Paypal confuses me

[Sparkle Pony]

I just linked a prepaid debit card to my account, but it didn't add anything to my balance.  I'm pretty sure it is supposed to do that, but now I'm all paranoid that it won't work when I go to make a purchase! It seems weird to me that Paypal is so confusing when it is such a big business site, some things even said you couldn't link prepaid cards at all.  I swear, I did this before with no problems, but now everything just confuses me.  Got any Paypal horror stories yourself?

[banditpony]

If you have concerns, you should call and ask support if your card is set up correctly and how it works. You shouldn't feel paranoid, so ask paypal for clarification.

Linking a card isn't the same as adding funds. (Although I've never used a prepaid card, so maybe that's different)

My horror story is pretty complicated. I had huge issues using PayPal for months after I changed my name (although they said that's not what caused my issue. It was some security issue many people had from a glitch?).  I couldn't link any cards or bank account, and I kept getting stuck in a loop where I couldn't do this before that... But couldn't do that before this... I wasted all my minutes on the phone for months trying to resolve it.

[Sparkle Pony]

If you have concerns, you should call and ask support if your card is set up correctly and how it works. You shouldn't feel paranoid, so ask paypal for clarification.

Linking a card isn't the same as adding funds. (Although I've never used a prepaid card, so maybe that's different)

My horror story is pretty complicated. I had huge issues using PayPal for months after I changed my name (although they said that's not what caused my issue. It was some security issue many people had from a glitch?).  I couldn't link any cards or bank account, and I kept getting stuck in a loop where I couldn't do this before that... But couldn't do that before this... I wasted all my minutes on the phone for months trying to resolve it.

Yikes, that's pretty bad!  Right now my account is limited, so I can't add funds but it said I could still add cards and do everything else.  I do get that Paypal has to take extra precautions considering the kind of site it is, but it is very difficult to try and sort things out with them.

[Sebby6]

Bandit I had the same problem after I got married. Only way to resolve it was to open a new bank account (which I did for other reasons six years later lol)

Sparkle I don't think adding the card should add anything to the balance. You could always test it by sending a dollar to a friend?

[Iris]

The only thing that should 'add to your balance' on Paypal is transfering some money there yourself or having someone else transfer money there.  The money you have available on your bank account, debit card, or any credit cards linked to it aren't actually shown as funds available on the site.  But when you make a purchase and choose the card as your payment source it will pull the money from the linked source.

[Sparkle Pony]

So it does work that way.  Good to know!