PayPal™ Prepaid MasterCard®
Because PayPal™ is the authority of online payments, it stands to reason that the PayPal™ Prepaid MasterCard® is one of the best prepaid debit cards on the market. While the card costs $4.95 per month, it offers unlimited signature and PIN purchases as well as cash back from select specialty stores and restaurants. It also offers the advantage of transferring money between your card and your PayPal account.
Theoretically, it is possible to link other prepaid cards to your PayPal™ account, but I’ve heard of many problems associated with the difficulty of linking them. In addition to your PayPal™ account, you can add money with direct deposit, or at over 130,000 NetSpend Reload Network locations nationwide. Fees may apply at these locations.
Fifth Third Access 360° Reloadable Prepaid Card
The Fifth Third Access 360° Reloadable Prepaid Card offers utmost convenience and a ton of handy perks. Better yet, acquiring the card and using it can be insanely cheap.
This card doesn’t charge any fees to sign up, nor does it charge fees for adding, withdrawing, or transferring money. You can use it anywhere MasterCard is accepted and you can add money to the card in a bank branch or using their mobile app. The best part is, you can easily withdraw cash fee-free from more than 45,000 ATMs nationwide.
A $4 monthly fee does apply, but you can have this fee waived if you’re a Fifth Third Banking customer or if you deposit more than $500 onto your card each month.
Fifth Third Access 360° Reloadable Prepaid Card –Snapshot
$4 monthly fee that’s waived if you are a Fifth Third banking customer, or if you add more than $500 per month on your card
Fee-free access to more than 45,000 ATMs nationwide
Add money in a bank branch or using the mobile app
MOVO Virtual Prepaid Visa Card
The MOVO Virtual Prepaid Visa Card is easy to acquire and nearly free to use. For starters, you don’t need a credit check to sign up. There are no monthly fees and no fees for inactivity or activation. There are no fees for purchases made with the card either, making this a good card for people who want to keep costs down.
While the MOVO lets you withdraw cash from included ATMs for free, there are only 6,000 ATMs in their network. This could make this a poor card option for anyone who withdraws cash frequently or doesn’t live near an included ATM.
Fortunately, the MOVO Virtual Prepaid Visa Card does make it easy to load cash on your card. You can do it via direct deposit, a bank account transfer, withdrawal from Paypal or Venmo, or a cash load at qualifying retailers like Walgreens and Safeway.
MOVO Virtual Prepaid Visa Card –Snapshot
No credit check
No monthly fees and no fees for activation or inactivity
Withdraw cash for free from 6,000 ATMs nationwide; pay $2 to withdraw cash from out-of-network ATMs
Add cash to your card via direct deposit, a bank account transfer, withdrawal from Paypal or Venmo, or a cash load at qualifying retailers like Walgreens and Safeway
Western Union® NetSpend® Prepaid MasterCard®
The Western Union® NetSpend® Prepaid MasterCard® offers several features that make it both easy-to-use and inexpensive. Like most prepaid cards, it offers free deposits of your paycheck or government benefits such as Social Security, SSI, or SSDI. However, it also comes with the added benefit of letting you accept Western Union money transfers directly on your card without charge.
The card comes offers a pay-as-you-go option with no monthly fee, but that version charges $1 for each signature purchase and $2.00 for each PIN transaction. If you plan to use your card frequently, you would probably be better off signing up for the $9.95 per month Monthly Fee Advantage Plan or $5.00 per month Premier Fee Advantage Plan. Both offer unlimited signature and PIN transactions.
Western Union® NetSpend® Prepaid MasterCard® –Snapshot
Upgrade to a $5 per month Premier FeeAdvantage™ Plan after you direct deposit at least $500 into your account during one calendar month.
Access to an optional 5.00% APY Savings Account on balances up to $5,000.
Receive Western Union Money Transfers in minutes and at no charge.
Free balance inquiries via text message.
Reload your card for free at one of over 130,000 reload locations in the NetSpend Reload Network.
NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card
The NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card remains popular with users because of its easy to understand fee structure. The card comes with three separate plans – a no-fee plan with a $1 fee for signature purchases and a $2 fee per PIN purchase transactions, a Fee Advantage Plan with a $9.95 monthly fee and free unlimited transactions, and a NetSpend Premier FeeAdvantage Plan with a $5.00 monthly fee and free unlimited transactions.
If you only make a handful of transactions each month, you might be better off going with the pay-as-you-go plan with no monthly fee, but if you make lots of purchases, you should probably choose one of the plans with a monthly fee and unlimited transactions. You can qualify for the cheapest plan, the NetSpend Premier FeeAdvantage Plan, by setting up a direct deposit of at least $500 during one calendar month.
NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card — Snapshot
Load your card for free at more than 130,000 reload locations.
Funds are FDIC insured up to the current coverage limit.
Online banking makes it easy to manage and pay bills online.
No minimum balance and no credit check.
Perfect for users who want to make unlimited transactions without additional fees.
How much does it cost to get a prepaid card?
This can vary depending on the kind of prepaid card you’re getting and the issuer. In most cases, you will have a minimal fee, and some can even charge activation and monthly fees from $1 to $5. Other cards on the higher end of the spectrum can get as high as $60 a year. Take the American Express Serve®, for example, which has a monthly fee of $1 or the NetSpend® Visa® Prepaid Card which charges $5.
Can you use a prepaid debit card for online shopping?
Prepaid debit cards utilize the same card networks (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) as regular credit cards. Regardless of what type of prepaid debit card you have, it’s likely that you can use it anywhere that a regular credit card is accepted. Groceries, gas, online shopping — anything! The only difference between prepaid debit cards and regular credit cards is that when you use them, you’re spending your own money, not the bank’s.
Sometimes prepaid debit cards even have perks. The fee that merchants must pay (per transaction) to accept debit cards and prepaid debit cards is lower than what they must pay when the customer swipes a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. In sum, it’s possible that you could one day find yourself in a store that will accept your prepaid card, but not your regular credit card.
How do I add money to my prepaid card?
There are several different ways that you can add money to a prepaid debit card:
A direct deposit from a checking account, savings account, or another prepaid card
Often, the retailer where you purchased the card can add funds from the register
Some prepaid debit card issuers sell “reload” packs online or in stores (usually for $20, $50, or $100)....
