Prepaid Cards Guide Discussion Area

grumbler

If you can't be arsed to read the whole thread, just read 10-20 last posts and you'll find the answer to your question.

in_my_bumble_opinion

Overall, for everyday use in the UK, the Orange cashcard looks the best to me.

You can easily get the card for free (via the £15 starter pack in Orange shops), and operate it entirely without charge as long as you are aware of how it works.

Anthorn

unio06 wrote: »

hi can you give me advice on the best prepay credit card to go for. I wont use it very often as I want to put money on it to pay for car repairs, mot and servicing. I did have paypals visa one until they got rid of it. thankyou

Depends on what the garage / service centre accept and what you will eventually do with it: Kalixa is probably the cheapest with no monthly fee and free P.O.S. but beware ATM charges. Most prepaid cards don't let you pay at the pump for petrol but the exception is the Western Union Reloadable Prepaid Card but it will place on hold £99 every time you fill up. Secure Trust Bank offers free P.O.S. and 50p ATM fee but costs £12.50p per calendar month which can be offset with 3% cashback at the ASDA till and there's also cashback at Wilko, Debenhams, Argos and a host of others. Loads of choices and I have given examples of only a few of them. Shop around to get the best deal.

alanq

I just had a look at Kalixa.

"Service change: Please note that until further notice our phone service availability is limited to between the hours of 10 am until 3:30 pm." [Mon-Fri]

That doesn't fill me with confidence!

https://secure.kalixa.com/Default.aspx?view=ContactUs&lang=en&region=gb

alanq

in_my_bumble_opinion wrote: »

Overall, for everyday use in the UK, the Orange cashcard looks the best to me.

You can easily get the card for free (via the £15 starter pack in Orange shops), and operate it entirely without charge as long as you are aware of how it works.

I was tempted until I found posts on this and other forums saying that to speak to Customer Services one has to dial an 09 number. (The Ts&Cs give an 020 number but according to what I have read that is just for self-service and not to speak to a person)

There are also claims that ID documents are being requested despite the Ts&Cs saying that these are only necessary if requesting an unrestricted card.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3822173

Anthorn

On reflection I'd say that the Western Union Reloadable Prepaid Card is the best bet. Anyway, if I was in need of a purely prepaid card that would be my choice. Also if it's the same as the Western Union Moneywise card in the U.S. and I'm not saying it is then it might come with an account number to which funds can be sent by Western Union from most countries. There's also the convenience of Western Union agents in local shops. I have one across the road. But we have to weigh the cost of loading when compared to, for example, Cashplus' free loads at Post Offices. There is also no information on whether the WU card can be loaded by BACS.

in_my_bumble_opinion

alanq wrote: »

I was tempted until I found posts on this and other forums saying that to speak to Customer Services one has to dial an 09 number. (The Ts&Cs give an 020 number but according to what I have read that is just for self-service and not to speak to a person)

There are also claims that ID documents are being requested despite the Ts&Cs saying that these are only necessary if requesting an unrestricted card.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3822173

Lots of prepaid cards have no customer service at all, it's all automated. The only query I had with Orange, I just emailed them and they got straight back to me. Can't comment on i.d documents, etc, as I wasn't asked.

in_my_bumble_opinion

Anthorn wrote: »

On reflection I'd say that the Western Union Reloadable Prepaid Card is the best bet. Anyway, if I was in need of a purely prepaid card that would be my choice. Also if it's the same as the Western Union Moneywise card in the U.S. and I'm not saying it is then it might come with an account number to which funds can be sent by Western Union from most countries. There's also the convenience of Western Union agents in local shops. I have one across the road. But we have to weigh the cost of loading when compared to, for example, Cashplus' free loads at Post Offices. There is also no information on whether the WU card can be loaded by BACS.

Doesn't look too good to me:

• Purchasing Fee £4.95
• Annual Fee FREE
• Monthly Maintenance Fee £1.95
• Online Transaction Fee FREE
• Online Reload Fee £1.00
• Cash Reload Fee £1.95
• Domestic POS Transaction Fee FREE
• International Cross Currency Foreign Exchange Fee* 2.75%
• Domestic and International ATM Withdrawal Fee £0.95

Anthorn

in_my_bumble_opinion wrote: »

Doesn't look too good to me:

• Purchasing Fee £4.95
• Annual Fee FREE
• Monthly Maintenance Fee £1.95
• Online Transaction Fee FREE
• Online Reload Fee £1.00
• Cash Reload Fee £1.95
• Domestic POS Transaction Fee FREE
• International Cross Currency Foreign Exchange Fee* 2.75%
• Domestic and International ATM Withdrawal Fee £0.95

I agree that it's not as cheap as some cards but it does have free POS which is what a prepaid card will principally be used for and it's backed by Western Union. It all depends on whether consumers attach a status premium to that.

What is significant at the moment is ASDA encouraging the use of prepaid cards through rewards and cashback schemes. Could it be that Wal-Mart are doing a bit of research and possibly thinking about bringing a version of its own prepaid card over here. It's a reasonable assumption isn't it.

in_my_bumble_opinion

Anthorn wrote: »

I agree that it's not as cheap as some cards but it does have free POS which is what a prepaid card will principally be used for and it's backed by Western Union. It all depends on whether consumers attach a status premium to that.

What is significant at the moment is ASDA encouraging the use of prepaid cards through rewards and cashback schemes. Could it be that Wal-Mart are doing a bit of research and possibly thinking about bringing a version of its own prepaid card over here. It's a reasonable assumption isn't it.

Yup, if someone does all their shoppping at Asda then there's money to be made.....though I note it says 'up to' 4% cashback, so who knows what that means.

Both the AA and Orange prepaid cards are free to use at POS, free to load (as long as you load via a free option), and free to obtain. Very hard to beat that for peace of mind and value for money in terms of prepaid cards.