paypal2.jpgWell it’s not exactly my PayPal ATM card but my sister’s. You see, she works in the US and has a PayPal account.

By borrowing her PayPal card I finally have access the money I made during my Thousand Ringgit Experiment.


The first thing my sister had to do when the card arrived was to log in to PayPal.com and activate it. After this was done, I was excited to see if all the money earned was real. I went to the AmBank ATM machine because it had the “CIRRUS” logo supported by the card.
ATM With Cirrus LogoATM With Cirrus Logo

Pushed the card into the machine and it was accepted. Then entered the chosen PIN number and it was accepted. Tip: It is only a 4 digit number and not 6 digits so you have to press the “ACCEPT/Terima” button after the last digit.

I chose the “Savings” account and quickly realised this was wrong when I saw the “Invalid Transaction” message. I then remembered that the PayPal Debit card is connected to the checking account. So I chose the “Cheque” and saw my account balance in RM (not USD as I expected). I then tested if the card worked by withdrawing RM1000. Since the maximum limit for PayPal ATM was USD 400, RM1000 should be ok. The money came out without any problem.

It’s a good feeling touching the money!! So far it’s all been virtual. Balances seen on the computer screen. Now it’s finally real.

Not wanting to keep so much money in my wallet I quickly went over a nearby Public Bank cash deposit machine and deposited all of it in my own savings account.

paypal-1k-withdrawal.gif

PayPal charges USD 1 per ATM transaction.

That’s pretty reasonable as I read somewhere that the other option using the The Virtual Money (VMI) ATM card, there is a USD 5 charge per withdrawal.

The exchange rate is pretty good RM 1000 = USD 252.55. That’s about 3.41. Better than the 3.1 exchange rate I got for selling PayPal funds at lelong.com.my. I’m also sure this is better than the rate I get for cashing in my Adsense cheque with RHB Bank.

Of course, this is only temporary as the card is my sister’s. Another thing to note is that she got the card because she lives and works in the US.

Later, I would want to get one under my own name later and perhaps follow the useful step-by-step given by Hong Kiat’s How Malaysians can withdraw directly from Paypal. (Don’t pay for the ones you see being marketed all over the local websites as this is the same tips but FREE).

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