Pre Pay cards?

jenniewb

peregrin wrote: »

If you just want one for a one off purchase (or a few purchases) and it's less then £100 then WHSmith, Somerfield and Clintons sell Mastercard branded gift cards... you can use them straight away (but you need to activate them online for web/telephone purchases - this is free) and the only fees are a purchase fee for the card - £3.95 for £25, £4.95 for £50 and £5.95 for £100 denominations.

You can also check your balance online too.

www.my360giftcard.com has all the details.

They are presumably meant to be given as gifts but don't have to be!!!

HTH :-)

This looked good- simple and easy to understand- you pay once and thats it (unless you want to cancel the card and take any left over money off it which would cost £4.95) Does need to be used up in 12 months as after then the money vanishes.

Still think there should be a card that lets you pay less then they all seem to charge. Can understand the banks are greedy and want thier holidays and everything, but its just such a big cost in comparison to just loading it up once (£20) and using it once.

peregrin

jenniewb wrote: »

This looked good- simple and easy to understand- you pay once and thats it (unless you want to cancel the card and take any left over money off it which would cost £4.95) Does need to be used up in 12 months as after then the money vanishes.

Still think there should be a card that lets you pay less then they all seem to charge. Can understand the banks are greedy and want thier holidays and everything, but its just such a big cost in comparison to just loading it up once (£20) and using it once.

Well it's the providers preying on people without access to bank accounts really, isn't it - sort of like "we know they want to buy online so we'll charge what we like and they'll have to suck it up". All the companies are charging similar amounts, it's almost like a cartel really... and in the same way as other products like pay-as-you-go mobile phones, if you want the service you have to pay the price, and it disproportionately hits people who a) need the service most and b) are least likely to be able to afford high charges.

I think if mainstream banks take on these sort of products then charges might reduce, but why would they? They may as well sign people up for a basic bank account.

Glittermonkey

jenniewb wrote: »

This sounds good- I did go to the Travelex site- is the card your speaking about called the passport prepaid card? Only problem I could see was the £100 minimum they allowed to be loaded onto the card- I wish I had that much...! maybe then I'd be allowed a debit card!:o Rates are not too bad though- if you are loading alot onto the card.

The Co-op card on the same site looked ok, (or was this the one you have?) with 2% charged on each time you loaded the card and then £3. £30 minimum allowed to load at a time but if its inactive and empty there is no cost. Loading £30 would cost me £3.60 which would be free for me to spend.

Yes it is the Cash Passport I have. The website is incorrect as I have a new leaflet and the minimum load for £ is £50.

The co-op card is the same but for some reason does have a lower load limit.

I loaded my Travelex card this week with internet banking, i put £60 on and they loaded £200 and charged 2%. They've taken their money back but I think I should of been charged £3 for loading. I use mine to book flights with Ryanair so the £3 is cheaper than paying thier charges for using another card.

If you use the card at least once a year, you wont pay the inactivity fee, but if its not used for 12 months then you are charged but only if you have a balance on the card.