Prepaid cards where to buy

But the market is growing, with Allied Marketing Research estimating a compound annual growth rate of Cash reloads at Walmart locations are free, as are direct deposit, debit card transfers, and mobile check deposits. You can also create free sub-accounts for family members. Free cash reloads via the Walmart MoneyCard App, direct deposit, mobile check deposit, and bank transfer.

The Walmart MoneyCard is one of the few prepaid cards that offer rewards, although there is an annual cap on them. But it provides a whole suite of features that can help parents teach their children how to manage their money.

A prepaid debit card is a means of payment. As with a traditional debit card, you can use a prepaid card to make purchases online and in-person wherever the card is accepted. Prepaid cards are typically issued on the same payment networks as regular debit and credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

Prepaid debit cards are sometimes compared to secured credit cards, but the two are very different. With a prepaid debit card, you simply use the money you load onto your card. By contrast, a secured credit card requires that you make an upfront deposit, which becomes your credit line. You can use that credit line, pay it off, and continue to use it over and over again. You never actually use the deposit money, and you can get the deposit back when you close the account or potentially even sooner.

Many prepaid debit cards allow you to create sub-accounts, so you can provide cards to other members of your family, all of which are tied to the same main account. However, many prepaid cards charge a variety of fees, including monthly fees, transaction fees, reload fees, ATM fees, and others. The biggest target market for prepaid debit cards is people who are unbanked or underbanked , either by choice or circumstance.

You might also consider a prepaid debit card if you need some help with your budgeting. If you want to limit how much you spend for a given period on certain expenses, you can transfer money to your prepaid debit card and only use that payment method for the expense category.

Some prepaid cards even allow you to set up multiple cards for different budget categories. Finally, some people might consider a prepaid card as an alternative to a credit card. You can also receive instant transaction alerts and lock your debit card if you lose it. Note that a Chime Spending Account is required to open a savings account.

Downsides: The out-of-network ATM fee. Chime says: "Round Ups automatically round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the round up from your Chime Spending Account to into your savings account. Monthly fee. We looked at 40 reloadable prepaid debit cards offered by some of the biggest banks, credit unions and prepaid debit card issuers. Where multiple card plans existed, only the basic monthly fee plan was considered. We analyzed four categories for each card: general fees and features, purchases and withdrawals, reload fees and options, and other services such as bill pay and savings accounts.

The cards that made this list had the best combination of these categories. Some cards in this roundup have nonbank program managers that partner with banks. No cards above have overdraft fees. We also looked at three alternative, or non-traditional, accounts from financial institutions: Chime , GoBank , Moven. What the ratings mean:. What are prepaid debit cards? Prepaid debit cards vs. Nerdy tip: If you need to build credit or have been denied a bank account, a prepaid debit card might not be the best option: Secured credit cards help build credit , and if you can't get a regular checking account, try second chance checking.

These accounts provide another shot at mainstream banking and its perks. No monthly fees. Free ATM network. Great budgeting features. Instant transfers between cards. Multiple subaccounts for kids.

Subaccounts for kids. Store-specific spending controls. Learn More. Has a savings component. Back to top. Best for ATM withdrawals. FamZoo Prepaid Card. Greenlight Prepaid Mastercard. Earn more with the best savings accounts. Find out which accounts pay more and help you build your savings faster. Show me. Low-fee alternatives to prepaid cards. See more information from Chime. Best prepaid debit cards and alternatives: Summary.

In time, the card packaging will include a chart that contains certain key fees and other information about the prepaid account, to comparison shop between cards at the store. The packaging will also list a website with similar information regarding fees and other key information about the card. You may want to go online to review this additional information.

You can buy prepaid cards at retail locations such as grocery stores and drug stores , online, over the phone, or from some banks and credit unions. If you buy the card online , you may then be issued a virtual card, or you may receive a physical card in the mail at a later time.

Some cards require a minimum initial load. Some prepaid card providers require you to register your card upon, or just after purchase, by asking you to provide certain personal information, such as:.

This personal information is used to verify your identity , which may be necessary before you can use certain card features, such as reloading money onto the card or using the card online or at an ATM. Until you register the card, your prepaid card provider is not required to provide protections in case of errors or loss or theft of your card.

Also, if your card offers deposit insurance, you generally will need to register your prepaid card to become eligible for deposit insurance.