prepaid credit cards are they any good?

phil140701

hi there
right i've been looking for a credit card as i have a bad credit history and dont seem to be able to get one through the normal channels i decided to look at these so called prepaid ones just wondering has anyone else had any experience of these type of cards as i only really want it for ebay and mail order
cheers phil

nomoneytoday

IMHO they are a rip off. You can usually use switch for ebay and send cheques for mail order stuff.

JoseChungsDoomsday

I would stay clear - you can pay through direct debit for ebay!

gratis_grimace

I've found them to be OK, I too have a bad credit rating so I got one a while back for the same reasons (Ebay, mail order etc) I got the cash plus one, a prepaid mastercard, as long as you pay the monthly fee (about £4.95) it'll stay activated. Its better than shelling out £200 for the garaunteed Capital one card if your a bit skint!

phil140701

its all well and good people saying about ddebits and switch but i'm so blacklisted the corner shops wont even give me credit on a penny chew and the banks don't wanna know i can open a passbook account but no dd's and no cards which banks do these prepaid cards as the only ones i have come across are online ones and are charging £99ish to set up

gratis_grimace

Nah, don't look at those ones, they are a con, seriously go here: http://mycashplus.co.uk/ and find the nearest outlet to you to get a cashplus one. They are about £15 to set up, you can put cash on them at the post office (you get a top up card thats just like a mobile topup/gas card/leccy etc)
It effectively acts like a separate bank account, the good thing is, theres no way you can get into debt with them as its your money that your using and nobody is lending you the cash!

Yoiu cant really call them a credit card, cos they aint lending you nowt, more like a top up debit card, just accepted where ever you can use a mastercard! (Even use them abroad too!)