Prepaid Credit Card
By Stephanie Mas on
I have had bad credit for a while. I spent a long period of time trying to get approved for a credit card. The only offers I would get were the ones that wanted to charge me a high interset rate or wanted me to pay them for approving me and then charging the card for a high "annual fee" leaving me $50 dollars on the card. I finally said forget it.
About 6 months ago I started seeing the advertisments for the Greendot credit card. After much research I decided to try it. Six months later I am still using it and I love it. It is so convenient and instead of owing money when the bill comes, its taken right from the balance I have loaded on it. You can load anywhere from $20- $500. They do charge you a monthly maintanance fee of $4.95, but there are no other fees except when you withdraw from an ATM machine.
You can also chose Direct Deposit of your check, which I currently use. I get my money on time with no problems and I can spend it that day if need ben. There are not fees for direct deposit so its free to hav my employer send it to Greendot.
If you'd rather load it yourself, all you have to do is go to a local Walgreens and put the amount you want on there. It usually is ready within an hour of you activating the amount.
Greendot has a website that you can visit for your balance as well as if chosen they will send you your balance via text message for free.
You can use the card worlwide and everywhere that Visa or Mastercard is accepted. Use for signature based purchases or use as a debit card.
The card is fully protected and you have no hassels of a monthly bill of late fees.
I was wondering it these worked because i have bad credit too. However, does this one report to the credit bureaus?
This could be really good for a college student if the parents could add money to the card on a monthly basis, or when needed, especially if it does report to credit bureaus. That would raise the child's credit score and help them learn about budgeting. I do not think I would get it for emergencies, however, as the fee would quickly eat up any money on the card. Do they still charge a fee if you have no money on the card?