PayPal doesn’t show the credit card option
With Ultimate Membership Pro’s PayPal gateways, members pay on PayPal’s own page, so PayPal alone decides whether that page offers to pay by debit or credit card without a PayPal account. Ultimate Membership Pro has no setting that turns the PayPal credit card option on or off; when it’s missing, the reason is almost always in your PayPal account settings or in the country of your account or of the buyer.
Below: what each PayPal gateway in Ultimate Membership Pro does, and the PayPal account settings to check.
Before you start
- Access to the PayPal account that receives your payments.
- Which PayPal gateway is active in Ultimate Membership Pro›Payment Gateways: PayPal (PayPal Standard) or PayPal Express Checkout.
What each PayPal gateway does
PayPal (Standard)
- PayPal flow
- PayPal Payments Standard (website payment buttons)
- One-time Memberships
- A Buy Now payment
- Recurring Memberships
- A PayPal subscription
- Card without PayPal account
- Depends on your PayPal account and the country
PayPal Express Checkout
- PayPal flow
- Express Checkout with API credentials
- One-time Memberships
- A sale approved on PayPal
- Recurring Memberships
- A recurring payments profile
- Card without PayPal account
- Depends on your PayPal account and the country
Neither gateway uses PayPal’s newer Smart Payment Buttons, so the card button you may know from other shops isn’t part of this checkout. Both send your site currency, the amount and the return page to PayPal; PayPal Standard also sends the Membership name and the page language from Checkout Page language. Nothing they send hides or forces the card option.
Your PayPal account isn’t set up for guest payments
These are PayPal account settings; PayPal names and menus change over time, so check PayPal’s help if a menu looks different.
Use a PayPal Business account (or an older Premier account). Personal accounts don’t offer card payment to buyers without a PayPal account.
Must be On. With it, buyers without PayPal can pay by card and may create a PayPal account afterwards; buyers who have PayPal still log in. PayPal lists it for Buy Now buttons, donations, carts and invoices.
The address you log in with must be verified, and it should be the same as PayPal Merchant Email on the PayPal Standard Gateway page.
Link and confirm a bank account (to withdraw money) and a card in your PayPal account.
To switch on PayPal Account Optional (menu names from PayPal’s classic account pages):
- Log in to PayPal and open your account settings (Account Settings, formerly Profile › My Selling Tools).
- Under Website payments (formerly Selling online), find Website preferences and click Update.
- Set PayPal Account Optional to On and save.
The buyer’s or your country
PayPal doesn’t offer every feature in every country, for the merchant or for the buyer. Guest card payment is one of them.
Check PayPal’s help for your country, or ask PayPal support whether guest checkout is available for your account and your buyers.
The card option is only a small link
PayPal remembers returning visitors with cookies. A first-time visitor gets a page with a clear card option; a returning visitor may see the PayPal login first, with a smaller link to pay by card.
The option is still there. To see the first-time page while testing, clear your browser’s cookies, cache and history, close the browser and try again, or use a private window.
Other account problems
PayPal limits what an account can do when the receiving email is wrong or unverified, or when it flags the account or your server’s IP address.
Check PayPal Merchant Email on the PayPal Standard Gateway page, look for notices in your PayPal account, and contact PayPal support if the account is limited.
Testing in the sandbox
The PayPal sandbox has its own settings per sandbox account, and its pages don’t always match live PayPal. Check the card option on the live site before you change anything.
Questions
Does Ultimate Membership Pro have a setting to show the credit card option on PayPal?
No. Members pay on PayPal’s page, and PayPal shows or hides the card option based on your PayPal account, the buyer and the type of payment.
Can members pay for a monthly Membership by card through PayPal without a PayPal account?
PayPal decides. PayPal lists PayPal Account Optional for Buy Now buttons, donations, carts and invoices, but not for subscriptions, so buyers of recurring Memberships may have to log in. For card-only recurring payments, use a card gateway such as Stripe Connect.
Where do I find the business variable or button code mentioned by PayPal?
Ultimate Membership Pro builds the PayPal payment for you; there’s no button code to edit. The receiving account is the PayPal Merchant Email on the PayPal Standard Gateway page.
Which gateway should I use if most members don’t have PayPal?
A card gateway that takes the card on your own checkout page, such as Stripe Connect (the recommended gateway). You can offer it next to PayPal. See Let members choose a payment method.
