PayPal Cashback Mastercard upgrade: Get 3% cash back

The PayPal Cashback Mastercard is a credit card co-issued by PayPal and Synchrony that now gives users 3% cash back at checkout with PayPal and 2% cash back on all other Mastercard purchases.

The company said customers can get higher rates whenever they pay with PayPal, including online, on mobile devices and even in-store using PayPal QR codes.

The company noted that its existing cardholders will see their PayPal spending automatically upgraded to 3 percent from the previous 2 percent cash-back rate. The company will also soon offer the card to new customers via the PayPal mobile app and PayPal.com in the coming weeks.

In addition to the cash back upgrade, which is a key feature of the new card, PayPal said it has updated the card management user interface on the app and website to make it easier for customers to access their rewards and manage their purchases and payments. In addition, customers will now be able to access their rewards on a daily basis without having to wait for a monthly billing cycle. They will be able to choose how to use their rewards - including making billable purchases, shopping from retailers or transferring funds to a linked bank account or debit card.

To encourage new signups, PayPal is incentivizing customers with a $100 cash back reward for the first $500 spent on the card, which has no annual fee.

PayPal faces increasing competition from pay-as-you-go (BNPL) companies in the e-commerce space and has made consumer-friendly improvements to its credit cards. Afterpay, for example, partnered with Rakuten in December to allow shoppers to earn cash-back rewards when they make installment purchases at participating merchants. In the same month, Affirm also launched its own cash-back program. And of course, retail giant Amazon offers its own cash back rewards, paying 3% on purchases from Amazon and Whole Foods.