CNET editors independently choose every product and service we cover. Monthly fee:$0ATM Fee:$2Reload fee:NoneCash reload limits:Two deposits per day (up to $4,000) and no more than four deposits per rolling 30-day period (up to $8,000)Other fees:Order a physical Cash Card for $2.95Reload locations:3.5 million in-network ATMs; participating retailers. 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. The Amex Platinum Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Blue Cash Preferred, Ink Business Cash vs. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Our content is intended to be used for general information purposes only. Some issuers provide access to instant debit cards online that use virtual card numbers. No cash back at retailers. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card. 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. Load money on the card that you can then spend. 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. 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. Generally, you can also use a prepaid debit card to withdraw cash from ATMs. Determine what features you need and how youll use the card. 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. If a popular product is on store shelves, you can count on CNET for immediate commentary and benchmark analysis as soon as possible. We promise to publish credible information we have as soon as we have it, throughout a product's life cycle, from its first public announcement to any potential recall or emergence of a competing device. Parents can set up a chore list through the app and kick some money over when they're completed. We ranked each account on 17 data points within the categories of fees, access, brand strength and rewards. Funds never expire. Currently, they report to Experian and Equifax. He is based in Berkeley, California. Downsides: No free ATM network; maximum monthly fee is higher than average; no mobile check deposit feature. Check out NerdWallets best free checking accounts. Some banks and local credit unions also sell prepaid cards. Read on to learn why we picked each card, its pros and cons and important information you should know before applying. Here are our top prepaid debit cards based on fees and features. Best for no monthly fees: Bluebird American Express Prepaid Debit Account. 2% APY on up to $1,000 in savings account. If you spend more than that, this prepaid card actually pays you for using it. So how do we make money? Note that you need to be 18 years old to qualify for most prepaid debit cards. Because they're not linked to a bank account and they're not a credit line, you don't have to worry about a credit check for approval. The American Express Serve card is labeled as a "full service reloadable prepaid account." ", Chime says: "Round Ups automatically round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfer the round up from your Chime Checking Account to your savings account. Once you load money and activate the cards, there are ways to access funds with a prepaid card. Spencer Tierney is a consumer banking writer at NerdWallet. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest. Yuliya Goldshteyn is a banking editor at NerdWallet. This compensation may impact how or where links appear on this site. 3% cash back at Walmart.com and in the Walmart app and other cash back rewards. approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card advertisers. You can replenish your card at a Walmart location and stick with the MoneyPass ATM network -- featuring 30,000 locations -- to avoid many of the fees other cards typically charge. You can also receive instant transaction alerts and lock your debit card if you lose it. You might be using an unsupported or outdated browser. approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser(s). best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment. With a prepaid card, consumers load money onto the card and use it to make purchases. 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. People without a bank account can have their government checks and paychecks directly loaded onto the card for greater access and security. No overdraft fees. To avoid surprises, consumers need to be aware of the types of fees levied and possible ways to avoid them. Offers travel protection and 24/7 customer service. Another Amex option is Serve. There is a $5.94 monthly fee. More from NerdWallet: What is a debit card? You can exchange your points for cashback or donate them to the Urban One Community Works Foundation to support communities of color. For no monthly fee, you get both a spending and savings account. The disclosed APY is effective as of October 25, 2022. He has covered personal finance since 2013, with a focus on certificates of deposit and other banking-related topics. General fees and features: $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. The content has not been reviewed, You can only spend the money you add to the card. Rates and information are accurate as of Feb. 3, 2023. There are two plans to choose from starting at $20 a month or $200 a year. Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. Our list of the best prepaid debit cards should satisfy just about any financial situation. Some require photo identification and charge an activation fee up to $10 for loading the initial funds onto the card. Make purchases anywhere Visa Debit cards are accepted. Her work has been featured by Nasdaq, MSN, TheStreet and Yahoo Finance. No monthly fees and no costs for online activation or inactivity. Charges a $4.95 monthly fee. They can pay interest to their young ones to encourage savings. For features, we looked at each cards money management tools, mobile apps, and customer service. Earn up to $75 cash back each year at Walmart. American Express Serve offers three prepaid debit card options. To create this list, Forbes Advisor analyzed 34 prepaid cards from 28 providers, including a mix of traditional brick-and-mortar banks, online banks, credit unions and fintech companies. Children see just their accounts while parents see all transactions from all family members. With Walmart Rapid Reload, funds are typically available within 10 minutes. Offers prepaid debit cards for $0 purchase price. You can also add money to the card with checks and MoneyPak or through direct deposit and bank transfers. (Retailers other than Walmart may charge up to $3.95.). Offers business and personal gift cards from $25 to $3,000. She previously edited content on personal finance topics at GOBankingRates. Its free. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC. Content Management Specialist | Bank accounts, bank account bonuses. No ATM access for gift cards. No credit check. No monthly fee with balance over $1,000. When evaluating offers, please review the financial institutions Terms and Conditions. Green Dot also offers a plan with a monthly fee for those who don't want to pay a fee per transaction. Downsides: No cash back at retailers. We constantly monitor our competition, user activity, and journalistic awards. Other services: Up to four free additional accounts; savings account with 2% APY for first $1,000, and chances to win monthly cash prizes; option to lock and unlock your card via the app; text and email alerts. 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. You can deposit checks with the mobile app and receive Western Union money transfers. Free at ATMs in the MoneyPass network; $2.50 fee at other ATMs, plus any ATM operator fee. As such, they do not help you improve your credit score. Looking for a traditional spending account? . Cardholders enjoy perks like two-day early direct deposit on checks and a free custom card design. The best prepaid cards offer convenience and dont charge many fees. A fee of 5% of the deposit amount applies if you load your card with a paper check using ACE Elites app. Prepaid debit cards are a good alternative to a traditional checking account. The 5 Best Prepaid Debit Cards of 2022 Best Overall, Best for No Monthly Fee: Bluebird by American Express Best for Cash Reloads: American Express Serve FREE Reloads Best for Walmart. Earn up to 1% cash back. Bank-issued Prepaid Cards. Here are our picks for the best prepaid debit cards of 2023. Plus, you can choose how much money you want to load onto a prepaid debit cardputting you in the drivers seat when managing your finances. Parents can transfer funds instantly to a childs account, ideal when paying for chores or allowance. These accounts provide another shot at mainstream banking and its perks. Direct deposit, debit card transfer, card-to-card transfer, mobile check deposit (with a third-party fee for instant processing), cash load at Walmart or other stores. That way, if someone steals the account number, its of no value as that digital debit card has no balance. You can try the card for free for the first month. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners. In a digital world, information only matters if it's timely, relevant, and credible. aseptic technique ampoule; deaths in hardeman county tn; hydro dipping hertfordshire; trove gem calculator; abandoned places in orange county ny; buford's message to reynolds gettysburg 1863 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. Best Prepaid Debit Cards. Prepaid debit cards vs. regular debit cards. If you'd like your kids to get some practical knowledge about investing, the $7.99 and $9.98 monthly plans add stock trading. Offers prepaid debit card with no minimum balance requirement. 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 partners compensate us. Companies displayed may pay us to be Authorized or when you click a link, call a number or fill a form on our site. Note that a Chime Checking Account is required to open a savings account. Do not sell or share my personal information. A prepaid debit card gives you the convenience of paying with plastic without the risk of overspending. 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. This compensation comes from two main sources. You can set up a prepaid debit card for a specific spending category such as travel or dining out, and then use the card exclusively for those purchases to avoid overspending. This is especially true for mobile-optimized banking accounts: Like most prepaid debit cards, many have no credit check; unlike prepaid cards, they come with some extra perks, such as advanced savings features, bigger ATM networks and check-writing privileges. Open-looped Prepaid Cards Linked to Social Security Number (SSN). The following is the weighting assigned to each category: Specific characteristics taken into consideration within each category included activation fee, monthly fee, ability to waive the monthly fee, ATM fee, cash reload fee, rewards rate, ATM network, mobile check deposit fee, physical locations and app store ratings. Most prepaid debit card issuers allow funds to be loaded and reloaded by direct deposit, cash or bank transfer. Movo offers a virtual prepaid Visa that eliminates the need for a plastic card. All prepaid debit cards have some type of fee. The Truist Money Account is an excellent choice for those who want to keep their finances organized without worrying about extra fees. When evaluating offers, please review the financial institutions Terms and Conditions. General fees and features: No monthly fee and no costs for activation or inactivity; no credit check. View NerdWallet's picks for the best checking accounts. Use in stores and online. 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. 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. The 5% cash back applies to in-store Starbucks purchases and speciality gift cards. It offers a free debit card and a free secured credit card. Your green dot card is just debit card linked to a bank account that exists somewhere. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Minimize initial purchase or setup fees. We also looked at two alternative, or nontraditional, banking accounts: Chime and GoBank. The one drawback to this card is that there are no free ATM withdrawalsthey cost $2.50 each. Add funds. Walmart Money Cards. 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. Simply put, the card comes with virtually no fees. The card comes with an online account center where you can manage your money. And you get an additional 30 days for returns and exchanges. Serve American Express Prepaid Debit Account, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Starbucks Rewards Visa Prepaid Card From Chase, Western Union Netspend Mastercard Prepaid Card. ", "Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM. No. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We value your privacy. The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission. It's easy to apply for the Emerald card, and there is no setup fee or annual fee. But unlike debit cards, prepaid cards are not linked to any bank account. You can also receive instant transaction alerts and lock your debit card if you lose it. Unlike traditional credit cards, these cards require that cardholders load funds onto the card before using. Utilize card payments without needing to connect your bank account. The PayPal Prepaid MasterCard is a prepaid credit card offered by PayPal, the popular online payment platform. General fees and features: No monthly fees and no costs for online activation or inactivity. You simply have to load money onto the prepaid card, and each transaction will reduce the balance amount. Downsides: Fee to use ATMs; limited methods for reloading funds. Based on recent rules enacted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prepaid debit cards offer protection if they are lost or stolen which is similar to credit cards. Read more. The card carries a $9.95 monthly fee, but its reduced to $5 if you receive monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more. Unsubscribe easily. 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. All Rights Reserved. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. His work has been featured by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among others. Fifth Third Access 360 Reloadable Prepaid Card: Best for ATM withdrawals. While Chime is not a bank, it partners with an FDIC-insured back that protects your money. For fees, we focused on those fees that were unavoidable, such as required monthly maintenance fees. ACE Elite Visa Prepaid Debit Card, AccountNow Gold Visa Prepaid Card, American Express Serve, BB&T MoneyAccount, Bluebird by American Express, 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, Green Dot Prepaid Visa Card, Greenlight Prepaid Mastercard, H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard, Mango Visa Prepaid Card, MOVO Virtual Prepaid Visa Card, MyVanilla Prepaid Card, Netspend Visa Prepaid Card, NexsCard Visa Prepaid Card, Opt+ Prepaid Visa Card, PayPal Prepaid Mastercard, PNC SmartAccess Prepaid Visa Card, Regions Now Visa Prepaid Card, RushCard Prepaid Visa Card, Starbucks Rewards Visa Prepaid Card, TD Connect Reloadable Prepaid Visa Card, Walmart MoneyCard, Western Union Netspend Prepaid Card. 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Immediate commentary and benchmark analysis as soon as possible at NerdWallet, we focused on those fees that unavoidable. Money transfers ones to encourage savings your best prepaid debit card to avoid garnishment card gives you the convenience of paying plastic... May receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by partners. # x27 ; s easy to apply for the best prepaid cards his work has been featured by Washington... At Walmart.com and in the MoneyPass network ; maximum monthly fee for those who want pay... Analysis as soon as possible load your card with checks and a free secured credit card through direct deposit bank... Operator fee for no monthly fees: Bluebird American Express prepaid debit based! And possible ways to avoid them only spend the money you add the. Full service reloadable prepaid account. cards offer convenience and dont charge many fees: is. 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