Prepaid Cards: What Are They For and How to Use Them?

Prepaid Cards: What Are They For and How to Use Them?

Along with credit and debit banks offer prepaid cards or prepaid cards. What is a prepaid card? The term "prepaid card" means gift certificates with a pre-entered amount on the balance. The owner can use them at his discretion to pay for any goods and services. A feature of a prepaid card is the instant issuance of money and the absence of a link to the account. The closest analogue to this product is gift certificates, which are issued not only by banks, but also by shops, pharmacies, beauty salons, etc.

Types of Prepaid Cards

Learn about https://ezzocard.com/about-prepaid-bank-cards to know what types of prepaid cards are and which one suits you best.

  • Standard - suitable for payments in stores, online purchases and for cash withdrawals;
  • Virtual - are used only for online payments;
  • Gift - often are co-branded (made by a bank together with some well-known organization for the purpose of selling/promoting/advertising a product or product).

Virtual cards are always prepaid and are issued with the support of Visa or MasterCard. They can either have a physical carrier - a plastic card - or not have it. But more often the first option is used, in which the client receives only the details and enters them when buying online. Gift prepaid cards are usually bought for someone as a present. They can be used to pay at any outlet.

Features of Prepaid Cards

Find out more about the features of prepaid cards:

  • instant release;
  • activation at any time of the day;
  • minimum commission or even its absence for release;
  • for its registration just a phone number is enough. That is, you will not need either a passport or TIN;
  • complete confidentiality of financial transactions;
  • a card can be issued and given to a child to use, transferred to any other person, as well as presented for a birthday or a wedding;
  • lack of linking to the main account, and therefore - minimization of possible risks (for example, loss of money in case of theft);
  • contactless payment supported

The anonymity of the holder is the main hobby of prepaid bank cards. This feature of them follows from the fact that a prepaid card does not require opening an account. Consequently, these cards are impersonal, and you can buy them in a few minutes. Standard bank cards that can be obtained almost immediately also exist (for example, Visa Instant Issue), but they require opening an account. Check how prepaid cards work before getting the one.

Are There Any Cons of Prepaid Cards?

  • Territorial restriction in use;
  • Cash withdrawal limits;

Despite these disadvantages, a prepaid card is a convenient tool if you use it for certain purposes - for example, for a one-time purchase or gift, as well as draw up for use by a child.