PayPal
PayPal is a fintech wallet issued on Mastercard, rated 7.1/10 in our latest review. Below: what it costs and what it demands, the tiers the issuer publishes, and how the card cleared our live checkouts.
PayPal is the strongest fit for streaming and app store / play, and asks for ID + proof at signup — we carry it at low risk. Treat the fee rows as the deciding factor: a card that clears reliably but charges on every top-up costs more than its rating suggests.
Profile
| Issuer / category | PayPal · Fintech Wallet |
| Official site | https://paypal.com |
| Best for | Streaming · App Store / Play |
| Network | Mastercard |
| Rating | 7.1/10 (3.5★, 124 data points) |
| Data quality | verified |
Costs and fees
| Card creation fee | Free |
| Monthly / annual fee | Free |
| Top-up (deposit) fee | Not applicable |
| Minimum deposit | Not applicable |
| FX / conversion fee | Cross-border ~2.5-4% |
| Declined transaction fee | Not applicable |
Verification and risk
| KYC required | Yes |
| Risk level | Low |
| AVS check | Yes (US AVS) |
| 3-D Secure | Yes |
Funding and limits
| Crypto top-up | Yes (US region partial) |
| Bank transfer | Yes |
| Alipay / WeChat Pay | No |
| Cards per account | PayPal Key discontinued |
Billing
| Billing address | US General |
| Billing country | United States |
Platform compatibility
| ChatGPT | No |
| Claude | No |
| Midjourney | No |
| Netflix / Spotify | Yes (partial) |
| App Store / Google Play | Yes |
| Meta / Google Ads | No |
What the issuer states on its own site
- Allow your customers to pay from 200+ markets in 130+ currencies on major eCommerce platforms.
- Boost growth by accepting payments in 130+ currencies from 200+ markets.
Source: https://paypal.com.
How it performed in our tests
| BIN range | Network | Issuing country | Type | Charges | Cleared | Clear rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 546293 | Mastercard | United States | Debit | 150 | 107 | 71.3% |
We logged 107 cleared charges out of 150 attempts on 1 documented range for this brand. Counts include renewals, not just first charges.
Where to go next
Checkout guides built around this card
Category guides
Issuing country
Other Mastercard virtual cards
Head-to-head comparisons
6 comparison pages use this brand as one side.
Frequently asked
What does PayPal cost to run?
The cost lines stack like this: issuing the card is free; there is no monthly fee on the entry tier; top-ups cost Not applicable; conversion is priced at Cross-border ~2.5-4%; you need Not applicable to get going. Cash-out costs are what compound here, so weigh the recurring lines above the one-off fee.
Do I need to verify my identity for PayPal?
PayPal asks for ID + proof at signup. The check runs once when the account opens, not on each charge, and the issuer's own wording is: Yes
How can I fund PayPal?
You can fund it with crypto (US region partial), bank transfer. Pick the one you can top up cheaply and repeatedly, because the load fee is charged every time.
Which billing address does PayPal need?
Setting it up: the billing address type is US General; cards are issued against United States; an AVS check is applied. Copy the address the issuer generates rather than retyping it. A transposed digit is the most common reason a working range starts failing.
Does PayPal work for subscriptions and AI tools?
We recorded successful charges for Netflix and Spotify, the App Store and Google Play. Where a card passes on one merchant and fails on another, the difference is usually the processor and the 3-D Secure setting rather than the card itself.
Will PayPal trigger 3-D Secure?
Yes. PayPal supports 3-D Secure, so expect a step-up prompt on larger or first-time charges. An OTP you can complete is fine; a challenge that never arrives is what kills the order, so keep the issuer app open at checkout.
How many cards can I open with PayPal?
The issuer allows PayPal Key discontinued. Multiple numbers under one account is the practical pattern here: one per merchant, so a single block does not take the rest of your billing down with it.
How VCCFinder tests
VCCFinder buys cards at retail and charges them on live checkouts, then publishes the clear rate and decline reasons next to each range. Where a card declined, the reason sits on its BIN page rather than in a footnote here.
Related virtual card searches
Looking for a PayPal virtual card number for online purchases, or a virtual debit card for PayPal? We cover PayPal virtual cards, temporary PayPal cards, how to get a virtual PayPal card, and using a virtual card with PayPal.