Prepaid Cards list

monsieur_epargnant

I've been tracking the costs/charges for each of them and I hope the following list will be useful to someone else at took ages!

In order of what i considered the worst to the best in terms of charges:

17) TheUniqueCard Mastercard- £9.95 (2 cards £19.90) - monthly £5.95 - plus 5.95 after 120 days inactivity - transactions £1.50 - topups free at Post Office and £2 at e-Pay
topup £100 - Free at Post Office - £2 at e-Pay outlets
transactions (1x £50, 2x £20 and 1x £10) - £6
TOTAL COST of 1 card using above example and topup at Post Office= £21.90

16) Confetti Maestro - £15.00 - NO monthly fee - transactions free - topups £0-100 = £2.00, £100.01+ = £1 per £50 (or at the Post Office a flat rate of £2.00)
topup £100 = £2.00
transactions - free
TOTAL = £17.00 (this wedding specific card also incorporates a wedding list)

15) Oakham Maestro- £9.50 (2nd card free) - monthly fee £4.50 - transactions free - topups bacs free - postoffice £1 - Paypoint 3%
topup £100 - £1 at Post Office - £3 at PayPoint
transactions - free
TOTAL £15

14) Cashplus Mastercard- £9.95 (2 cards £19.90) - £4.95 monthly fee!! (ActivePlus) OR transactions £1(FlexiPlus) - plus 4.95 if no transactions for 120 days - topups free
topup £100 - Free from Post Office or £2 at e-Pay retail outlets
transactions - no charge with ActivePlus - £4 with FlexiPlus
TOTAL ActivePlus - £14.90 - Flexiplus - £13.95 (plus apparently this card gives you purchase protection) can anyone confirm the location of this?

13) Credecard Maestro- £10.00 (2 cards £16.00)- monthly fee £2 - transaction fee 25p - topups free except paypoint £1
topup £100 - Free BACS - PayPoint £1
transactions - £1
TOTAL £13

12) Splash Plastic Maestro - £5.00 - NO monthly fee ANNUAL fee £4.95 - Transactions 2.5% - topups 30p per £10 (free by BACS)
Topup £100 - £3.00
Transactions (£1.25+ £0.50+ £0.50+ £0.25) = £2.50
TOTAL = £12.95 (annual fee on this card changes it's position long-term)

11) Justcashcard Maestro- £7.95 (2 cards £15.90) - £3.95 monthly fee - transactions free - topups Post Office 75p - PayPoint/online -85p-3%
topup £100 - 75p at Post Office - £3 PayPoint
transactions - free
TOTAL £12.65

9) Quidity Maestro- £5.00 - NO monthly fee annual £4.95 - Transactions 2.95% fee - topups Post Office free - BACS free - PayPoint 3%
topup £100 - Free at Post Office/BACS - Paypoint £3
transactions - (£1.48+ £0.59+ £0.59+ £0.30) - £2.96
TOTAL £12.91 (note ANNUAL fee changes this card's position long-term)

9) Virgin Mastercard- £9.95 (2 cards £15.90) - NO monthly/annual fees - transactions 2.95% - topups postoffice/BACS free - paypoint 2.75%
topup £100 - free at Post Office/BACS - PayPoint £2.75
transactions - £2.96
TOTAL £12.91

8) Breadcard Maestro- £10.00 (2 cards £20.00) - NO monthly fee - transaction fee 2% - topups 25p except paypoint £1
topup £100 - 25p BACS - £1 PayPoint
transactions - (£1.00+ £0.40+ £0.40+ £0.20) - £2
TOTAL £12.25 (using BACS as not sure of Post Office topup)

7) Ministry of Sound Maestro - £9.99 (additional fee for user defined image) - NO monthly fee - transaction fee £0.20 - topups free
topup £100 - free
transactions - £1.00
TOTAL = £10.99 (PLUS you get an MP3 to download every 10 purchases)

6) Club 18-30 Maestro - £8.95 (additional fee for user defined image) - NO monthly fee - transactions free - toups upto £20 = £0.85, £20.01-£30.00 = £1.00, £30.01-£50.00 = £1.50, £50.01-£100.00 = £2.00, £100.01-£200.00 = £3.00, £200.01+ 3% (phew!!)
topup £100 = £2.00
transactions - free
TOTAL = £10.95

5) Talksport Maestro- £9.95 - NO monthly/annual fee - transactions free - topups online/paypoint 3% - Post Office 75p
topup £100 - Post Office 75p - Online/Paypoint £3
transactions - free
TOTAL £10.70

4) Extremecred Maestro- £8.95 (2 cards £17.90) - NO monthly/annual fee - transactions free - topups online/paypoint 3% - Post Office 70p
topup £100 - Post Office 70p - Online/Paypoint £3
transactions - free
TOTAL £9.65

3) On-X Maestro- £6.99 (2 cards £13.98) - NO monthly fee - transaction 50p - topups postoffice/online 50p
topup £100 - 50p at Post Office/Online (that's right no local retailers top this one up)
transactions - £2
TOTAL £9.49

2) TheSun Mastercard- £6.49 (2 cards £6.49) less £5 promotional offer- £4.99 with Pay Monthly OR no fee Pay as you GO - transactions free (PM) OR 2.95% (min 50p max £1.50) PAYG - topups BACS/Bank free - 3% PayPoint
topup £100 - BACS/Bank free - £3 at PayPoint
transactions - with Pay Monthly card free - with PAYG card - (£1.48+ £0.59+ £0.59+ £0.50) - £3.06
TOTAL £9.55 (plus £5 back with current promotion) using BACS/Bank as no Post Office payments

1) 3V Visa- ONLINE purchases only - free - £1.00 monthly fee with credit on the card - transactions free - topups £20 free - £30-£100 = £2 fee - £110-£200 = £3.50
topup £100 - free if done in £20's - £2 at PayZone
transactions - free
TOTAL £3.00

AND THE SAME LIST (less the On-X card) in order of worst to best using e-Pay, PayPoint and Payzone retailers:

16) TheUniqueCard Mastercard- topping up at e-Pay £23.90
14) Oakham Maestro- PayPoint £17
14) Confetti - £17
13) Cashplus Mastercard- ActivePlus £16.90 Flexiplus £15.95
12) Quidity Maestro- £15.91
11) Virgin Mastercard- £15
10) Justcashcard Maestro- £14.90
8) Credecard Maestro- £13
8) Breadcard Maestro- £13
6) Splash Plastic - £12.95
6) Talksport Maestro- £12.95
5) Extremecred Maestro- 11.95
4) Ministry of Sound - £10.99 (can anyone confirm that PayPoint topups are free on this card?)
3) Club 18-30 - £10.95
2) TheSun Mastercard- PM 11.05 - PAYG £7.99 (don't forget current £5 back offer which then places this PAYG card at No. 1)
1) 3V Visa- £5.00 (if topped up in one go or £3.00 if you do them in multiples of £20)