I recently presented my Paypal MasterCard at a car rental agency for the security deposit. My card was refused because it was a ¨PayPal¨card. I explained that this card is not the same as the Paypal Debit Card that uses backup funds from a personal checking account for transactions, but rather that it is backed by Mastercard and accepted wherever Mastercard is accepted as payment. Their refusal of my card ensued into a heated discussion in which the agent stated I would have to speak to a manager, though a manager never arrived. After an hour the agent belligerently accepted my Paypal Mastercard and processed the payment for the $150.00 deposit. I emailed the third party booking agent to state my grievances regarding the car rental agency, and the third party booking agent was also uncertain about the use of the Paypal Mastercard and stated that ultimately the car rental agency had the right to specify which forms of payment they would accept and that I should read their disclosures on the contract. I reiterated that I had presented a Mastercard just like any other and that the brand name didn’t matter -Amazon, Ebay, American Airlines, Starbucks -what matters is whether the credit card bears the Mastercard Logo and the initial four numbers of the credit card that identifies that Mastercard as a credit card. I was incensed at the inconvenience and the agitation this situation needlessly caused me. I would like Paypal to be aware that this is happening.
