The Top 7 Advantages of Prepaid Cards
Choosing where to put your money is almost as difficult as deciding how to spend it. You have more options than ever before, so where should you park your cash? One option to consider is a prepaid Visa® or prepaid Mastercard® card. Below we discuss why you might find them more attractive than other banking options.
1. No Credit Checks to Get a Card
Banks run credit checks when you apply for a checking account, savings account, or credit card. If you’ve made a few mistakes in the past, such as bouncing checks or neglecting to pay your bills, you might get denied for accounts everywhere you look.
That’s where a CARD.com prepaid Visa or prepaid Mastercard card comes in. CARD.com doesn’t run a traditional credit check as part of its approval process so people over the age of 18 can be approved once ID verification is approved. This is not a credit card.
2. Direct Deposit
The days of getting paid, driving with your check to the bank, depositing it in your checking account, and waiting two or three days for it to clear, are long gone. Even today where everything is instant, taking a picture of your check and depositing via your phone can feel tedious after a few paydays. Direct deposit circumvents those inconveniences and gives you instant access to your money. However, checking and savings accounts aren’t the only financial instruments you can connect to direct deposit.
When you register and are approved for a prepaid Visa or prepaid Mastercard card, you’ll get an account and routing number, which means that you can enroll in direct deposit (and with CARD.com you can enroll in Early Direct Deposit, too) immediately. More and more employers are turning to paperless payroll systems, and some even require it. With a prepaid card in hand, the payroll process is seamless.
3. Shop Online
Shopping online doesn’t require you to get dressed, fuel up your car, or browse endless, often crowded, aisles in the company of complete strangers. You can simply surf between websites, compare prices and make purchases, all in a matter of minutes. Best of all, there aren’t any long lines or grumpy sales clerks to deal with.
If you only shop with cash, however, you can’t shop online. You’ll be forced into crowds and repeated iterations of, “Just browsing, thanks.” Plus, you’ll spend money on gas and other expenses associated with travel.
A CARD.com Visa Prepaid Card or a CARD.com Prepaid Mastercard eliminates those hassles. You can use it similar to other bank issued card. However, you won’t have to worry about going further into debt, since the CARD.com app helps you manage your money and only allows you to spend what is loaded on your card.
4. Theft Protection
Prepaid Visa or prepaid Mastercard cards come with FDIC protection through The Bancorp Bank, similar to checking accounts. You need to report the fraudulent charges to the prepaid card company so that they can assess liability and assist you with further fraud prevention measures.
Carrying cash doesn’t offer much better protection. When you use cash in front of other people, you run the risk of drawing a grifters eye. Stick to convenient Visa prepaid cards or prepaid Mastercard cards to protect yourself.
5. No Debt - Efficient Budgeting Tool
Going into debt can send you into a financial tailspin that can end in bankruptcy or even worse. If you know you have the tendency to overspend, consider a CARD.com Visa Prepaid Card or a CARD.com Prepaid Mastercard as a convenient way to manage your money. As mentioned above, you can use the app to manage your money, and because you aren’t buying items on credit, you only use the money that you have loaded onto the card.
Do you struggle to keep your spending under control, a prepaid card may be worth a shot? Reasoning? With most prepaid cards, once the funds are gone, it’s gone, and there’s no way to spend more than you have at your disposal. Utilizing financial instruments that help keep your budget in line is a great way to get yourself and your spending habits back in line.
6. Pay Your Bills
Nobody likes to walk or drive to utility companies and pay their bills in cash and honestly, how many of us even have a checkbook these days. Aside from the additional time and energy it takes, you’re more inclined to forget your due date. Most prepaid cards will allow you to schedule automatic payment for utilities, car notes, mortgage payments, and much more.
7. Allocate Cash
You don’t have to have an existing bank account to benefit from Visa prepaid cards or prepaid Mastercard card. They’re an excellent organizational and budgeting tool that can help you protect your identity, conserve cash, and save for upcoming expenses. For instance, you might transfer a certain portion of your paycheck to a prepaid card so you’re not tempted to touch the money.
In fact, if you are a college student, this is a perfect way to help manage your money. . When younger, it’s a common mistake to misuse bank accounts and credit cards simply because not understanding how the financial system works, but a prepaid card is great at helping them learn to live within their means. Prepaid cards have changed over the years. Ready to manage your finances today? Order your custom themed Visa prepaid card or prepaid Mastercard cards here and start reaping the benefits now.
Opinions, advice, services, or other information or content expressed or contributed here by customers, users, or others, are those of the respective author(s) or contributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of The Bancorp Bank (“Bank”). Bank is not responsible for the accuracy of any content provided by author(s) or contributor(s).