PayPal just made gift cards way better (by accepting them)

At any given time after a holiday or gift giving occasion I’ll have at least three to five gift cards — many that are issued by credit card companies — that typically sit in a drawer for months before I realize I should probably put them to use.

However, thanks to today’s announcement by PayPal, I can cut out the part where I forget those gift cards exist. The company is now allowing its users to load prepaid gift cards from Visa, American Express, MasterCard, or Discover into their PayPal accounts to spend on online purchases. This is great news, since tons of online stores won’t accept these types of prepaid gift cards as a legitimate payment.

The move comes just as the gift giving season begins and days before the unofficial annual “Cyber Monday” shopping day following Thanksgiving.

This makes those prepaid gift cards a little more appealing in place of an actual gift (you know, the ones that usually require thought?) because I’m now much more likely to buy something with it soon after I get it.