Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in editorial content are those of the authors alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the advertiser. She has written and edited content on personal finance topics for more than five years. Please try again later. Directly deposit payroll, government benefits or tax return funds. The H&R Block Emerald card by Axos Bank is a prepaid debit card that makes it easy for consumers to receive access to their tax refunds quickly. As a result, there is credit or borrowing involved with prepaid cards. Load money on the card that you can then spend. Utilize card payments without needing to connect your bank account. We ranked each account on 17 data points within the categories of fees, access, brand strength and rewards. The credits could take 36 to 48 hours to show up in your ONE VIP account. Reload methods: Direct deposit, bank transfer, cash load at Fifth Third branch or ATM. Best with No PIN Transaction Fees: PayPal Prepaid Mastercard. Cash withdrawal and third-party fees may apply. Movo Virtual Prepaid Visa Card . Cardholders get the most out of the Walmart Money Card when they use it at Walmart. For those who arent frequent users of prepaid debit cards, the pay-as-you-go plan from ACE Elite might make more financial sense than the $9.95 flat-fee plan. Once you have your list of required features and know how youll use the card, find the lowest cost option that meets these requirements. You can also receive instant transaction alerts and lock your debit card if you lose it. Her work has been featured by Nasdaq, MSN, TheStreet and Yahoo Finance. Prepaid debit cards come with a variety of fees that add to the cost. Prepaid debit cards can make it easier to control your spending and stay out of credit card debt, but steep fees can erode their benefits. advertiser(s) Affiliate Program(s). Serve American Express Prepaid Debit Account, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Starbucks Rewards Visa Prepaid Card From Chase, Western Union Netspend Mastercard Prepaid Card. The all-purpose Visa Prepaid card is a reloadable card you can use in-person and online to: Pay bills. Prepaid cards are easy to get. There is no monthly maintenance fee. $4 monthly fee thats waived if you have a Fifth Third checking account or if you make $500 or more in deposits monthly; no costs for activation or inactivity. The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission. Prepaid cards, also called stored-value cards, include gift cards and reloadable debit cards. Manage your money from your mobile device through the app. We promise to do whatever is necessary to get you the information you need when you need it, to make our opinions fair and useful, and to make sure our facts are accurate. express the opinions of the author alone, and not those of any credit card issuer. Learn more about how prepaid debit cards work. American Express Serve Cash Back - Best turnaround time. Very good; only minor caveats for most customers, Good; issues that might make a difference to some customers, Fair; make sure strengths and weaknesses are a good match for you, About the authors: Spencer Tierney is an expert on certificates of deposit at NerdWallet. Best with No Monthly Fees: Brinks Prepaid Mastercard. Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card: Best for ATM withdrawals. When you use your card for purchases, Extra spots you the money. Or set a tight budget by restricting your spending to no more than what you've loaded onto your card at the beginning of the month. Payments can be split across multiple accounts. How To Find The Cheapest Travel Insurance. Sells prepaid cards and gift cards. The Best Prepaid Cards 1. Disclaimer: NerdWallet strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. FamZoo is a family-friendly prepaid Mastercard that lets parents become virtual bankers for their kids, even those younger than 13. Earn up to 1% cash back. Best Savings Accounts For Digital Banking, ATM Withdrawal Limits: What You Need To Know, How To Switch Banks: A Step-By-Step Guide, ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card (Pay As You Go), No fee for cash reloads at Regions Bank branches and ATMs, $5 monthly fee if you make fewer than seven purchases per statement cycle, Mobile load fee of 1% to 4% of the check amount (minimum $5), Donates to charities supporting communities of color, Must accumulate $25 in rewards points to redeem them, 4% foreign transaction fees (higher than the typical 3%), Domestic cash withdrawals are only free if you receive direct deposits, The pay-as-you-go plan charges more than competitors, No maintenance fee if you receive $500 or more in monthly direct deposits, Cashback rewards at participating merchants, Requires income information and two years of address history, Transferring money from your checking account or another prepaid card, Directly depositing your paycheck onto the card, Loading physical cash onto the card at approved retailers or the financial institution that provided the card, Purchasing a reload pack to add a specific amount to the card. Each debit card you create has its own unique account number. Save When I Get Paid automatically transfers 10% of your direct deposits of $500 or more from your Checking Account into your savings account. Gold Visa Prepaid Card earns cash back rewards plus 3% APY. After that, the fee is just $4.99 per month for a family with up to five children. There is a monthly fee, but its as low as $2.50 a month, and its for the entire family. Downsides: No free ATM network; maximum monthly fee is higher than average; no mobile check deposit feature. , Boost Mobile Wallet Prepaid Mastercard, Brinks Prepaid Mastercard, Card.com Prepaid Card, CashPass Prepaid Mastercard, Commerce Bank mySpending Card, Control Prepaid Mastercard, Exact Prepaid Mastercard, FamZoo Prepaid Card, Fancard, FasterMoney, Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card, Fred Meyer Prepaid Card. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. But prepaid cards come with a number of fees you should keep your eye on, such as a monthly or reload fee. Most prepaid cards offer many of the features you'd expect from a checking account -- you can pay bills, receive direct deposits, transfer money, withdraw funds at ATMs and deposit cash. Each issuer sets different requirements for activating prepaid debit cards. 2022 A.R. 10 day wait to avoid fees . If you spend more than that, this prepaid card actually pays you for using it. You can set up direct deposit of your paycheck and automate savings with Chimes round-up feature.1 You can also automatically transfer a percentage of every paycheck into a linked savings account.1 A Chime Checking Account is required to be eligible for a Savings Account. You can use these cards at any online or physical location that accepts debit cards. A prepaid card works like a debit card, but a prepaid card isnt connected to a checking or savings account. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Skip ahead to read about these low-fee alternatives. (Retailers other than Walmart may charge up to $3.95.). In other words, the money is not immediately taken out of your bank account. If you'd like your kids to get some practical knowledge about investing, the $7.99 and $9.98 monthly plans add stock trading. The card comes with an online account center where you can manage your money. This prepaid, reloadable card is family-friendly. Likewise, if you plan to make numerous ATM withdrawals each month, find a prepaid card that offers free withdrawals. Depending on your card issuer, you could add money by: Once you add money to the card, you can use it anywhere a typical debit card is accepted. Service fees may apply to reload at stores. Our content may include summaries of insurance providers, or their products or services. Earn cash back through the PayPal rewards program. Can you get money from an ATM with a prepaid card? ATMs inside Publix stores and at 7-Eleven ATMs listed on the bank's website or mobile app; $2.75 fee at other ATMs, plus any ATM operator fees. No activation fee for online orders. The Amex Platinum Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Blue Cash Preferred, Ink Business Cash vs. Best for no monthly fees: Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit Account. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. But if you're fee averse, you're not totally out of options the Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit Account could be a solid choice for you. This control over your finances helps you manage your spending and offers you peace of mind. This card is available in the 11 states where there are Fifth Third branches, which is the only place you can get the card. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team. Prepaid cards are sold at retail stores (usually for a fee) and some can be ordered online. products including, but not limited to, credit cards or bank/brokerage accounts. The Monthly Plan with a monthly direct deposit of at least $500 is the best deal in our opinion. You are here: incorrigible child michigan / athena modern allusions / best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment January 20, 2023 / in heartworm prevalence by zip code / by Ive covered the prepaid card market since 2008. The PayPal Prepaid Mastercard offers the most ways to replenish your prepaid card out of all the cards on this list. With Walmart Rapid Reload, funds are typically available within 10 minutes. Parents and turn a card off or on from the app. You could also incur an inactivity fee of $5.95 per month if you dont use the card for 90 days. Card must be linked to PayPal account. Your potential liability is capped at $50 if you give timely notice that your card has been lost or stolen. Some of the top cards even offer cashback rewards. Movo offers a virtual prepaid Visa that eliminates the need for a plastic card. Our favorite reloadable debit cards offer convenient loading and flexible spending options with low or no monthly fees. Offers travel protection and 24/7 customer service. A prepaid debit card for international travel also lets consumers make more secure purchases when spending abroad. Here are the 5 best prepaid debit cards of 2022: Best overall: Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit account. A prepaid debit card is not linked to a bank account, so you can only spend as much as the available balance. If you buy the card online, you may be issued a virtual card or receive a physical card in the mail at a later time. Based on recent rules enacted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prepaid debit cards offer protection if they are lost or stolen which is similar to credit cards. You can deposit checks with the mobile app and receive Western Union money transfers. A prepaid debit card is like a renewable gift card. Free at over 60,000 ATMs in the Allpoint, MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATM networks; $2.50 at other ATMs, plus any ATM operator fee. Charges a $1.95 domestic ATM cash withdrawal fee. The card is issued by American Express, which isnt accepted everywhere that Visa and Mastercard are. approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser(s). These accounts provide another shot at mainstream banking and its perks. Still, there are many prepaid debit cards that charge outrageous fees, offer limited benefits, or both. To create this list, Forbes Advisor analyzed 34 prepaid cards from 28 providers, including a mix of traditional brick-and-mortar banks, online banks, credit unions and fintech companies. No monthly fees and no costs for online activation or inactivity. Cynthia Paez Bowman is a finance, real estate and international business journalist. Open-looped Prepaid Cards Linked to Social Security Number (SSN). Prepaid debit cards vs. regular debit cards. You can also deposit funds through the Netspend app, which has check capture capabilities. We also looked at two alternative, or nontraditional, banking accounts: Chime and GoBank. Ink Business Cash vs. Best with No ATM Fees: Serve American Express Prepaid Debit Account. In contrast, prepaid gift cards cannot be reloaded. . The scoring formulas take into account multiple data points for each financial product and service. Information in this guide is general in nature and is intended for informational purposes only; it is not legal, health, investment or tax advice. He is a former litigation attorney in the securities field and the Founding Editor of Forbes Advisor. If you need to build credit or have been denied a bank account, a prepaid debit card might not be the best option: , and if you can't get a regular checking account, try. Typically, with credit card debt, your creditor has to sue you in court and win before a wage garnishment can happen. Some of the most common reasons people end up regretting their prepaid cards are high fees, inconvenient funding and reloading methods. You can't redeem the rewards as actual cash during ATM withdrawals, but you can apply your cash-back balance to your next in-store or online purchase. Plus, you don't have to worry about overdraft fees, since your spending cannot exceed the available balance on your card. Cash withdrawal and third-party fees may apply. 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