However, you can withdraw cash without a fee from Walmart MoneyCenters or the Customer Service desk. Parents and turn a card off or on from the app. Unsubscribe at any time. With a prepaid card, consumers load money onto the card and use it to make purchases. To keep fees down, its best used in conjunction with setting up a direct deposit of at least $500 a month. Downsides: No cash back at retailers. Parents can transfer funds instantly to a childs account, ideal when paying for chores or allowance. The prepaid card also offers real-time activity alerts, free card-to-card transfers for allowances and the ability to remotely lock lost cards. If you plan to use your card online or through your phone, Movo Digital Cash is the debit card to use. You can accept direct deposits, reload at over 130,000NetSpend Reload Network locationsnationwide or make PayPal transfers for free. Typically, with credit card debt, your creditor has to sue you in court and win before a wage garnishment can happen. Or set a tight budget by restricting your spending to no more than what you've loaded onto your card at the beginning of the month. Earn up to $75 cash back each year at Walmart. Prepaid debit card vs. debit card vs. credit card Prepaid debit cards pay before: You load money onto the card via cash, checks, direct deposit or a bank account before paying for transactions. Prepaid cards are sold at retail stores (usually for a fee) and some can be ordered online. Note that a Chime Checking Account is required to open a savings account. What Chime adds is an excellent app to help you manage your money. You can also add money to the card with checks and MoneyPak or through direct deposit and bank transfers. Not to be confused with the free reload card, the Serve American Express Prepaid Debit Account helps you earn cash back for purchases you would be making anyway -- a true rarity for a prepaid card. Other services: Separate set aside accounts for savings and up to four subaccounts for family members. * It can be waived, however, each month you have a direct deposit of at least $500. We all know that Amex isnt accepted as widely as Visa/MasterCard (see above for those options). These accounts provide another shot at mainstream banking and its perks. The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission. Once you pay the cards purchase price, you have options for funding the initial amount, including: Cardholders must register their prepaid cards after purchase if the FDIC or NCUA insures it, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Start by considering the costs associated with each prepaid debit cardsuch as monthly maintenance, ATM, foreign transaction and cash reload fees. Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. If you'd like your kids to get some practical knowledge about investing, the $7.99 and $9.98 monthly plans add stock trading. The disclosed APY is effective as of October 25, 2022. They are available at many retail stores. Parents can pay interest to their childs account as a way to incentivize savings. No, a prepaid card is not a credit card or charge card. Garnishable Prepaid Cards. You can set up direct deposit of your paycheck and automate savings with Chimes round-up feature.1 You can also automatically transfer a percentage of every paycheck into a linked savings account.1 A Chime Checking Account is required to be eligible for a Savings Account. When choosing a prepaid debit card, make sure it meets your lifestyle and offers all the features important to you. Besides Bankrate.com, her work has been featured in Business Jet Traveler, MSN, CheatSheet.com, Freshome.com and SimpleDollar.com. Free reloads and ATMs. Can you get money from an ATM with a prepaid card? Not reloadable. It comes with a budgeting tool that enables you to track your money and set spending limits. It offers a free debit card and a free secured credit card. Here are our top prepaid debit cards based on fees and features. But Bluebird does have limits when it comes to merchant acceptance, and it doesnt allow cash back at retailers. AccountNow offers Visa and MasterCard prepaid cards that let customers add money through a variety of ways and also directly deposit their paychecks into their accounts. He is a former litigation attorney in the securities field and the Founding Editor of Forbes Advisor. A prepaid debit card for international travel also lets consumers make more secure purchases when spending abroad. Separate set aside accounts for savings and up to four subaccounts for family members. Before using a prepaid debit card, you must top it up with funds. Provides Serve, Serve Free Reloads and Serve Cash Back options. If you need todeposit cash, you can visit one of Movo's 3.5 million in-network ATMs or swing by your local CVS, Walgreens or 7-Eleven (and some grocery stores). People trying to avoid judgment creditors often try to convert assets to cash and plan to hide the cash from discovery. However, not all debt collectors follow these rules, so it's best to avoid postdated checks. Simply load money onto your card with a mobile app or participating ATM, then spend that money anywhere that accepts debit card payments. Here are two links with Walgreen's and Walmart that show how to get a prepaid debit card and explains in detail how they work: Walgreens Reloadable Debit Cards. Downsides: No checks or cash can be deposited; no free ATM network; the daily purchase maximum per family account is $1,500 and daily ATM withdrawal limit is $100, which are much lower than average for prepaid cards. Plus, unlike many competitors, Truist doesnt charge cash reload or inactivity fees. But it's pretty cool to get notifications that your child wants to buy Starbucks shares instead of a latte. Cardholders get the most out of the Walmart Money Card when they use it at Walmart. Charges monthly fees up to $7.95 and ATM fees up to $2.50. No credit check. Therefore, youll need to spend $795 on the card per month just to break even. Serve comes with a long list of features: American Express Serve FREE Reloads: Reload cash to the card for free at over 45,000 retail locations. , Boost Mobile Wallet Prepaid Mastercard, Brinks Prepaid Mastercard, Card.com Prepaid Card, CashPass Prepaid Mastercard, Commerce Bank mySpending Card, Control Prepaid Mastercard, Exact Prepaid Mastercard, FamZoo Prepaid Card, Fancard, FasterMoney, Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card, Fred Meyer Prepaid Card. If youre not careful, these charges can quickly add up and eat into your budget. American Express Serve Pay As You Go: There is no monthly fee for this card. Our partners compensate us. Thats not to say the card is perfect. In other words, the money is not immediately taken out of your bank account. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago, with a focus on Soviet cultural history. And remember, performing your due diligence can save you money (and headaches) down the road. Generally, you can also use a prepaid debit card to withdraw cash from ATMs. FamZoo Prepaid Card: Best for parents (tie). Free withdrawals at Chase ATMs and free cash reload. Multiple accounts under one plan, free and instant FamZoo card-to-card transfers, ability to lock and unlock FamZoo cards, budgeting tools. Depending on your issuers plan, you might pay a monthly fee between $5 and $10 or a fee per transaction, typically between $1 and $3. Reload methods: Direct deposit, bank transfer, cash load at Fifth Third branch or ATM. (Retailers other than Walmart may charge up to $3.95.). It comes with the following: In general, creditors can't garnish a Visa or Mastercard prepaid card. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. *Please see site for full terms and conditions. Regardless, all the cards issuers are banks that insure consumers money through the. . But if its not a bank, where does your money go when you deposit it into a Chime account? No minimum balance required. Entrustingyour kidswith their own debit cards can help teach them about budgeting and financial responsibility. You can also take advantage of PayPal Payback Rewards and earn on qualifying purchases from select merchants. 26 Feb Feb General fees and features: No monthly fee and no costs for activation or inactivity; no credit check. . Be sure to carefully read the terms and conditions of any card before purchasing. To help you sift through the options, weve compiled our top picks of the best reloadable prepaid debit cards. Cynthia Paez Bowman is a finance, real estate and international business journalist. There is a $5.94 monthly fee. In addition, some prepaid cards will waive some or all of the monthly fee if you load a certain amount of money on the card via direct deposit. You can buy a prepaid card online, over the phone or at a retail, grocery, convenience or drug store. Free at Fifth Third ATMs and ATMs in the Allpoint ATM network; free at Presto! 2% APY on up to $1,000 in savings account. ATM withdrawals: No charge from FamZoo, but ATM withdrawals will still cost you: Since FamZoo doesn't have any of its own ATMs, third-party ATM operator fees can apply. Ruth Sarreal is a content management specialist covering consumer banking topics at NerdWallet. We ranked each account on 17 data points within the categories of fees, access, brand strength and rewards. No overdraft fees. Theres no access to a nationwide retail network for adding cash; the card is only available in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia; and the card doesnt have a separate savings feature. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Some companies also offer mobile-optimized banking accounts that dont require a squeaky-clean banking or credit history and they often cost less than prepaid cards. And while our site doesnt feature every company or financial product available on the market, were proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward and free. Prepaid debit cards are issued by banks and usually have a Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express logo on them. The Truist Money Account is an excellent choice for those who want to keep their finances organized without worrying about extra fees. Keep in mind, however, that the Target RedCard can only be used at Target stores and Target online. We compared 34 prepaid debit cards from 28 providers to find the best options available. He is based in Berkeley, California. This keeps the monthly fee down to $5 with no transaction fees. Theres no monthly fee, but cardholders pay $1.50 per purchase. And for good reason. Posted on May 3, 2014. See our list of the best savings accounts. Learn more about how prepaid debit cards work. RushCard is a prepaid Visa card that lets consumers load their own money onto the card. When evaluating offers, please review the financial institutions Terms and Conditions. No transaction fees. The cards that made this list had the best combination of these categories. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment. NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. Walmart MoneyCard Visa with Cash-Back Rewards, Walmart MoneyCard MasterCard with Cash-Back Rewards, Netspend Small Business Prepaid Mastercard, Netspend Prepaid Mastercard Proud Partner of MLB, Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card, CUMONEY Visa Everyday Spend Prepaid Card, Unlimited Cash Back Bank Account by Green Dot, Community Financial Resources Prepaid Debit Card. Weve already mentioned Bluebird, which is as low fee as youll find. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This site does not include all available financial companies or offers. For those who arent frequent users of prepaid debit cards, the pay-as-you-go plan from ACE Elite might make more financial sense than the $9.95 flat-fee plan. Some cards in this roundup have nonbank program managers that partner with banks. ", "Mobile Check Deposit eligibility is determined by Chime in its sole discretion and may be granted based on various factors including, but not limited to, a member's direct deposit enrollment status.". If you find discrepancies with your credit score or information from your credit report, please contact TransUnion directly. We scour and scrutinize blogs, sites, aggregators, RSS feeds, and any other available resources, and editors at all levels of our organization continuously review our coverage. Fifth Thirds Access 360 prepaid debit card takes part in Allpoints massive U.S. network and has access to over 50,000 ATMs. You load funds onto prepaid cards before using them for purchases. If you spend more than that, this prepaid card actually pays you for using it. Information in this guide is general in nature and is intended for informational purposes only; it is not legal, health, investment or tax advice. We'd love to hear from you, please enter your comments. Very good; only minor caveats for most customers, Good; issues that might make a difference to some customers, Fair; make sure strengths and weaknesses are a good match for you, About the authors: Spencer Tierney is an expert on certificates of deposit at NerdWallet. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Using Cash Credit Cards To Hide Cash From Creditors. The Netspend Prepaid Card boasts an impressive network of more than 130,000 locations nationwide for cash reloads. Once your rewards reach $25, you can redeem them for cash-back credits. To select our favorites, we gave preference to cards with low fees, multiple reload options, special perks and widespread availability. Copyright 2022 Consumers Unified LLC. Avoid Getting . Cards are free to register and allow ATM withdrawals at more than 24,000 MoneyPass ATM locations around the nation. 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