If I Use My Credit Card Through PayPal, Can I Still Earn Bonus Points?

 It’s easy to link your favorite rewards credit card to your PayPal account and shop online. The benefits are you don’t have to share card details with every retailer you buy from, and you don’t have to repeatedly type in your card’s information. But by paying that way, are you leaving valuable credit card rewards or bonus points on the table?

Probably not. In most cases, you still earn rewards when you pay with your linked credit card through PayPal. But we’ll explain how it works so you can be sure to get every reward you earn.

What Allows You to Earn Points On Purchases?

Businesses that accept electronic payments—both credit cards and PayPal—have a four-digit merchant category code, or MCC, that identifies the type of business. Shoe stores have a merchant category code of 5661, for example. 

This MCC, determined by card brands like Visa and Mastercard, is associated with each credit card transaction and allows credit card issuers to determine which purchases, like dining or travel purchases, should receive bonus rewards. 

PayPal says on its website: “Just link your credit cards to PayPal and you can keep earning those awards with every purchase.”1 But you may be wondering if purchases made with a linked card only identify PayPal on your credit card statement, or if they will also include the purchase category—so your card issuer knows to give you rewards.

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