Pre Paid Credit Cards (payment, rent, account, dollars)
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I think most of the people on this board would recommend a bank account with a debit card tied to it. But if you have problems keeping your account balanced and feel that you may have issues with fees, then whatever alternative you think is best is all you can do. I don't think you will find anyone on these boards who is in favor of the types of cards you are talking about, but you always have to make a decision that is best for you.
Well I have been cashing my check then paying bill by Money Order...well twice here lately my money orders have been lost in the mail. To stop payment & get my money back it has cost ME $12 + a 30 to 60 days to get my money....Plus the cost of the org money order. Right now there are 2 of my money orders floating around!! Sorry I can afford these kinds of mistakes. Thats why I have been consirding prepaid cards.
Well thanks for you in put everyone.....
A prepaid card is not a credit card and will no nothing but suck your money for nothing.
I don't see any benefit to having a credit card either. I have never had a credit card.
I have also bought several properties with no credit and am buying another property as we speak with no money down and no credit !
You don't see any benefit to an interest free loan for up to 30 days? Plus the various miles, points, cash back, etc that credit cards offer?
Quote:
Banks have very expensive fees....with these when you hit 0 you can not make any more purchases. With the bank cards you still can & you get charged as a bad check! Miss calculate by so much as a penny you could be charge as much as $32 [overdraft fees!]
Yes but most of those pre-paid cards have monthly fees plus fees to add value to them and other random fees. Unless you think you are going to overdraft a lot they really add up and will be more than an overdraft fee quickly.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,761,129 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emailvasally
I have never heard of these things! Is it like the visa gift card?
Why in the world would you even consider this when you can get a checking and savings account for free with a check card? I guess this is something new for me to look into. I just dont get the benifits.
I wanted one for the convenience of giving it to my daughter for college and then being able to go online and put money on it when she needs some. But the charges are too high so I will just drive to WaMu where she has her free account and deposit cash.
#1 I am not trying to build cr..2 I am trying to keep from carring lots of cash at the beginning of the month [usually broke by mid month...but bills are paid!!] Trying to find a way to pay bills without getting lost in the mail...as the mail seems to get worse as stamps & all go up [going up again in May!!] So Other than the fees are there any other pit falls with prepaid...oh and I am planning on moving from this area in a year...so no I dont want an account that I will have to close in a year.
No I dont think these are gift cards...emailv. Tho most gift cards do have an experation date & their own fees...you should check them out before you buy & spend them as soon as possible according to what I heard on the news after Christmas!
Why would you need to close the account? (Most) banks don't have residency requirements on checking accounts. The fees are the pitfalls with pre-paid cards. You are paying for something you can get for free elsewhere.
ETA: For those that don't know what these are, here is an example: https://www.greendotonline.com/contents/login.aspx (broken link)
Using that as an example for fees. In the first year, assuming you just do direct deposit, you are looking at:
Activation: $9.95
Monthly Fee: $4.95 x 12 = $59.40
Total: $69.35
That is a guaranteed fee. That is two overdrafts at your typical bank.
Then if you ever want to take cash out of an ATM they charge you $2.50 plus whatever the bank you are withdrawing from charges non-customers to use their ATMs.
I don't know. To me that is a massive rip off.
Last edited by PeteyNice; 02-23-2008 at 10:29 PM..
A prepaid card is not a credit card and will no nothing but suck your money for nothing.
I don't see any benefit to having a credit card either. I have never had a credit card.
I have also bought several properties with no credit and am buying another property as we speak with no money down and no credit !
rickers..What interest rate are you getting? bet they are sky high! Did you have title search so that there are NO liens on the property...other than yours. And have a lawyer fix it so they cant borrow money after you buy.....using your property as their security.
Why on earth would you not get a checking account with a debit card and write checks to pay bills instead of purchasing money orders? I pay nothing for my checking account and got free checks when I opened the account. Paying $4.95 a month and $1.95 each time I need to get cash is ridiculous. Why should I have to pay to get my own money? Why would I pay close to $5 a month just for them to hold my money for me?
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