up as a touchless payment method. If they did, then all my groceries would be covered too
As an alternative, if the grocery store you purchase from has gift cards available online, you can try buying from them. Example — Amazon sells Albertsons (Safeway/Vons, etc.) giftcards. Buy those gift cards, then use it at the grocery store.
Just tried my Paypal Key on https://www.payusatax.com/ for federal taxes. The key is coded as a debit card so the fee is a flat $2.55 for using it as opposed to 1.96% for credit card/Paypal! Thanks Dan!
Great idea!!
Is paypal key and one time card number or I can use the same number for recurring charges assuming i load enough money onto it?
Hey, Dan! You can get up to 7% back on Amazon by using your PayPal key to reload your Amazon balance. All debit card reloads on Amazon get 2% rewards. 2% for Amazon debit reload and 5% for PayPal stacks as 7% overall on Amazon.
Really nice thanks!!!!
To bed doesn’t work with Apple Pay just tried
What’s the advantage of this over just paying with paypal?
It works for vendors that don’t take Paypal.
I’m getting an error on both my pp and dw….
So does this work anywhere even in store if i give them my paypal key number? grocery? tuition? tzedaka collectors…
It worked for me punching in the numbers in a local store… Showed up as a PayPal transaction now I’ll just wait and see how the points post
Get 5% from PayPal Key with Freedom + 2% from Amazon when reloading Amazon gift card balance as a debit card!
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=119582.msg22349943#msg2349943
not working for me on amazon. I am getting 1% back right now
Have to register for debit reload to get the 2%
I maxed out on my freedom $1500 already. If I use pp key with my reserve to buy tickets will I get travel protection? 3 x travel points?
How can I view the 5/: back I accrued on the card?
Will i still get perks on my Freedom if i do this? Perks like extended warranty etc
Did this stop working for https://www.payusatax.com/ ?
Any other way to pay Fed or State Tax?
My paypal account says paypal key is not yet available to my account. Any way around this? Is it because its a business account?
Me too: Coming soon. You discovered the PayPal Key, a new way to use PayPal anywhere online. It’ll be available soon. Check back later in the app and on our website.
Exact same message here. Personal account here
I also have the same issue, and my account with paypal is personal, not business
I am having the same issue on two PayPal accounts. One is a business account and the other personal. None of them have the PayPal key available.
I’m using my freedom card to charge – transactions coming up as paypal and then the other website name but no bonus – even if quarter bonus category is active. any clue why? would it help to call? i just see 1pt/dollar