Prepaid Card
You may be wondering – can I get a cheap prepaid card to take on my holiday? First of all, the definition of ‘cheap’ may depend on what the purpose of the prepay card is for and how you plan to use it. That is, what is ‘cheap’ for you is as individual as you are and may be influenced by how you plan to use your card. Certainly, it may not be defined as a cheap prepaid card for someone else. Only you can decide on this.
Holidays and prepay cards
If you are going on your holidays soon, you may find that a prepaid card could be an easy way of managing your money whilst abroad. Rather than having to change up lots of currency before you go and carry it around with you (which could raise a few personal security concerns), or trudge around looking for an attractive exchange rate for your Traveler’s Checks, all you typically need to do is take your card.
You can then use it to withdraw cash at any ATM that shows your brand’s acceptance mark, as well as pay for goods and services in shops and other outlets. Of course, there may be fees attached to these sort of transactions, but it may be worth thinking about if you are going overseas soon.
Of course, prepaid cards aren’t designed just to be used on holidays. A prepaid card may prove very useful for people who want the flexibility that having plastic offers, while keeping their finances under control. This is because you can only spend what is on the card, rather than having the temptation to run up debt like you may do with a credit card. So, it may be a very valuable financial tool to help you keep control of your money.
You simply load up your prepay card with cash and once you’ve spent what is on there, you simply top it up once again. Loading up your card with funds is often easy too.
Loading your prepaid card
Depending on who you get your prepay card from, your loading options may include all or some of the following:
- by having your wages paid on to the card;
- via a payday loan from Speed-e-loans (if you have an activated prepaid Speed-e-card).
Choosing a prepaid card
There are a number of prepay debit cards companies, and their fees may vary. What one card provider may charge for one thing may be free with another. That is why is may be sensible to shop around and compare the different fees as well as card features. Ask yourself:
- is there a cost per transaction?
- am I charged a one-off application fee?
- does the card have an associated e-bank account so that I can manage it online?
- how usable is the card? (eg if it is a prepaid Visa, you can feel confident that it will typically be accepted wherever the Visa sign is displayed globally) etc.
Doing this could be key to you getting what could be defined as a cheap prepaid card that is suitable for your day-to-day and holiday needs.