Use anywhere in the United States that accepts Visa. $4.99 to $9.98 per month, depending on selected plan (more expensive plans include features like investing education and identity theft protection); no costs for activation, inactivity or account closure. How To Find The Cheapest Travel Insurance. Reload card with direct deposit, a mobile check, reload locations or funds transfer. The ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card lets you choose among its Pay As You Go Plan, a monthly plan, or a reduced monthly plan. Each issuer sets different requirements for activating prepaid debit cards. ; Members FDIC. Well start sending you the news you need delivered straight to you. offer convenience and dont charge many fees. Service fees may apply to reload at stores. No minimum balance required. In other words, the money is not immediately taken out of your bank account. It goes to an FDIC-insured Checking account connected to the Chime app. Save When I Get Paid automatically transfers 10% of your direct deposits of $500 or more from your Checking Account into your savings account. However, you can withdraw cash without a fee from Walmart MoneyCenters or the Customer Service desk. 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). The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. Instead, Extra pulls the money you spent from your bank account the next business day. You can reload the card at more than 130,000 Netspend reload network locations. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. The methods for adding money to a prepaid card vary from card to card. You can even add cash for free at most Walmart stores. Some prepaid debit cards charge a host of fees. ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card (Pay As You Go) 4.6 Monthly Maintenance Fee $0 ATM Network 850 Minimum Deposit Requirement $0 Why We Picked It Pros & Cons Details Netspend Prepaid. Separate set aside accounts for savings and up to four subaccounts for family members. You can try the card for free for the first month. In contrast, prepaid gift cards cannot be reloaded. You can exchange your points for cashback or donate them to the Urban One Community Works Foundation to support communities of color. The money on a prepaid debit card is not held in a bank account with your name. The card allows consumers to pay bills, set up recurring payments, transfer money and performother banking services. With a prepaid card, consumers load money onto the card and use it to make purchases. Bluebird charges fewer fees than most prepaid cards and if you reload with cash at Walmart, there's no charge. You can withdraw money from MoneyPass ATMs for free. Looking for a traditional spending account? For example, some advertisers pay us to display ads, others pay us when you click on certain links, and others pay us when you submit your information to request a quote or other offer details. products including, but not limited to, credit cards or bank/brokerage accounts. Multiple accounts under one plan, free and instant FamZoo card-to-card transfers, ability to lock and unlock FamZoo cards, budgeting tools. As a result, there is credit or borrowing involved with prepaid cards. Jamela Adam is a personal finance writer covering topics such as savings, investing, mortgages, student loans, and more. Chime has two automatic savings programs: one where a percentage of every paycheck automatically goes into the savings account and the other where your purchases are rounded up to the nearest dollar and the rounded-up change goes to savings (see below for more information from Chime). Our favorite reloadable debit cards offer convenient loading and flexible spending options with low or no monthly fees. Skip ahead to read about these low-fee alternatives. There is no monthly maintenance fee. You can also open a linked Chime savings account and set up automatic transfers. ATM withdrawals: No fees from Greenlight, but ATM withdrawals will cost you: Since Greenlight doesn't have any of its own ATMs, third-party ATM operator fees may apply. Her work has appeared on Chime, Clever Girl Finance, RateGenius, and Mint Intuit, among other publications. To get the card you must link a bank account to the card. The funds you add to the card are available right away for spending. approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser(s). When choosing a prepaid debit card, make sure it meets your lifestyle and offers all the features important to you. She previously worked as an editor, a writer and a research analyst in industries ranging from health care to market research. By Beverly Harzog Sept. 7, 2022 Best for a spending cushion . Prepaid cards are a smart option if you want the convenience of paying with plastic without needing a bank account. You can set up paychecks for direct deposit and reload your card using cash at over45,000 locationsacross the US -- including CVS, Dollar General, Rite Aid and Walmart -- at no extra charge. Bluebird, issued by American Express, offers more than the average prepaid debit card, and you can load and spend money without paying fees. Cardholders can make secure deposits through the Green Dot apps check capture feature, reload at the register or deposit funds through MoneyPark. Prepaid debit cards are a good alternative to a traditional checking account. You can use the card wherever its network is accepted. For many of these products and services, we earn a commission. Here are our top prepaid debit cards based on fees and features. No transaction fees. Be sure to carefully read the terms and conditions of any card before purchasing. Find our top partner offers for the best prepaid debit cards with the lowest fees and the most features below. Parents and turn a card off or on from the app. Generally, yes. Prepaid debit cards that we considered included: , Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card. No overdraft fees. Most prepaid cards offer many of the features you'd expect from a checking account -- you can pay bills, receive direct deposits, transfer money, withdraw funds at ATMs and deposit cash. 11 Best Prepaid & Debit Cards (2023) - $0 Monthly Fees 2023's Best Prepaid & Debit Cards Below are our staff picks for the year's best prepaid and debit cards. While many companies allow you to order a free card online, you can also purchase a card at a local retailer for anywhere between $1 and $6. Once you have your list of required features and know how youll use the card, find the lowest cost option that meets these requirements. Chime comes with no monthly fees, no deposit required, no minimum balance, no foreign transaction fees and 60,000+ fee-free~ MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATMs. No monthly fees and no costs for online activation or inactivity. In general, creditors can't garnish a Visa or Mastercard prepaid card. Here are the 5 best prepaid debit cards of 2022: Best overall: Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit account. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest. If you find discrepancies with your credit score or information from your credit report, please contact TransUnion directly. 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. And parents and teens can receive text alerts when certain transactions occur. FamZoo is a family-friendly prepaid Mastercard that lets parents become virtual bankers for their kids, even those younger than 13. Information in this guide is general in nature and is intended for informational purposes only; it is not legal, health, investment or tax advice. NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS ID# 1617539, NMLS Consumer Access|Licenses and Disclosures, California: California Finance Lender loans arranged pursuant to Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Finance Lenders License #60DBO-74812, Property and Casualty insurance services offered through NerdWallet Insurance Services, Inc. (CA resident license no. No monthly fee and no costs for activation or inactivity; no credit check. As such, they do not help you improve your credit score. It offers free direct deposit, cash loads at more than 130,000 locations, and a relatively low monthly fee. Content Management Specialist | Bank accounts, bank account bonuses. Green Dots products are sold at thousands of major retail locations in the U.S. Walmart Money Cards can be used anywhere Visa or Mastercard is accepted. They can pay interest to their young ones to encourage savings. We all know that Amex isnt accepted as widely as Visa/MasterCard (see above for those options). It includes purchase protection, which is a rare feature on prepaid cards. Vanilla Prepaid Cards are simple prepaid cards you can use anywhere Mastercard or Visa is accepted. You can use it to make transactions and purchase goods. But, you will have to pay $1.00 for each transaction and $2.25 for ATM withdrawals. A prepaid debit card is not linked to a bank account, so you can only spend as much as the available balance. Chime says: "Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. We evaluated 70 reloadable prepaid debit cards (see list below). February 27, 2023 . She has written and edited content on personal finance topics for more than five years. Prepaid cards are typically used by consumers who either don't have a traditional bank account or cant get a credit card due to poor credit history. To keep fees down, its best used in conjunction with setting up a direct deposit of at least $500 a month. Provides dozens of designs and customized messages. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team. Walmart MoneyCard - Best for Walmart Shoppers. Direct deposit, bank transfer, cash load at Fifth Third branch or ATM. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Don't worry -- you can approve the trades first. Start by considering the costs associated with each prepaid debit cardsuch as monthly maintenance, ATM, foreign transaction and cash reload fees. This keeps the monthly fee to just $5, with no fees for purchase transactions. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC. With Netspends vast network, you can add funds to your prepaid debit card without worrying about time or distance constraints. Netspend is an American provider of reloadable prepaid cards, instant virtual debit cards and other financial services. As long as you have a card, you can reload it online or at a retailer. These accounts provide another shot at mainstream banking and its perks. * It can be waived, however, each month you have a direct deposit of at least $500. There is a $5.94 monthly fee. Monthly fee:$0ATM Fee:Free in-network,$2.50elsewhereReload fee:Free at Walmart, $3.95 at participating retailersCash reload limits:$20 to $1,999 once your card is activated; $1 to $500 for temporary cardsOther fees:No account inactivity or card replacement feesReload locations: Over 30,000. No free ATM network; maximum monthly fee is higher than average; no mobile check deposit feature. 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