Prepaid cards

[MaineShark]

Curious if anyone knows of decent prepaid card providers, for those of us who don't do credit cards, but still want a way to order things online, and the like.

I know some of those cards have pretty stiff fees and other hidden gimmicks, so if someone knows of a decent one, that would be great info.

Thanks,
Joe

[error]

Reloadable or non-reloadable?

Non-reloadable cards usually are cheaper, but have the disadvantage of, well, not being able to add money to them. These are usually marketed as "gift" cards. You can pick these up practically anywhere in denominations of up to $100 for approximately $5-$6. A better deal would be to get one loaded with up to $500 for about the same price; only a few places sell these. Offhand try the Mall of New Hampshire and Steeplegate Mall in Concord (at the mall customer service desk).

Reloadable cards can have money added to them at just about any time, usually at the same place you purchase the card itself, but I have yet to find one which doesn't have utterly exorbitant monthly fees, usage fees, and miscellaneous fees I've forgotten about. Comparably, the non-reloadable cards usually have only the fee for initially purchasing the card.

In both cases, you can visit a web site to add a shipping address to the card so that you can order products online. The cards won't generally be usable online until you do so. If you aren't actually having products shipped to you, the address need not be your own.

[KBCraig]

I can only offer my meager experience...

A few years ago I needed to use a credit card for a certain purchase, and I was under time constraints. I had cash, but couldn't use my bank debit MasterCard because of outstanding checks.

Anyhoo, I bought a prepaid Visa at Wal-Mart for slightly more than the amount I needed to spend. The first surprising thing was that I had to "verify" the card with my real identity. I'm sure there are ways around that, but I had to provide an address, phone number, and email address, then respond to a verification code. They stated that this was due to new banking regulations in the Patriot Act.

Then, there were the fees to renew and/or add money to the account. I ignored all that and let it drop, figuring the $30-40 lost was the price of my lesson about prepaid cards.

[Ron Helwig]

It seems to me that this points out an interesting opportunity for an enterprising freedom lover. Someone who is "in the system" could buy the cards, set them up, and resell them for a small fee. They would be "the identity" attached to the card. They could charge a small but reasonable fee for getting and setting up the card, and could charge a small fee for being a shipping address.

If I had the time I'd do it. Maybe Spooner Delivery could take this on.

[Terror Australis]

It seems to me that this points out an interesting opportunity for an enterprising freedom lover. Someone who is "in the system" could buy the cards, set them up, and resell them for a small fee. They would be "the identity" attached to the card. They could charge a small but reasonable fee for getting and setting up the card, and could charge a small fee for being a shipping address.

If I had the time I'd do it. Maybe Spooner Delivery could take this on.

http://www.virtualvcard.com.au/WhyVCARD.aspx

I can buy them in Australia and they can be used anywhere.The costs are $5.50 handling fee and 3.5% foreign exchange fee for merchants outside Australia.My fee would be 1%.

[Pat McCotter]

I heard Mango MasterCard Prepaid Card mentioned once but don't know anyone using  it.



             
                
               
               
               

               
               
               

Mango Card Signup	FREE
Activation Fee	FREE
Transaction Fee (Signature or PIN)	FREE
Shipping & Handling	FREE
Monthly Fee	$5.00 - WAIVED when you load at least $500 during the previous month

[error]

I can only offer my meager experience...

A few years ago I needed to use a credit card for a certain purchase, and I was under time constraints. I had cash, but couldn't use my bank debit MasterCard because of outstanding checks.

Anyhoo, I bought a prepaid Visa at Wal-Mart for slightly more than the amount I needed to spend. The first surprising thing was that I had to "verify" the card with my real identity. I'm sure there are ways around that, but I had to provide an address, phone number, and email address, then respond to a verification code. They stated that this was due to new banking regulations in the Patriot Act.

Then, there were the fees to renew and/or add money to the account. I ignored all that and let it drop, figuring the $30-40 lost was the price of my lesson about prepaid cards.

Yep, this is common to reloadable cards based in the US. This is why I generally use nonreloadable "gift" cards.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

I am "self-banked" or "bankless". In addition, I am an internet addict, a domainer and other things that REQUIRE me to do online shopping.

If you're looking for an anonymous, one-time card, go with anything by the Vanilla brand. You can't buy them at Wal-Mart. In fact, all of Wal-Mart's cards require information. If you go to Walgreens or CVS and look on their racks, you'll see Vanilla brand Visa and Mastercards in $25, $50 and $100 denominations. They do not need ID, SSN or anything else.

For reloadable cards, Upside is probably one of the cheapest that also offers rewards.

The fees for all of them generally suck more than opening a bank account for the purposes of occassionally loading up a debit card. that said, due to credit, government garnishments, child support, et cetera, sometimes that can't be done.

[KBCraig]

Good info, Kevin. Thanks.

[Brian]

I could offer this service with virtual credit card numbers associated with a credit card of mine, with the restriction that you get only a number and not a physical card, and each number may be used with only a single merchant.

I could for example produce 3 x $100 cards one for a utility, one for amazon and one for another online vendor TBD (The first charge made on the virtual number associates the purchase with the merchant in question.

Handing me more money works to increase the "credit limit", though it's a little cumbersome to do on a one per merchant basis like this.

I would charge 2% for an unlimited number of Virtual cards of this sort if anyone were interested -- it would just be easiest to set up the merchants people intended to use in advance and add on an as-needed basis.

I'm a bit of an interloper with some of the liberty community, but PM me for reference suggestions if you want to check up on my trustworthiness to offer this sort of deal and/or "who I am".

Much less elegant solution than purchasing prepaid cards, but no waste of unused balances, and no monthly fees.

[MaineShark]

I'm a bit of an interloper with some of the liberty community, but PM me for reference suggestions if you want to check up on my trustworthiness to offer this sort of deal and/or "who I am".

I've had multiple business dealings with Brian, and found him to be honest and forthright.  I've not heard a complaint from anyone else who's had business dealings with him, either, and I've spoken to several.

Joe