How to transfer american express gift card to bank account

If you’re anything like me, you’re likely getting a handful of Visa gift cards every year, typically during the holiday season. However, sometimes I don’t want to use them for shopping. 

I’d like to transfer the gift card balance to my bank account. So, how do I do it? There are simply no direct ways of doing it. But here are the best methods and workarounds.

1. Add Visa gift card to your PayPal wallet
2. Transfer Visa gift card balance to Cash App
3. Transfer Visa gift card balance to Venmo 
4. Sell Visa gift cards through a website or an app
5. Trade it in at a gift card exchange kiosk 

1. Add Visa Gift Card to Your PayPal Wallet

PayPal is arguably the best option for transferring your Visa gift card balance to your bank account. 

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There’s a good chance you already have a PayPal account. If that’s the case, you need to simply link your gift card to your PayPal wallet. After that, you can either use the gift card to fund your PayPal purchases or transfer the funds to your linked bank account.

Let’s start from the beginning. How to open a PayPal account. If you already have one, simply skip this step. 

To open a PayPal account on a computer, follow the steps:

1. Open the PayPal website 
2. Select from a personal or business account 
3. If opening a personal account, choose from:
   1. Online shopper
   2. Freelancer
   3. Both
   4. Not sure
4. Select your country 
5. Enter your phone number
6. Enter the code you got
7. Enter your email address 
8. Create a password
9. Click Continue
10. Fill out the form and enter the CAPTCHA
11. Click Agree and Create Account

On a mobile phone:

1. Install the PayPal app
2. Tap on the Sign-Up button
3. Enter your mobile phone
4. Enter the code you got sent
5. Enter email address
6. Create a password
7. Enter your personal details
8. Add a debit or credit card to your account
9. Confirm your email address by tapping the link in the email

You can upgrade your personal account into a business account at any time by going to the settings and filling out your details. 

READ ALSO: 19 Side Hustle Ideas (How To Make $1,000+ in Extra Income)

Add the gift card to PayPal

You can add a gift card, debit, or credit card to your PayPal account by going on a computer and doing the following:

1. Click on the “Wallet” (top of the page)
2. Click “Link a card” (left side of the page)
3. Click “Debit or credit card” under “Link a card manually”
4. Enter the card’s number
5. Enter the expiration date
6. Enter the CVV
7. Fill in the address
8. Tap “Link card”

However, you can also easily do this on your mobile phone, using your PayPal mobile app:

1. Tap on “Wallet”
2. Tap “+” beside “Banks and Cards”
3. Tap on “Debit and Credit Cards”
4. Tap on “Link your card manually” 
5. Enter the card’s number
6. Enter the expiration date
7. Enter the CVV
8. Fill in the address
9. Tap “Link card”

Now that we added the gift card to the PayPal account, we can use its balance to pay for items and services with PayPal.

2. Transfer Visa Gift Card Balance to Cash App

Cash App is a widespread financial app that lets you send money to friends and family, but also invest in Bitcoin and stocks. You can also use it to add our Visa gift card to the app.

But first, how do you open a Cash App account? Here’s how:

1. Download the Cash App
2. Launch it
3. Enter your phone number or an email address
4. Enter the secret code via text or email 
5. Choose a unique $Cashtag
6. Enter your zip code

To add a gift card to Cash App:

1. Open Cash App
2. Tap on the profile icon in the top right corner
3. Tap on “Linked Banks” or “Add Bank”
4. Tap on “Link Bank”
5. Enter your debit card number
6. Enter your card’s expiration date
7. Enter CVV
8. Enter ZIP code 

You should be able to transfer the gift card balance to your Cash App balance. You can then use the app to pay for stuff in-store or online or to transfer it to your bank account.

But first, how do we add a bank account to Cash App? Follow these steps:

1. Tap the Profile Icon on the home screen
2. Select “Linked Banks”
3. Tap on “Link Bank”
4. Follow the instructions

After you add your bank account or debit card to Cash App, transfer the money to Cash App and then you can Cash Out your balance. 

READ NEXT: 12 Apps That Can Make You Money (How To Boost Your Income)

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3. Add Visa Gift Card to Venmo

If you haven’t heard of Venmo, it’s a popular mobile payments app owned by PayPal. We can utilize it to transfer the Visa gift card balance to our linked bank account. 

Apart from Visa gift cards, Venmo supports debit, credit, and prepaid, network branded (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) cards that are registered under your name.

To open a Venmo account:

1. Download the Venmo app
2. Open it
3. Choose a personal or a business account
4. Tap on “Sign Up”
5. Enter your phone number
6. Enter the code you got
7. Add your first and last name
8. Choose a username
9. Enter your email and create a password 
10. Check the box
11. Agree to terms and conditions
12. Sync phone or Facebook contacts, or skip
13. Set your payment visibility to private

Now that we have a Venmo account, we can proceed to add our gift card. At this time, some cards may be declined either by the card issuer or Venmo. It could be for two reasons –  for funds availability or for fraud prevention reasons.

To add your gift card, or a debit or credit card:

1. Open the Venmo app
2. Tap on the profile icon in the lower right corner
3. Tap on the Settings button (Gear icon)
4. Tap on “Payment Methods”
5. Tap “Card”
6. Enter the card number, expiration date, CVV
7. Add your ZIP code
8. Tap “Add”

You can now choose to transfer your funds from the gift card via Venmo to your bank account. To add a bank account or a debit card to Venmo, follow the same steps outlined above.

You can choose from a standard money transfer that will take a couple of days and is free and an instant transfer that will cost you 1.75% (with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $25) of the transfer amount.

READ ALSO: Can You Use QuadPay (Zip) On Cash App? (Guide)

4. Sell Visa Gift Cards Through a Website or an App

We have several options for selling our unwanted gift cards in exchange for cash. 

CardCash is a somewhat popular gift card marketplace that lets you buy and sell gift cards. 

Here’s how to trade a Visa gift card for cash:

1. Go to CardCash
2. Enter the merchant’s name 
3. Enter the balance on your gift card
4. Click “GET OFFER”
5. You can optionally add another card by entering the information and clicking “ADD CARD”
6. If you agree to the deal, click Continue
7. Enter your gift card number and PIN
8. Click “Connect with PayPal”
9. Log in to your PayPal account
10. Fill in the required fields 
11. Click “Get my PayPal balance”

It’s a straightforward and quick method that generally takes one business day. However, it can be very expensive. 

The cost for you is a minimum of 10% of the gift card’s value! Plus, the fees and rates for gift card exchange vary from company to company.

You can get paid by check, ACH deposit, or by PayPal. 

Apart from specialized websites, there are also plenty of apps that can help you sell gift cards for a fee. One of them is also Prepaid2Cash.

You can choose from instant transfers that cost 15% + $1.50 fee and next business day transfers that take a 7.5% processing fee and also a $1.50 deliver fee. 

To sell your first gift card with the Prepaid2Cash app:

1. Download the app
2. Register for an account
3. Tap on the “New Transaction” button
4. Choose “Gift Card” for store branded cards or “Prepaid Card” for Visa gift card
5. Tap “Continue”
6. Allow the app to use your camera
7. Take a photo of the card
8. Enter the amount
9. Enter the CVV number
10. Tap on “Continue Transaction”
11. Choose transaction method
12. Connect your bank account

You have two ways of adding a bank account to receive your gift card’s cash – easy, using Plaid and manual, by inputting your account and routing numbers. 

READ NEXT: Does Cash App Have Buyer Protection? (A Reason to Worry)

5. Trade it in at a Gift Card Exchange Kiosk

You may have seen an ATM-like machine in your shopping mall or a big box retailer. Did you know that you can use it to sell your gift cards for cash? 

Simply swipe your gift card and see what the offer is. Same as with websites that buy gift cards, the fees are steep and you may not like the deal that the exchange machine gives you. 

Conclusion

It’s somewhat easy to transfer money from your Visa gift cards to your bank account. However, as we showed you, the methods do include added steps that may or may not be acceptable to you.

You can link your gift card to PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App and forward the money to your bank account. This is the cheapest way to exchange gift cards for cash.

The more expensive ways include selling the gift card on a specialized website or mobile app, or even an exchange kiosk in your mall. 

Sometimes, the most cost-effective option is to use the gift cards as intended – to buy stuff in-store or online. 

Adrian Volenik is a fintech enthusiast who loves testing and reviewing digital banking apps and financial products in general.

How many digital banking accounts can one man have?

Not enough, if you ask Adrian. As his wallet will soon explode if he doesn’t cut back on the number of cards.

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