PayPal launches its first cash-back credit card called PayPal Cashback MasterCard in the U.S. exclusively for PayPal members in a effort to increase usage in online and physical stores.
The card will be issued by Stamford-based Synchrony Bank, which has partnered with PayPal since 2004.
The card offers 2% cash back on all purchases, with no annual fees. Other benefits include: no redemption minimums or limits on how to use rewards, no expiration on cash rewards, no restrictions on purchase types. Further, all MasterCard benefits such as extended warranty coverage, purchase protection and identity theft resolution assistance also apply.
PayPal members can apply for the card, which downloads to their PayPal wallet upon approval. This way the customer can use the digital version while they wait for the physical one to arrive.
The decision to issue a cashback rewards card is likely PayPal’s attempt to entice its 201 million users to increase their usage of the payment services at point-of-sale purchases both online, but particularly in brick and mortar stores, as people are increasingly turning to payment apps such as Apple Pay for these types of purchases.
Over the past year, San Jose-based PayPal has pursued a series of partnerships under the leadership of CEO Dan Schulman. Most notable are its partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, Citi, FIS, and Discover. Just last month, PayPal partnered with Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. So now Citibank and JPMorgan Chase customers can now link their cards to PayPal via mobile, allowing customers of both banks to add cards before paying online and in-store via the PayPal mobile wallet.
PayPal, which trades on Nasdaq under the symbol PYPL, has a market capitalization of $70.77 Billion.