Update: no PayPal cash back for Evolve Money payments

[update 2/6/14: please see my post on Upromise Investments]

While investigating Evolve Money, one of the most lucrative possibilities I considered was that payments made using PayPal Business Debit MasterCards would earn 1% cash back. As I wrote in my initial story:

"I can confirm that the PayPal Business Debit MasterCard does work for bill payments, and these transactions are processed as signature purchases which should earn 1% cash back. My regular readers know what that means: you can load your PayPal account using PayPal My Cash cards purchased with a rewards-earning credit card, then earn 1% cash back liquidating those funds paying bills you wouldn't ordinarily be able to pay with a credit card. You'll be earning your credit card rewards – and a small profit – for transactions that wouldn't otherwise earn rewards."

Unfortunately, despite the fact that the payments are processed as signature transactions — and even have the "$" symbol next to them in my transaction history (only visible using the "old" PayPal layout) — when my cash back for January posted today I did not earn 1% cash back on Evolve Money payments. This is still a great, free way to get money out of your PayPal account, but the cash back angle did not work out. In fact on my Business Debit Card summary page, the Evolve transactions are simply not included as either "eligible" or "ineligible" transactions; the totals shown represent all my purchases using the card except those.

This doesn't bode particularly well for payments made using other rewards debit cards, although that also may vary on a case-by-case basis. If you've experimented with other rewards debit cards, leave your results in the comments.