PayPal was one of the 5 percent cash back bonus categories on the Chase Freedom Flex® card during the final three months of 2024, so I made every effort to maximize my PayPal spending. I had to get creative to hit the $1,500 spending limit for that quarter’s categories (activation was required and purchases beyond the limit earned 1 percent cash back). What ultimately helped me achieve the maximum bonus points was figuring out how to use PayPal at my favorite local grocery store.
I’m certainly glad I maximized the opportunity, but using PayPal in stores was confusing and not something I’m likely to do again.
How to use PayPal for in-person purchases
The first step is to download the PayPal app. Once you’ve done that and logged into your account, open the menu bar — that’s the three lines in the upper left corner. Choose “In-person & QR code” under the “Send and pay.”
Then press the “Pay with PayPal Nearby” button (You may be prompted to turn on location services if you haven’t already done so). Once you share your location, you’ll see local merchants that accept PayPal. I see CVS, Conoco, Phillips 66 and Acme (a regional grocery chain). Interestingly, I don’t see ShopRite (another local grocery chain), which is where I used PayPal throughout November and December. ShopRite used to be listed in the PayPal app. As of early January, I still saw PayPal as a payment option at the store’s self-checkout machines, but it’s odd the PayPal app no longer lists ShopRite as an eligible merchant.
This is emblematic of the problems I encountered while using the service. I used it about 10 times, and it never worked properly on the first attempt. Not once. I feel like I deserve a medal for persistence (but an extra 4 percent cash back was enough for me).
The way it’s supposed to work is that you select PayPal as your payment method (I always used self-checkout, but you should also be able to do this with a cashier) and then you scan the QR code in your PayPal app. Find that at “Show to Pay” on the “In-person & QR code” page below the “Pay with PayPal Nearby” map.
The process isn’t smooth
A QR code is supposed to pop up, but it’s a gamble whether that actually happens. About half the time, I received an error message. The best fix seemed to be closing and reopening the app. I also had a time or two when it worked after I disconnected from the store’s WiFi and another time or two when it worked best if I connected to the store’s WiFi. Results were all over the place.
Scanning the code isn’t as easy as it should be, either. I asked multiple employees for help during my in-person PayPal journey. The first one told me they had never seen anyone use PayPal in their store. Another staffer said it was possible (yay!) and explained that the key is to scan just the QR code at the top. You see, there’s also a barcode directly below the QR code and it’s easy to scan both if you’re plopping your phone onto the scanner (the same one the cashier uses to scan products’ barcodes). I was told the best way to do this is to put your thumb over the barcode so that only the QR code shows, and then contort your arm so you hover the phone over the scanner without dropping it. It’s actually harder than it sounds. I learned later on that the product scanner gun usually works better for this, although sometimes that didn’t work, either.
Sometimes, the scan magically worked. It was always a relief when the machine spit out a receipt and I could head on my merry way). Other times, I was prompted to re-scan and occasionally, I got an error message that required a store employee to assist. I’m not sure exactly what that entailed. The staff member seemed to scan their badge and hit some sort of payment approval button, but even after going through all those steps, sometimes the payment worked with their help, and sometimes I had to start over.
Some of my issues might be because I used self-checkout, but I preferred that checkout method since this whole thing felt nutty. I decided to struggle with it on my own rather than gum up an already long checkout line with a cashier who may or may not have the patience or knowledge to wrestle with PayPal. It typically took between two and four attempts to succeed.
Persistence paid off, but it wasn’t easy
Once I knew it was possible to pay with PayPal, I was determined to get it to work every time I shopped for groceries until I maximized the promotion. Every time, though, I needed to troubleshoot various issues. I also used it once at CVS and the experience was similarly convoluted.
Another important thing you need to remember is to select your underlying source of funds (options are listed in the dropdown menu below the QR code and barcode). I used my Chase Freedom Flex because of the rewards promotion. You could also have PayPal draw from a PayPal balance, a debit card, a bank account or one of your other cards.
This begs the question of why someone would want to use PayPal in-person. For me, the answer was simple: I wanted to maximize the credit card promotion. Without that, I personally wouldn’t bother. The main use-case I can think of (besides my scenario) is someone who has a sizable PayPal balance and wants to put that money toward everyday purchases. For instance, maybe they’re using PayPal as a substitute for a bank account.
The bottom line
In my experience, PayPal works much better online than it does in-person. Even after using the in-person service numerous times, I found it unpredictable and clunky. As detailed above, I hit several snags during the payment process and the pain points seemed to vary each time.
And that’s my biggest complaint: The system wasn’t just unreliable, it was inconsistent. Every single time, I felt like I was holding my breath regarding whether the transaction would go through and why or why not.
When it eventually worked (usually after two, three or four attempts), it felt like success depended more on random chance than anything else since I would sometimes replicate the exact same steps and obtain different results. Now that the Freedom Flex promotion is over, I’m not planning to use PayPal in stores again anytime soon.
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