PayPal will soon let you withdraw cash at Walmart, but there’s a catch

While we’re often being told that a cashless society is just around the corner, PayPal has been busy prepping a new service that will let anyone with a PayPal account to withdraw and deposit paper money at any Walmart across the U.S.

It marks the first time that PayPal users will have the ability to withdraw cash from their account in a brick-and-mortar environment, as well as load cash into their account, the payment giant said on Thursday, October 11.

To use the new service, which will be available at every Walmart in the U.S. by early November, you’ll need either the PayPal mobile app or a PayPal Cash Mastercard, which is basically a PayPal-linked debit card. The cash withdrawals and deposits can be made at the store’s service desks, ATMs, or cash registers.

Downsides? Well, each transaction will cost you $3, a not insignificant amount that will certainly add up over time if you do it regularly. While the new service may come in handy as a last resort, or for those with limited or no access to banking services, shoppers may want to avoid paying out those fees by considering other cash withdrawal options, if available.

PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said the initiative marked the first time for the two companies to work together on a shared service for customers. “We consider this a key collaboration for both PayPal and Walmart [and] are committed to working together to make it simple and easy for people to use PayPal cash-in and cash-out money services at every Walmart location in the U.S.,” Schulman said.

Daniel Eckert, Walmart’s senior vice president, meanwhile, said his company is committed to expanding access to such products, while making them “convenient, easy to use, and available for everyday low prices,” though some may dispute that last claim.

Eckert said that 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store, and insisted the new service will offer “great value to the many people who rely on Walmart and PayPal to help manage and move their money.”

PayPal’s partnership with Walmart follows news earlier this year that the online payments company was “nudging” some of its customers toward mainstream banking services by teaming up with small banks to offer basic banking features integrated with their PayPal accounts. The move to broaden its offerings has also seen PayPal partner with the likes of Apple, Facebook, and Skype.