Prepaid Cards Guide Discussion Area

WillPS

68ydbk0CgKt8aB69Lxgu said:

I'd like to get a pre-pay card for my mother who is in her 90's and does not want a smartphone etc. I'd like to be able to get something like the ones that are designed for kids where I can load money and manage the account. Any thoughts/recomendations? preferably one that does not have a monthly fee, and has no (or at least low) fees for loading and spending.

If you get a Starling account, you can add a Connected prepaid card (which you add funds to, but anyone can use) to it.

Pixeltash

68ydbk0CgKt8aB69Lxgu said:

I'd like to get a pre-pay card for my mother who is in her 90's and does not want a smartphone etc. I'd like to be able to get something like the ones that are designed for kids where I can load money and manage the account. Any thoughts/recomendations? preferably one that does not have a monthly fee, and has no (or at least low) fees for loading and spending.

I'm in the same position as you, my dad (who I have LPoA for) currently has a Tesco prepaid card, which he uses to keep some independence when he goes out with a family member or his carer ( he has dementia) we've had this card for the last three years, and I run the app on my phone and load it with money for him.  
This has worked well and with prompting on how to tap his card he can use it at the barbers, at a group he attends or can "treat" me to a coffee etc.   

However Tesco are closing the prepaid card account in April.  So I've been looking for a replacement.  The main problem I've come up against is that he doesn't have the ID in his own name anymore to qualify. No driving licence or passport and they won't take his bus pass as relevent id.   When signing up to the Tesco card they didn't ask for any ID, so it was really easy to do. 

I suspect I'm going to have to sign up for a prepaid card in my name and give it to him to use.   Which may upset him if it has my name printed on it and not his.
 
There is a dementia friendly card I  could get, Sibstar, but being a real money saver paying £4.99 a month seems like a bit of a p**s take! 

Savvy_Sue

Would the Starling option mentioned above be any good?

And I would push back slightly on the ID. Not that unusual to have neither licence nor passport in later life.

Some years ago, granted, my brother and I opened a joint bank account, and he had only a paper driving licence and his bus pass ... But proof of address may be tricky in your case?

Pixeltash

Thanks for taking time to reply.

He still has bills in his name and has benefit letters, it's the photo ID he's lacking.  I suspect you opened the bank account around the same time I opened his Tesco prepaid and it seems like everything is a lot tighter now.   We wouldn't be looking to change but Tesco are removing the prepaid card entirely. 

He's been turned down by two prepaid cards already due to lack of accepted photo id. 

Pixeltash

Update - I thought I'd try again and went for a card with Ode, dad used to work with adults with learning difficulties so would have been under the carers bit, and I thought well I'm certainly a carer so if it fails for dad, I can apply in my name and give it to him. 

When I clicked through it allowed retired on the application, so I went through with my dad's details.  Then it asked to be paid upfront (£4.99 for sending the card and £5 for the account) I thought that was it.  But thought I'd just try my dad's current prepaid card details and it went through.  Fingers crossed it completes properly, but I can see the £5 in the new prepaid account and the £9.99 debited from his Tesco prepaid card. 

Hmmm I'm glad it's worked, but it seems to be misleading.   It states free to open and the money saving write up doesn't mention the 40p charge to load the card with anything under £200 🙄 

But if it works for my dad it will be worth it and the £200 would last him a ages.   With the Tesco card I was loading only £50 at once, as we felt if we lost that it wasn't such a big deal as losing a card that had access to all his savings would be. 
So I guess 40p a few times a year won't be too bad, but it is annoying that the upfront cost isn't mentioned and the loading charge isn't taken into account in the cards write up here.