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'Can you use PayPal without a card?': Yes, you can — here are 6 things you can do on PayPal without a linked debit or credit card

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You can use certain PayPal features without having to link a credit or debit card to your account. Shutterstock
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Although you're limited in what you can do on PayPal without a bank or credit card on file, there's still plenty the e-commerce website has to offer.

There may come a time when you do want to link a card, and it's not a hard process.

How to use PayPal without a card

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Avishek Das/Getty Images

In the meantime, here are six things you can do on PayPal — no card necessary.

Request and receive money from others

Can you use PayPal without a card
Asked and answered. A request for $5.00 is completed, and not a card was kept on file. Emma Witman/Business Insider

One of the easiest — and only — ways to get a balance accumulating in lieu of having a card on file, is requesting and receiving money from other PayPal users, though this will require a linked bank account. 

Send money to others

Can you use PayPal without a card
Click the "Send" button to send money using your PayPal balance. Emma Witman/Business Insider

Similarly, you can send any amount not exceeding your PayPal balance to others as well.

Create an invoice

Can you use PayPal without a card
You simply fill in the information, and then PayPal will generate the invoice and email it directly. Here's a preview before I click send. Emma Witman/Business Insider

Anyone who has ever had to create an invoice from scratch knows what a monumental pain it is to do.

This is one service PayPal can take care of for you, regardless of whether or not you've given them your card information.

Create a Money Pool

Can you use PayPal without a card
For organizing quick and easy fundraising, money pool is a highly useful tool you can access without a card on file. Emma Witman/Business Insider

You only need a PayPal Personal account to partake in the Money Pool feature. You can even transfer the money you receive to yourself personally with a check — more on that later.

Have your PayPal balance sent to you as a check (with a $1.50 fee)

Can you use PayPal without a card
A $1.50 fee is probably not worth it for a $5.00 check. Still, it's nice to know it's an option. Emma Witman/Business Insider

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Emma Witman is an Asheville, NC-based freelance journalist with a keen interest in writing about hardware, PC gaming, politics, and personal finance. She is a former crime reporter for a daily newspaper, and has also written extensively about bartending for Insider. She may or may not judge your drink order when behind the bar. Follow her on Twitter at @emwity.