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5 things you need to know about prepaid cards

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businessAre you considering picking up a prepaid card? Then you most certainly will find this article interesting, as I will be sharing with you some secrets here in this article that will make it easier for you to decide which to settle for.

Now it can be a bit of a problem making the decision on which prepaid card to choose given that there are quite a number of options to choose from.

One thing you most certainly know by now is that there are different options of prepaid credit cards with each of them having a slight variation from the other in terms of type of credit options available.

Before you work into the banking hall or collect a third party prepaid card, here are some things you want to get familiar with.

  1. Prepaid card perform debit functions and not credit.

A prepaid card no matter the type is designed to spend money and not save or collect money. They function just like debit cards you use in withdrawing from your account with an ATM or POS. The only difference is that there are preloaded with a fixed amount of cash and would need to be reloaded when they run out. The money you spend belongs to you and not the bank so you want to ensure that you always spend wisely when out with a prepaid card.

  1. You don’t need a bank account to load a prepaid card

Prepaid card serve as an alternative to traditional banking. You can easily get an American Express card if you reside in the US even though you do not have an account with any of the local banks. This has gone a long way to save people from the hassles of dealing with a bank when they need access to money.

  1. Prepaid cards make payments easy

With a prepaid card, you can pay for services anywhere so long as it is loaded with enough money to cover the expenses. You can pay for hotel room, flight ticket, taxis, and also to shop for food, clothes and other items in all stores where prepaid cards are accepted. They are light weight and make it easy to carry money around all in a plastic card with a chip.

  1. Prepaid cards come with fees

Before signing up for a prepaid card, you most certainly want to get to know the fees and charges that come with using the card. Unlike credit cards, there are hidden fees associated with using a prepaid card, but the good thing is that the charges are not that heavy but you can be certain of getting charged if you use a prepaid card for overseas transactions. Some charges can be waived depending on conditions. Ensure you ask about charges and fees when signing up for a prepaid card so as to know what to expect when making transactions.

  1. You can save money using prepaid card

With prepaid cards, you can save up on monthly or quarterly expenditure by loading up a prepaid card for your groceries expenses for a period. This makes it easy to maintain a strict spending budget while you shop for groceries.

There are a lot of options available when looking to get a credit card, but it doesn’t matter which one you settle for, ensure that you go through the terms and conditions thoroughly and ask about hidden fees and charges so as not to be taken unaware.

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