How to Pay for Game Keys: Cards, PayPal, Virtual Cards and paysafecard

The short answer: a Visa or Mastercard card works almost everywhere, PayPal adds a safety net on keyshops, and a cash voucher like paysafecard is for people who don’t want to use a card online at all. What actually decides how much you pay — and whether you can get your money back when a key doesn’t work — is a handful of details that are easy to skip at checkout. This guide goes through them method by method.

The methods at a glance

Method	Where it works	Money back if the key fails?	Watch out for
Visa / Mastercard (debit or credit)	Steam, GOG, Epic and practically every keyshop	Yes — a chargeback through your bank	Online payments switched on, 3-D Secure, pay in the seller’s currency
PayPal	Stores and keyshops that offer it at checkout	Yes — a PayPal dispute, if you pay as goods and services	Some shops add a higher fee for PayPal
Virtual card	Anywhere a normal card works	Same rights as the card or account behind it	Load only what one purchase needs
paysafecard	Many stores and keyshops	No — it behaves like cash	Buy only at authorised retailers; spend it, don’t store it
Bank transfer or crypto to a seller	Some sellers	No	Avoid with any seller you don’t already trust

Debit and credit cards

Visa and Mastercard cards — debit and credit — are accepted by the official PC stores and by keyshops alike. Two things have to be in place:

• Online payments must be enabled on the card. Many banks turn this on by default, but if a payment keeps getting declined, check this first in your banking app.
• 3-D Secure — the step where you confirm the payment in your banking app or with an SMS code. It’s standard on serious stores; a card that doesn’t support it will simply fail on part of them.

Domestic card schemes built for payments inside one country often don’t work on foreign sites. For buying abroad, use a Visa or Mastercard card.

Currency. Most stores charge in euros or US dollars. If your account is in another currency, your bank converts the amount at its own rate, which is a little worse than the mid-market rate. That cost is normal and unavoidable. What is avoidable is the offer at checkout to “pay in your own currency” — dynamic currency conversion, or DCC. The rate is then set by the seller’s payment processor, not by your bank, and it’s almost always worse. Always choose the seller’s original currency. Our guide on how to read a key price explains why.

A good habit for keyshops: keep a separate card for online shopping, or use a virtual card (more below), so a leaked number can’t reach your main account.

PayPal

PayPal does two useful things when you buy keys. First, your card details stay with PayPal — the shop only learns that the payment went through. On sites you don’t trust completely, that’s one less place your card number is stored. Second, you get a formal dispute channel: if you pay and don’t receive a working key, you can open a case in PayPal instead of relying on the seller’s goodwill.

That protection only exists when you pay as goods and services. A seller who asks you to pay as “friends and family” to save on fees is asking you to give up the one safety net you have.

The catch: some shops charge a higher fee when you pick PayPal. Check the final total before you confirm — if PayPal costs noticeably more, decide whether the extra protection is worth it for that purchase. The whole process, including how a dispute runs and what evidence to keep, is in paying for games with PayPal.

Virtual cards

A virtual card is a card number that exists only in an app, usually drawing on a balance you top up yourself. Load what one purchase needs, pay, and leave the card at zero — if the number leaks, there’s nothing on it to take. It limits exposure, but it doesn’t replace a chargeback or a PayPal dispute; the two work together. Details in virtual cards for buying games.

paysafecard

paysafecard is a prepaid voucher you buy for cash at retail points such as kiosks and petrol stations. You get a PIN, type it in at checkout, and the payment is done. Many game stores and keyshops accept it.

It suits anyone without a card, anyone who doesn’t want to use a card online, and parents buying a game for a child without handing over their card. You spend exactly what you loaded — no surprises.

Three things to keep in mind:

• There’s no chargeback. A voucher is like cash: once it’s spent, no bank can reverse the payment. Use it with sellers you trust and keep cards or PayPal for riskier marketplace purchases.
• Don’t keep a voucher “for later”. paysafecard starts charging a monthly maintenance fee on a voucher left unused for more than a year. Check its current terms, and spend the balance.
• Buy only from authorised retailers, never “spare” PINs from individuals.

Steam Wallet

On Steam you can also top up your Steam Wallet with the payment methods Steam offers in your country and then pay from that balance. You fix the cost up front, and small purchases don’t each go through a separate currency conversion.

Which one to choose

• Card — the simplest everyday option, ideally a separate one for online shopping.
• PayPal — the extra layer for keyshops and marketplaces.
• paysafecard — no card at all, for sellers you already trust.
• Bank transfers and crypto — skip them with unfamiliar sellers; once sent, the money is gone.

A card for official stores plus PayPal for keyshops covers most situations. For the security side — chargebacks, 3-D Secure, which methods to avoid — see safe payment on keyshops.

From the Balkans

ulov.gg started as a price comparison for Serbia and the region, and a few local details are worth knowing:

• Serbia. Visa and Mastercard cards from Serbian banks work on foreign stores; the domestic DinaCard scheme generally doesn’t. Serbian users have been able to send payments abroad with PayPal since 2013 — the old restrictions were about receiving money, which doesn’t matter for buying games. Instant domestic QR payments (IPS) only help with local shops that offer them.
• Croatia. Croatia has used the euro since 1 January 2023, so on stores that price in euros there is no conversion at all. Conversion comes back only on sites that charge in dollars.
• Montenegro. Montenegro uses the euro but is outside the euro area and the EU. Card payments in euros carry no conversion; the difference shows up with transfers and some fintech accounts, which aren’t open to every non-EU resident.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina. The convertible mark is pegged to the euro at 1 EUR = 1.95583 KM. That makes the conversion predictable, not free: your bank still applies its margin, and the “pay in KM” offer at checkout is still DCC.

The detailed versions are in Serbian: paying from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all summed up on the payments page.

Before you pay

The cheapest payment method doesn’t help much if you’re buying in the wrong place. Check where the game is actually cheapest first: on ulov.gg every offer is labelled official store or marketplace, with region and platform next to the price. Open a game — Elden Ring, for example — to see every offer side by side, browse the game catalog, or see all stores we track.