Best option for a prepaid card to use as a gas card

[Anonymous]

So i'm trying to find the best way to use either a prepaid credit or debit card as a gas card. (mods, if this isn't the right board, please move)

For most of the year, i've been using either my Discover or NFCU Visa to get gas as there were category bonuses for warehouse stores (I primarily get my gas at Sams). However, I get so frustrated when they put the holds on the card and take forever to post. I'm never strapped for the utilz room, but i try to pay by cards down so that they post with a zero bal.  Discover got me good one month when they held a transaction towards the end of my bill cycle: they wouldn't let me make a payment with a "zero" bal, and then the transaction posted at the cycle close which reported a balance. Plus, I just hate the waiting game of waiting for it to post, then making the payment, waiting for it to come out of my account, wait a few days if it's the weekend, etc, etc. The more I have to watch my cards like a hawk, the more it makes me obsessive (in a bad way) about them. So even though the cash back and bonuses are good, I think I would much prefer the convience and ease of a prepaid card for this need.

Anywho, I'm thinking of possibly a Walmart Bluebird card or maybe the Amex Serv since they don't have fees? The card would only be used as a gas card, and I want to be able to just do a direct deposit from my paycheck to fund it when I get paid every two weeks. Are there any other prepaid cards that don't have fees that might work? I really wanted to use my paypal debit, but you can't do DD to add funds and their prepaid option has a monthly fee I believe. 

Thanks for your input!

[happypill]

What about a gift card issued by a gas company?

[Anonymous]

Unless you plan to apply for new credit, there is really no need to micro manage your accounts the way you're describing, just let whatever report to the statement and PIF before due date to avoid paying interest.  The effects of UTI on your score is only temporary, bringing down the reported balance a month prior to applying for new credit to give your score a boost will suffice.  

[Anonymous]

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@happypill wrote:

What about a gift card issued by a gas company?

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Even though 90% of the time I get my gas at Sams, there's always an occation that I may not be near one when I need gas. So i'd rather not limit myself to a card from one gas company, but rather something that is dedicated to only being used for gas, but can be used anywhere

[NRB525]

Bank of America and PenFed have regular cards with no AF and gas rewards. 

Each of those banks also has an autopayment choice where you can set a fixed amount to pay on the card, and it will keep taking that amount from your bank account, even if the credit card balance goes negative. 

So the strategy would be, let the autopayment build up a negative balance ( a form of prepayment ) and use that card ( such as the BofA 3-2-1 card ) for gas. The card can be managed to always have a negative balance. You can use it a bit more if the negative balance gets too high and you want to use some of that prepayment for groceries or something. 

As as long as the credit card has a negative statement balance it will report as a zero. No fees. Gas rewards. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Unless you plan to apply for new credit, there is really no need to micro manage your accounts the way you're describing, just let whatever report to the statement and PIF before due date to avoid paying interest.  The effects of UTI on your score is only temporary, bringing down the reported balance a month prior to applying for new credit to give your score a boost will suffice.  

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Yeah, i know FICO doesn't have memory on UTI, I find it more "comforting" in my post BK continuing growth to pay off the smaller cards each month. I'm a work in progress lol

I plan to be in the garden for at least the remainder of the year 

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Bank of America and PenFed have regular cards with no AF and gas rewards. 

Each of those banks also has an autopayment choice where you can set a fixed amount to pay on the card, and it will keep taking that amount from your bank account, even if the credit card balance goes negative. 

So the strategy would be, let the autopayment build up a negative balance ( a form of prepayment ) and use that card ( such as the BofA 3-2-1 card ) for gas. The card can be managed to always have a negative balance. You can use it a bit more if the negative balance gets too high and you want to use some of that prepayment for groceries or something. 

As as long as the credit card has a negative statement balance it will report as a zero. No fees. Gas rewards. 

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Unfortunately both of those cards are a no-go for me (as of right now). I included BoA in my BK and I actually tried PenFed  back in June and they turned me down . I need to let some of my inq fall off and pay down the bal on my CapOne, but PenFed may be a possiblity next year.

But I do like the strategy of building up a neg bal on a regular card. Flexability while still accomplishing what I want

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Unless you plan to apply for new credit, there is really no need to micro manage your accounts the way you're describing, just let whatever report to the statement and PIF before due date to avoid paying interest.  The effects of UTI on your score is only temporary, bringing down the reported balance a month prior to applying for new credit to give your score a boost will suffice.  

---

Yeah, i know FICO doesn't have memory on UTI, I find it more "comforting" in my post BK continuing growth to pay off the smaller cards each month. I'm a work in progress lol

I plan to be in the garden for at least the remainder of the year 

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Then setup your auto pay to PIF and focus on something else in life, just make sure your payment account has the necessary funds to cover.  Micro managing your accounts is obviously bringing you a lot stress for absolutely no reason whatsoever. 

[UncleB]

Since the question in the original post is regarding prepaid cards (not a credit product) I'm moving the thread to 'Personal Finance'.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So i'm trying to find the best way to use either a prepaid credit or debit card as a gas card. (mods, if this isn't the right board, please move)

For most of the year, i've been using either my Discover or NFCU Visa to get gas as there were category bonuses for warehouse stores (I primarily get my gas at Sams). However, I get so frustrated when they put the holds on the card and take forever to post. I'm never strapped for the utilz room, but i try to pay by cards down so that they post with a zero bal.  Discover got me good one month when they held a transaction towards the end of my bill cycle: they wouldn't let me make a payment with a "zero" bal, and then the transaction posted at the cycle close which reported a balance. Plus, I just hate the waiting game of waiting for it to post, then making the payment, waiting for it to come out of my account, wait a few days if it's the weekend, etc, etc. The more I have to watch my cards like a hawk, the more it makes me obsessive (in a bad way) about them. So even though the cash back and bonuses are good, I think I would much prefer the convience and ease of a prepaid card for this need.

Anywho, I'm thinking of possibly a Walmart Bluebird card or maybe the Amex Serv since they don't have fees? The card would only be used as a gas card, and I want to be able to just do a direct deposit from my paycheck to fund it when I get paid every two weeks. Are there any other prepaid cards that don't have fees that might work? I really wanted to use my paypal debit, but you can't do DD to add funds and their prepaid option has a monthly fee I believe. 

Thanks for your input!

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To avoid this from happening on any of your cards, you can always push a payment from your bank. If you submit one during the week, it should process next day. I even had some BoA payments (that I submitted on a Friday) process on Saturday or Sunday.