Best Prepaid Debit Card..

kymi

Hope someone can advise me
My husband who is nearly 65 has always been a cash only man. (I do all of the banking, online and otherwise etc). He has his 'pocket money' in cash every month and has done so for the last 43 years of our marriage. (He's a cash under the mattress sort of chap lol).. 
Now with the pandemic and many places not taking cash etc we're realising he needs a debit card. He doesn't want one attached to our bank accounts as he wants to spend his own money so I thought a prepaid debit card would be ideal. I've had a look online and the choices seem to be overwhelming. Does anyone have any experience of prepaid debit cards, Are there hidden fee's etc? 
Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you 
Kymi

sourcrates

Why can`t he instead just open a new bank account, that you can transfer his "pocket money" into, and just use the card that comes with the account ?

Its much simpler, and there are no fee`s (pre-paid card providers have to make money somehow) pre-paid card fee`s vary by provider, average is between £1-£5 per month, depending on type and amount of transactions.

You can open an online only Monzo account, litterally in seconds if your identlty can be confirmed online, its very easy, and they are available to anyone.

whitesmith

Agree with above and would only add you could also look at a Starling account, the advantage being that you cannot go overdrawn if the overdraft slider is set to zero, thus he could only spend his 'own' money.

PixelPound

prepaid debit cards all come with an admin fee, £5-£10 is usual, plus other admin fees like when using ATM's. Pockit is £1.99 so probably one of the cheapest. However as has been said open his own bank account and then just transfer his pocket money into it rather than withdrawing. Either Monzo or Starling are good choices, he can have an app on hs phone and check available balance.

NoodleDoodleMan

whitesmith said:

Agree with above and would only add you could also look at a Starling account, the advantage being that you cannot go overdrawn if the overdraft slider is set to zero, thus he could only spend his 'own' money.

Seconded.

So easy to manage on mobile 'phone.

jbrassy

I agree with the comments above that Monzo and Starling are great options, especially Starling in my opinion. Having said that, another potential option is Revolut which is a prepaid card which does not charge fees if you open the Basic account. Revolut can also easily be managed using a mobile phone.

[Deleted User]

jbrassy said:

I agree with the comments above that Monzo and Starling are great options, especially Starling in my opinion. Having said that, another potential option is Revolut which is a prepaid card which does not charge fees if you open the Basic account. Revolut can also easily be managed using a mobile phone.

Starling is good if you might want cash - otherwise Revolut and Monzo have very similar functionality (£200 free ATM limit) unless you are using Monzo as your main bank.

A secondary current account with your existing provider and new account with Metro Bank (they setup the account in branch) can also be options 

Emmia

Or just get another current account with whichever bank you currently use, just for his "pocket money"

NoodleDoodleMan

dahj said:

jbrassy said:

I agree with the comments above that Monzo and Starling are great options, especially Starling in my opinion. Having said that, another potential option is Revolut which is a prepaid card which does not charge fees if you open the Basic account. Revolut can also easily be managed using a mobile phone.

Starling is good if you might want cash - otherwise Revolut and Monzo have very similar functionality (£200 free ATM limit) unless you are using Monzo as your main bank.

A secondary current account with your existing provider and new account with Metro Bank (they setup the account in branch) can also be options 

Starling is good everywhere in my experience, ATMs and merchants etc.

Metrobank have been offering online applications for current accounts with debit card for a while now, the previous branch only applications policy has been superseded - and it incurs ATM fees outside "Europe" (SEPA to be precise) although I doubt that would be a deal breaker consideration in the OP's scenario.

https://apply.metrobankonline.co.uk/apply/

jet01

I agree Starling would be the best choice but if you are set on going for a prepaid card account rather than a current account then the Monese would be my choice. After paying the one-off charge for the card delivery it is relatively easy to avoid ongoing charges altogether. 

[Deleted User]

NoodleDoodleMan said:

dahj said:

jbrassy said:

I agree with the comments above that Monzo and Starling are great options, especially Starling in my opinion. Having said that, another potential option is Revolut which is a prepaid card which does not charge fees if you open the Basic account. Revolut can also easily be managed using a mobile phone.

Starling is good if you might want cash - otherwise Revolut and Monzo have very similar functionality (£200 free ATM limit) unless you are using Monzo as your main bank.

A secondary current account with your existing provider and new account with Metro Bank (they setup the account in branch) can also be options 

Starling is good everywhere in my experience, ATMs and merchants etc.

Metrobank have been offering online applications for current accounts with debit card for a while now, the previous branch only applications policy has been superseded - and it incurs ATM fees outside "Europe" (SEPA to be precise) although I doubt that would be a deal breaker consideration in the OP's scenario.

https://apply.metrobankonline.co.uk/apply/

The reason for singling out the branch aspect of Metro is they setup everything including app access and producing the debit card there and then. Online they are just another bank...