Prepaid credit cards make an excellent gift for holiday shoppers. There are many advantages to giving friends and loved ones a pre paid credit card over traditional gifts. First of all, pre paid cards can be used for a wide variety of purposes. You can use your pre paid credit card to purchase just about anything. The gift recipient can use it to purchase new clothes or apply the money towards a vacation. College students will be very happy to receive pre paid credit cards as gifts also. This person can use their gift card at the grocery store or even at the student book store. Pre paid credit cards will come in handy especially for those who are having financial difficulties. These people can use their cards to pay bills or even put it away for an emergency. Prepaid credit cards are an even better option over using a particular retailer’s gift card. The recipient is not limited to purchases at one particular place and can use it from anywhere to the movie theatre to the emergency room.
A prepaid credit card is also a gift that can keep on giving should the giver decide to re fill it. Most prepaid credit cards can have more money added to the balance simply by going to local retailers who sell the cards. You can also go online and use another credit or debit card to refill the balance. Some prepaid credit card offers will even send you text alerts when your balance reaches a certain level. Other popular features include the ability to check your recent transactions online as well as your balance.
Another important feature to consider when purchasing your prepaid credit card is the balance limit. Some prepaid cards have a $1000 limit while others can go up to $10,000. It is also important to know that prepaid credit cards are not insured by the FDIC like checking or savings accounts. Therefore, it is probably not wise too keep much money in a prepaid credit card acount. The FDIC is currently looking into extending coverage to prepaid cards as well, but until then there is no FDIC insurance provided.
There are a variety of prepaid Mastercard and Visa credit cards. However, not all pre paid cards are equal. Some pre paid credit card issuers will charge a monthly fee while others will charge you every time the card is used. The Vision Premier(SM) Prepaid Visa card is a good example of a prepaid card. They charge a one time $9.95 activation fee and a weekly fee of $0.95. Vision Premier will waive this fee if you are enrolled in their direct deposit program. They also charge you $1.95 for every time you withdraw money from any ATM machine. In addition, they also charge you $0.95 every time a transaction involves the entry of your personal identification number (PIN). Most gasoline stations require you to enter your credit card’s PIN number every time you pay at the pump. This prevents people from using stolen credit cards to fill up their gasoline tanks. The Vision Premier(SM) Prepaid Visa
will also allow you to deposit money to it at many worldwide popular locations including Western Union, ACE Cash Express and MoneyGram.
Many prepaid credit cards also come with a rewards program. For example the Wired Plastic Prepaid Visacard offers one point for every dollar spent on the card. These points can then be redeemed towards other offers like prepaid cellular time, music downloads and even cellular ring tones. Some card like the The Baby Phat Prepaid Visa RushCard even offer a cash back rewards program.
The Holiday season usually brings out the Chris Cringle in all of us. For those who are stumped about what to give a loved one this holiday season, consider giving a prepaid credit card. Anybody will be happy to receive a gift that can be used for just about any purpose. This year don’t just give your friends or loved ones a $50 gift card to Chili’s. Give a prepaid card that can be used at other places as well. Perhaps, the person you give the Chili’s card to prefers Red Lobster, or better yet going on a diet. Instead the person you give the prepaid credit card to will be able to choose what he or she wishes to do with that money. Prepaid credit cards will make perfect gifts for anyone from your niece in college or your mom and dad in Florida.
A prepaid credit card is also a gift that can keep on giving should the giver decide to re fill it. Most prepaid credit cards can have more money added to the balance simply by going to local retailers who sell the cards. You can also go online and use another credit or debit card to refill the balance. Some prepaid credit card offers will even send you text alerts when your balance reaches a certain level. Other popular features include the ability to check your recent transactions online as well as your balance.
Another important feature to consider when purchasing your prepaid credit card is the balance limit. Some prepaid cards have a $1000 limit while others can go up to $10,000. It is also important to know that prepaid credit cards are not insured by the FDIC like checking or savings accounts. Therefore, it is probably not wise too keep much money in a prepaid credit card acount. The FDIC is currently looking into extending coverage to prepaid cards as well, but until then there is no FDIC insurance provided.
There are a variety of prepaid Mastercard and Visa credit cards. However, not all pre paid cards are equal. Some pre paid credit card issuers will charge a monthly fee while others will charge you every time the card is used. The Vision Premier(SM) Prepaid Visa card is a good example of a prepaid card. They charge a one time $9.95 activation fee and a weekly fee of $0.95. Vision Premier will waive this fee if you are enrolled in their direct deposit program. They also charge you $1.95 for every time you withdraw money from any ATM machine. In addition, they also charge you $0.95 every time a transaction involves the entry of your personal identification number (PIN). Most gasoline stations require you to enter your credit card’s PIN number every time you pay at the pump. This prevents people from using stolen credit cards to fill up their gasoline tanks. The Vision Premier(SM) Prepaid Visa
will also allow you to deposit money to it at many worldwide popular locations including Western Union, ACE Cash Express and MoneyGram.
Many prepaid credit cards also come with a rewards program. For example the Wired Plastic Prepaid Visacard offers one point for every dollar spent on the card. These points can then be redeemed towards other offers like prepaid cellular time, music downloads and even cellular ring tones. Some card like the The Baby Phat Prepaid Visa RushCard even offer a cash back rewards program.
The Holiday season usually brings out the Chris Cringle in all of us. For those who are stumped about what to give a loved one this holiday season, consider giving a prepaid credit card. Anybody will be happy to receive a gift that can be used for just about any purpose. This year don’t just give your friends or loved ones a $50 gift card to Chili’s. Give a prepaid card that can be used at other places as well. Perhaps, the person you give the Chili’s card to prefers Red Lobster, or better yet going on a diet. Instead the person you give the prepaid credit card to will be able to choose what he or she wishes to do with that money. Prepaid credit cards will make perfect gifts for anyone from your niece in college or your mom and dad in Florida.
Labels: apply for a credit card, business credit cards, credit card offers, pre paid credit card, pre paid credit cards, prepaid credit card, prepaid credit cards
Credit Card / Financial news blog post by Todd Holliday at 8:10 PM 