Did you know that you can actually use your Smart Money account to fund your PayPal when buying stuff (or services) online? Here’s my “unofficial” guide on how to use Smart Money to fund PayPal payments:

1. If you have a Smart SIM card (postpaid or prepaid), activate your Smart Money using the SIM Toolkit or Smart SIM Menu.
2. After activation (or if you are already using Smart Money), request for a Smart Money MasterCard (physical card) at any Smart Wireless Center or online through here. You will be paying around PHP100 for the card. Wait for a week or two for the delivery of your Smart Money MasterCard.
3. Upon receiving your Smart Money MasterCard, link the physical card to your Smart Money account using your mobile phone; you may also be required to call the Smart Money Hotline to activate the physical card prior to completing the linking process.
4. Now that your Smart Money MasterCard is active, may sure that your account has at least PHP200 balance before proceeding to the next step — adding your Smart Money MasterCard to your PayPal account.
5. Login to your PayPal account. Go to Profile > Add/Edit Credit Card. Click on Add a Card and key-in the required information. Upon completing this step, PayPal will test if your Credit Card (Smart Money MasterCard in this case) is valid by charging around PHP100 from it. Don’t you worry, this amount will be credited back to your PayPal account after 24-48 hours.
6. If you are successful in Step #5, congratulations! You had just linked your Smart Money MasterCard with your PayPal account.

Now, one thing that you will have to do every time that you will be doing a PayPal transaction is to “unlock” your Smart Money MasterCard for internet transaction. This is a safety feature added by Smart Money around a year or two ago to avoid fraudsters from using your Smart Money MasterCard online. To unlock your Smart Money MasterCard, just go to the Smart Money Menu > Card Mgmt > Txn Lock > Unlock > Internet.

Always remember that:

1. The Smart Money MasterCard is a DEBIT card and not a CREDIT card: it will not work if it does not have funds in it.
2. If you “unlock” your Smart Money MasterCard, you have 15 minutes to finish the online transaction. Smart Money will automatically “lock” your card after this time frame.