Prepaid Credit Card

[maud gonne]

Does anyone know where to get a sinple no fees (if possible) prepaid credit card. I want to buy one for my son so he can shop online and stop using mine. It would have to be one that can be reloaded using cash - he has no credit card or bank account.

[Rob Tucker]

You can shop online with a debit card. I don't believe most banks have fees on use of a debit card. Most debit cards I've seen carry a Mastercard or Visa logo.

[808blogger]

Safeway. They have multiple types.

[Obie]

I have had no problems with Paypal.

Had to use tinyurl to make this work.

http://tinyurl.com/ygl569g

Edit--Sorry,I just re-read your post and saw the deal about cash.You would have to transfer the money into this yourself.When it is gone he is done though.

[Greg]

You have to be careful shopping online with a debit card. Sometimes your funds are put on hold even if you aren't buying.

An example I can give is an airline ticket on travelocity (or a similar site). I made a reservation and gave the debit card information. I was shortly informed that the flight was no longer available and to find another one. I did with no problem.

What I didn't know is the original charges for the first flight ($500)remained on the card for a couple of days. This caused me to overdraft several small debit card purchases with $200 dollars of service charges.

My bank eventually deleted the charges, but it took some time and a Hilo trip to sort it out.

I avoid this kind of problem now by using a credit card online.


Stoneface

[Rob Tucker]

Good to know. Thanks Greg.

[Bob Orts]

It sounds like you're looking for a "Prepaid" and "Reloadable" card. Both Visa and Mastercard has them. Make sure it's an actual Visa or Mastercard and not someone elses internal card with a Visa or Mastercard logo.

Couple of things to remember. The limit on the card is absolute so once you hit the limit, there are no overdrafts protections, it will be denied.

There are small fees to get the card or a monthly service fee to keep it going. The fees are very small and often less than what an annual credit card charges.

The reloadable cards comes with a quirk, often times they have to be reloaded from the same vendor purchased. So if you buy it at Long's, you need to reload at Long's. Some let you reload online at their site, but cash reloads are at the vendor.

Since these cards are bank issued, different banks have different maximum limits. One may let you load it up to $750, another to $5,000, so make sure you know the maximum. Otherwise they act just like a debit card so make sure you know about the holds on some purchases. Since there is no overdraft protection (unless tied to another card) holds can max out the card.

These are not gift cards like Amex with a set amount and may not be accepted everywhere. They are debit cards but instead of being tied to your bank account, its tied to the available dollars prepaid on the account. All other debit card requirments apply.