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First you apply for the credit card
using your Internet browser, prepay credit card application forms
are relatively simple and ask for minimal information on you and
your circumstances.
Prepay credit cards do not require a
credit check. So if you have a poor credit record, or have
been made bankrupt, obtaining a prepay credit card will not be a
problem.
Prepay credit cards can be used by
people from the age of 13 and above and can be used in exactly the
same way as you would use a normal credit card. They can be
used in shops, petrol stations, post offices, supermarkets
etc.
Once you have your prepay credit
card, and it will take 10 to 14 days from when you have completed
the application form to arrive, you simply load the card with money
and then able to spend this money usually within the
hour.
The prepaid card can be reloaded with
funds at post offices, banks online by specialist retailers who
have arrangements with card providers, and most interestingly, by
your employer. This means your salary can be paid straight
onto your prepay credit card, meaning you don't even need to have a
bank account.
Before deciding on the card, you are
going to apply for. It is a good idea to check the various
charges, each card provider makes, as they are all
different. And careful selection will insure you choose the
card most appropriate to your circumstances. I.e. if you use
cash and draw funds from an ATM machine it's a good idea to select
one with a low ATM fee. If you use the card regularly for
substantial amounts of money it may well be worthwhile paying a
monthly fee, and not paying recharge or payment fees. Just
make sure you fully understand the terms and conditions before
choosing your card.
You can have more than one card, and
can use each card different purposes for example. You could
have one card for petrol, one card for the supermarket, one card
for clothes, and separate out your expenditure, which makes it easy
to budget and plan forward.
You could give a prepaid credit card
to your children and pay their pocket money or allowance, straight
onto the card from your bank.
Once you have loaded funds onto the
card, you can spend the money as you require, and these funds will
be deducted from the card. Once the card has no funds on it
you cannot spend any more money and must reload the card with
further money.
The obvious benefit to this is you
can never go overdrawn and will never incur charges for going
overdrawn by mistake. If you do attempt to spend money that is
not on the card the card will simply be rejected. The card
will not be banned or gobbled up you just reload the card with more
funds and carry on spending.
The prepay credit card is a great
concept for those people who travel especially those people
travelling abroad, and it takes the hassle out of carrying cash and
obviously reduces the risk of theft. Using the card online
will also protect your main bank account from identity
theft.
Overall, the prepay credit card is an
exciting development in the financial services world, and as long
as you understand the fee structure of the card you choose the
benefits of this card system can be substantial.
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