How do you live without a debit card

redsquirrel80

I've just got a prepaid card as I had the same problem. Mine's with Bread - cost £10 but you get £5 back via Quidco, and the charges seem to be some of the lowest for prepaid cards.

debrag

I have splashplastic -

Card Fee £5.00 - no fee when I got mine
Annual Account Maintenance Fee £4.95 (Payable at first top up)
Monthly Management Fee FREE
Phone / Internet Balance Enquiry FREE
Transaction Fee 2.5%
ATM Withdrawal Fee £1.50 (+ 2% for withdrawals over £50)
Wage transfer to card FREE
Bank account transfer to card FREE
Top Up Fee (Post Office® or PayPoint) 30p per £10.00
Top Up Fee (Credit/Debit cards) 2.5% (Min £1.50 fee)

whatsupp

Thank You Everyone For Your Responses. I Have Just Joined This Site And You Have Made Me Feel So Welcome

Tuscan

have a look at the talk sport card, think its a tenner to join then 70p to put cash on it upto £500 a time and can be done at the post office, pretty sure theres no other charges

debrag

Talksport:
Card Purchase Fee £9.95
ATM Cash Withdrawal Fee £1.00
Foreign Transaction Fee 2.75%
Monthly Management Fee Free
Transaction Fee Free
Transfer Of Funds To Other Card Issued ByUs Free
PIN Issue / Re-Issue Free Customer Services email enquiries Free
Lost & Stolen Helpline Lo-call rate
Customer Service telephone enquiries local rate
Card Replacement Fee (Lost/Stolen/Expired) £5.00
Cancellation Fee / Refund Fee £10.00
Upgrade To Other Card Issued By Us £10.00

poppett

Hi Whatsup, I have a Natwest STEP account and have a Solo card with that one. More places accept solo now than they used to, I haven't yet had a refusal.

bandraoi

So:
Transaction Fee 2.5% so a straight 2.5%
ATM Withdrawal Fee £1.50 (+ 2% for withdrawals over £50) or min 3% on withdrawals up to £50, and 5% above
Top Up Fee (Post Office® or PayPoint) 30p per £10.00 or 3%
Top Up Fee (Credit/Debit cards) 2.5% (Min £1.50 fee) or min 2.5%, more on purchases below £60.

So they charge you a minimum of 2.5% and a minimum of 2.5% to then spend the money.

Suppose you want to buy something worth £100,
You need to have £102.50 in the account to pay what you want to pay.
and if you want to put that much in, it'll cost you minimum £2.56.

Total cost of item is £105.06

Best case scenario is a 5.06% transaction fee.

debrag

well I use it once a year if that and top up online.

If people can get a bank card then they may have to use one.

I have now applied for a natwest account but how many places online take this?

ryandj

In response to the OP, it is possible to live without a debit/credit card. I have lived with only a cash card before. I set myself a target of a very tight budget after coming out of uni to make sure I paid off my credit card debts very quickly.
So, to keep a close eye on what I was spending, I accounted for all bills and rent and debt payments, then worked out I had £60 a week for food, petrol, going out etc. So every weekend I would draw out that money, and leave my card at home for the rest of the time.
Anything I had left over, I would put in a tin before I got out the next lot of money. It worked really well, and I found that by sticking to my £60 a week budget I was able to pay off my debts very quickly as I could keep track of what I was spending, I find that with a card you can forget what you have spent or some purchases take longer than others to appear on your statement.
Combined with the pre-pay card solutions given above this would work out well.

Also, I found the lastminute.com travelcash card pretty good, its £6.99 purchase and then £1.50 per transaction in the UK.

compulsivespender79

ryandj wrote: »

In response to the OP, it is possible to live without a debit/credit card. I have lived with only a cash card before. I set myself a target of a very tight budget after coming out of uni to make sure I paid off my credit card debts very quickly.
So, to keep a close eye on what I was spending, I accounted for all bills and rent and debt payments, then worked out I had £60 a week for food, petrol, going out etc. So every weekend I would draw out that money, and leave my card at home for the rest of the time.
Anything I had left over, I would put in a tin before I got out the next lot of money. It worked really well, and I found that by sticking to my £60 a week budget I was able to pay off my debts very quickly as I could keep track of what I was spending, I find that with a card you can forget what you have spent or some purchases take longer than others to appear on your statement.
Combined with the pre-pay card solutions given above this would work out well.

I too lived for quite a while with just a cash card, and if you're on a tight budget it can work really well. Like Ryandj said, it's easy to lose track of what you're spending with a debit card, but of you only withdraw in cash what you know you've got left in your account after bills etc, you should find it easy to get used to. Lots of online places let you use Paypal now as well don't they? So it might not be as horrendous as you think.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!