Prepaid Card 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)

the_boy_with_no_name

sorry if this upsets anyone but i dont see the point in these.

most banks will give you a debit card with a basic bank account.

whays the advantage here

embarrassed_about_my_debt

the_boy_with_no_name wrote: »

sorry if this upsets anyone but i dont see the point in these.

most banks will give you a debit card with a basic bank account.

whays the advantage here

I tried to work this out too. Charges are high for something you get for free from your bank. Are they aimed at people that cant get a bank account?

the_boy_with_no_name

embarrassed_about_my_debt wrote: »

I tried to work this out too. Charges are high for something you get for free from your bank. Are they aimed at people that cant get a bank account?

but am i not right in saying that the goverment say that everyone should be able to get access to a bank account???

osoriop

The problem is - and I'm speaking from experience - that it is unbelievably difficult to get a basic bank account with a Visa or Mastercard facility on it. Try booking a flight online or ordering something from an American website with a Solo card...

saffronflowers

We use one for our online Tesco shop as they dont take Electron - also for my husbands work expenses when he goes abroad

The govt may say everyone can get a bank account but it is not that easy.

SFx

debrag

Not all banks give a debit card with a basic account. Nationwide, Abbey, NatWest, Barclays - don't

TSB, Yorkshire, Halifax,THINK BANKING - do. Some visa electron, some maestro

Pre-paid
not all places take maestro

ihatedebt_2

Not everyone can get a debit card - unfortunately many basic bank accounts only come with a simple cash card allowing you only to access your money via a cashpoint - some banks even stating that you can only use their own cashpoints!! :eek:

For some people budgeting is easier by using a card for shopping, etc so that this is an ideal option for those who cannot get a debit card.

monsieur_epargnant

As I mentioned in the OP this was originally posted in the Bankrupt forum but I though people could also benefit from seeing the list here.

They may seem pointless to those able to get credit but many of us on an even tighter budget have difficulty obtaining/retaining an account that freely gives you a debit card too. Also consider that some people may have only a Maestro/Electron card (eg. my Egg account only utilises a PLUS card usable for free at most ATM's bot not in stores) and would like an alternative purchasing option for where their card isn't accepted.

It's the ONLY option for me to enable payment of my internet fees with BE as they only accept credit/debit cards. Many other companies allow payment of bills at places like PayPoint but like my example there are exceptions.

wembley78_2

debrag wrote: »

Not all banks give a debit card with a basic account. Nationwide, Abbey, NatWest, Barclays - don't

TSB, Yorkshire, Halifax,THINK BANKING - do. Some visa electron, some maestro

Pre-paid
not all places take maestro

NatWest do issue a debit card with a basic account (Step account) i have a Step account and was issued with a Solo card which does work online with most UK retailers.

debrag

oh okay, just wont by 'no debit card' on their site . at least thats one that will