Prepaid Cards Guide Discussion Area

Anthorn

in_my_bumble_opinion wrote: »

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.

I get 3% in store on groceries. Not a lot but it's free money that I wouldn't otherwise get.

Needhelp1121

Hello all

Long time reader/Lurker of the site, first time poster! (First time ever needed some help, so im hoping someone can help me out as you have done many others!)

Ill get straight to it, Basically i am looking for a prepaid card. A Bank account is NOT an option.

Im looking for a card that can hopefully do all of the following:
- Allow my wages to be paid onto it.
- Allow ATM withdrawals.
- As many ways possible for it to be topped up (Payzone/paypoint/post office/bank deposit/bank transfer etc)
- Also IF possible, the card to be topped up without the physical card needed (For example, my sister who owes me money, normally pays me X amount per month, would she be able to load money onto the card for me to access without having the actual card?) Ive just heard of cards being able to be topped up via a bank deposit.

If anyone can help me out and recommend anything it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

alanq

in_my_bumble_opinion wrote: »

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.

I just looked at the AA website and the Ts&Cs have been amended.

"The card costs £9.95 – this fee is taken during the application process."

Some of the other fees have also been revised.

http://www.theaa.com/spend-and-earn-card/index.html

"Using Your Prepaid Card!" and online account management link to Jan13 Ts&Cs
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/finance/prepaid-card-terms-jan13.pdf

Elsewhere "Terms and Conditions" links to Feb13 Ts&Cs
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/finance/prepaid-card-terms-feb13.pdf

Two differences that I have noticed without looking too carefully are the fee for email top-up alerts and the period before the dormancy fee kicks in.

I have received no notification that the Ts&Cs have changed.

---

The Orange card costs £5 though I have read that there are/have been offers that rebate this fee.
http://cash.orange.co.uk/costs/

in_my_bumble_opinion

alanq wrote: »

I just looked at the AA website and the Ts&Cs have been amended.

"The card costs £9.95 – this fee is taken during the application process."

Some of the other fees have also been revised.

http://www.theaa.com/spend-and-earn-card/index.html

"Using Your Prepaid Card!" and online account management link to Jan13 Ts&Cs
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/finance/prepaid-card-terms-jan13.pdf

Elsewhere "Terms and Conditions" links to Feb13 Ts&Cs
http://www.theaa.com/resources/Documents/pdf/finance/prepaid-card-terms-feb13.pdf

Two differences that I have noticed without looking too carefully are the fee for email top-up alerts and the period before the dormancy fee kicks in.

I have received no notification that the Ts&Cs have changed.

---

The Orange card costs £5 though I have read that there are/have been offers that rebate this fee.
http://cash.orange.co.uk/costs/

Yes, looks like they've changed the terms of the AA card right enough.

The Orange Cashcard is free via the £15 starter pack, available from Orange (EE) shops. The £15 becomes your opening balance.

will.i.amnt

This article is now horribly outdated.

The travelex one now charges, the Lebara one is now £14.95...

aife

Hello all

I have a basic bank account with debit card and nothing else. I'm plannning to get a prepaid card for online purchases as I don't have proper internet at home and don't want to risk using my debit card .
I'm leaning towards the Orange Prepaid , but I'm wondering how widely accepted these cards are. I don't envisage using it in shops or ATMs , it would be mainly for buying concert/cinema tickets ., the occasional train or budget airline ticket , amazon , ebay , tesco etc.
Can anyone who has one of these cards say if they've used these sites , and if there are any sites that have refused their card ?
Thanks

grumbler

I am pretty sure that it's accepted in all places where you see Mastercard logo, i.e. pretty much everywhere.

alanq

I know that despite sometimes being referred to as "prepaid credit cards" prepaid cards offer no credit. So, where there are fees for using credit / debit cards online, are prepaid cards treated as debit cards or credit cards?

My local Aldi store accepts debit cards but not credit cards. They will not accept prepaid cards. I assume that is because the store would have to pay a higher fee to the card company with credit / prepaid cards than they would with a debit cards attached to a current accounts.

(I rarely use my prepaid card online and when I have it has not been on sites that charge fees for using a credit card so I have not YET had this issue).

denisse_guzman

hi all
I hope that you could help me. I want to know, if I can get an credit card, with a prepaid card. I mean, something like build my credit rating. Something like, If I make a load 200 dolars for 6 months in my prepaid card, I can get a credit card. Have you ever heard about it?
Thank you very much,
Denisse

obowan

:j I checked on MSE to see how our Travelex card might be viewed. We go abroad for 3-4 months very year (.....yes I know!)
I'm sorry but Martin's page on this is not fully informed.
Today I compared Euro rates between Fair FX and Travelex on their web sites and they were identical at 1.156 to £. I then looked at T & C's.
FAIRFX (Martins best pick) charges 1.5% for each ATM withdrawal abroad - BUT TRAVELEX cash passport has no ATM fees - its a no brainer.... yet reading the advice page one would be tempted to think Fair FX was the best bet - I don't think it is.
Also there is no mention by Martin that if you transfer money onto a prepaid charge card direct from your UK sterling bank account and onto a charge card in Euros or dollars or what ever, your bank will charge you its usual foreign currency conversion fee - watch for that! if you can do same with hard cash it may be better
treat all advice with caution - check it yourself!
obo