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What's the big deal about prepaid cards?

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jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?

Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 11 of 35
fuzzybean
Frequent Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?

Can't you apply online?  That's what we did with the Amex prepaid. 

 

Why get one where you have to pay a monthly fee?

Message 12 of 35
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@jsickz32 wrote:

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?


Why would you want one?  Prepaid cards are typically for people who are underbanked anyway.  In your case, just use your Amex or other card, I'm struggling to find a reason for your obtaining a prepaid and there's good reasons not to: extra fees in most cases, money earning the lender interest instead of you, and it  hinders your chances at underwriting on more prestigeous credit cards in the future, as many of those will look at your historical spending and the prepaids don't show up at all on your credit report.  No reward structure either on the prepaid cards I'm familiar with.

 

All the disadvantages and more than of a hidden tradeline, and none of the benefits honestly.  

 

My personal recommendation is to run everything you can through your cards, the one exception I'd suggest is if you're using this for your children's or another individual's benefit.  Then a prepaid might make financial sense rather than an AU on a card.

 

Edit: Lots of typos.

 




        
Message 13 of 35
fuzzybean
Frequent Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@Revelate wrote:

@jsickz32 wrote:

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?


Why would you want one?  Prepaid cards are typically for people who are underbanked anyway.  In your case, just use your Amex or other card, I'm struggling to find a reason for your obtaining a prepaid and there's good reasons not to: extra fees in most cases, money earning Amex interest instead of you (with their prepaid), and it  hinders your chances at underwriting on more prestigeous credit cards in the future. as many of those will look at your historical spending and the prepaids don't show up at all on your credit report.  

 

All the disadvantages and more than a hidden tradeline, and none of the benefits honestly.  

 

My personal recommendation is to run everything you can through your cards, the one exception I'd suggest is if you're using this for your children's or another individual's benefit.  Then a prepaid might make financial sense rather than an AU on a card.

 

 


I don't know what the poster's reason is, but my husband and I both have one that we use for our fun money.  We reload it on the first of each month and have never paid a fee on it.  We were using cash for our "allowance" but that never worked out.  This is much better for us.

 

What do you mean by underbanked?

 

Message 14 of 35
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@fuzzybean wrote:

@Revelate wrote:

@jsickz32 wrote:

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?


Why would you want one?  Prepaid cards are typically for people who are underbanked anyway.  In your case, just use your Amex or other card, I'm struggling to find a reason for your obtaining a prepaid and there's good reasons not to: extra fees in most cases, money earning Amex interest instead of you (with their prepaid), and it  hinders your chances at underwriting on more prestigeous credit cards in the future. as many of those will look at your historical spending and the prepaids don't show up at all on your credit report.  

 

All the disadvantages and more than a hidden tradeline, and none of the benefits honestly.  

 

My personal recommendation is to run everything you can through your cards, the one exception I'd suggest is if you're using this for your children's or another individual's benefit.  Then a prepaid might make financial sense rather than an AU on a card.

 

 


I don't know what the poster's reason is, but my husband and I both have one that we use for our fun money.  We reload it on the first of each month and have never paid a fee on it.  We were using cash for our "allowance" but that never worked out.  This is much better for us.

 

What do you mean by underbanked?

 


That's a fair point regarding allowance type spending, though if manageable I would still suggest routing that through a credit card (even a toy limit one) instead.

 

By underbanked (industry term probably used loosely in my case) I mean those without a checking account, and also without credit cards / other loan products.  Admittedly that's on the order of 20% of Americans these days, but if you have a checking account even a debit card is comparable and financially better when it comes to fractional interest; however, a prepaid admittedly has some additional protections if it gets lost / stolen in that it doesn't deduct directly from your bank account.




        
Message 15 of 35
WhiteCollar
Established Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?

You can only apply for the Chase Liquid at a Chase branch. If you live in am area or city where there are Chase branches, $4.95 is a small price to pay for free ATM withdrawals and in person customer service, just my thoughts. I've considered getting one to help curb my spending. I too have the AMEX prepaid however I do not like the fact that when cash is reloaded, it takes a few days to process. If you are looking for a prepaid card, I recommend the AMEX Serve. You can reload funds using a checking account, debit or credit cards (some without a cash advance fee). Also, the funds are available for use immediately. Right now, AMEX is giving folks $25 when they open and load an AMEX Serve with at least $25! You can transfer the free $25 back to the account you have on file.  Who doesn't  love free money!!??

Message 16 of 35
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@fuzzybean wrote:

Can't you apply online?  That's what we did with the Amex prepaid. 

 

 


The Chase liquid is a different product strata than the Amex.  You pretty much have to have a checking account or some other elecronic transaction to my knowledge of the Amex prepaid (I had one briefly), whereas you don't need a bank account at all for the Chase prepaid.

 

The Amex card is sort of a gateway to a future Amex in theory regardless of what their marketing information states; the Chase liquid is really a gateway to a Chase checking account.  They serve different segments of the population when it comes to credit / banking strata... and also why the fee structure is radically different I suspect as well.

 

 

 




        
Message 17 of 35
jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@Revelate wrote:

@jsickz32 wrote:

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?


Why would you want one?  Prepaid cards are typically for people who are underbanked anyway.  In your case, just use your Amex or other card, I'm struggling to find a reason for your obtaining a prepaid and there's good reasons not to: extra fees in most cases, money earning the lender interest instead of you, and it  hinders your chances at underwriting on more prestigeous credit cards in the future. as many of those will look at your historical spending and the prepaids don't show up at all on your credit report.  No reward structure either on the prepaid cards I'm familiar with.

 

All the disadvantages and more than of a hidden tradeline, and none of the benefits honestly.  

 

My personal recommendation is to run everything you can through your cards, the one exception I'd suggest is if you're using this for your children's or another individual's benefit.  Then a prepaid might make financial sense rather than an AU on a card.

 

 


no reason to get it, i just like how it looks that it but it seems i cant anyways cuz theres no Chase branches in MA. i run everything thru credit cards

Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 18 of 35
jsickz32
Valued Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@PrettyNPink wrote:

You can only apply for the Chase Liquid at a Chase branch. If you live in am area or city where there are Chase branches, $4.95 is a small price to pay for free ATM withdrawals and in person customer service, just my thoughts. I've considered getting one to help curb my spending. I too have the AMEX prepaid however I do not like the fact that when cash is reloaded, it takes a few days to process. If you are looking for a prepaid card, I recommend the AMEX Serve. You can reload funds using a checking account, debit or credit cards (some without a cash advance fee). Also, the funds are available for use immediately. Right now, AMEX is giving folks $25 when they open and load an AMEX Serve with at least $25! You can transfer the free $25 back to the account you have on file.  Who doesn't  love free money!!??


i think im about to do this!

Amex BCE (2500) / Amex SPG (4000) / Amex GoldPR / Merrill+ Visa siggy (5000) / BofA Amex (6000) / Bofa cash rewards (5000) / BofA Privileges Cash Rewards (5000) / Citi Forward (4400) / Citi DP (2000) / Chase Freedom (4000) / Chase CSP (5000) / Chase Hyatt (5000) / Discover IT (1700) / FNBO AMEX (3600) / NFCU cashRewards Visa signature (15000) / NFCU Flagship Visa signature (12500) / NFCU Navcheck (5000) / Nordstrom (500) / MetroCU Visa Elite (5000) / Walmart (4500) / Kays Jewerels (6600) / Kohls (300) / Macys Platinum (2500) / DCU platinum Visa (17500) / Citizens bank cash back (1100) / Bill Me Later (1631) / PayPal Smart connect (2200) / BestBuy store card (2000)
Message 19 of 35
fuzzybean
Frequent Contributor

Re: What's the big deal about prepaid cards?


@Revelate wrote:

@fuzzybean wrote:

@Revelate wrote:

@jsickz32 wrote:

ok thanks guys. one more question...when i check online says to go to my nearest chase branch to apply and theres none in my state i think. so that means i cant have the liquid card?


Why would you want one?  Prepaid cards are typically for people who are underbanked anyway.  In your case, just use your Amex or other card, I'm struggling to find a reason for your obtaining a prepaid and there's good reasons not to: extra fees in most cases, money earning Amex interest instead of you (with their prepaid), and it  hinders your chances at underwriting on more prestigeous credit cards in the future. as many of those will look at your historical spending and the prepaids don't show up at all on your credit report.  

 

All the disadvantages and more than a hidden tradeline, and none of the benefits honestly.  

 

My personal recommendation is to run everything you can through your cards, the one exception I'd suggest is if you're using this for your children's or another individual's benefit.  Then a prepaid might make financial sense rather than an AU on a card.

 

 


I don't know what the poster's reason is, but my husband and I both have one that we use for our fun money.  We reload it on the first of each month and have never paid a fee on it.  We were using cash for our "allowance" but that never worked out.  This is much better for us.

 

What do you mean by underbanked?

 


That's a fair point regarding allowance type spending, though if manageable I would still suggest routing that through a credit card (even a toy limit one) instead.

 

By underbanked (industry term probably used loosely in my case) I mean those without a checking account, and also without credit cards / other loan products.  Admittedly that's on the order of 20% of Americans these days, but if you have a checking account even a debit card is comparable and financially better when it comes to fractional interest; however, a prepaid admittedly has some additional protections if it gets lost / stolen in that it doesn't deduct directly from your bank account.


We do it this way so that we can't go over our $100 limit per month, unless of course there is still some on there from the previous month which is usually the case for me.  I usually treat myself to Starbucks once a week and use it if I go out to lunch or dinner with friends.  It's stricly for our budget and hubby likes that I don't ask him for receipts, which he usually fails to get.  The CC would work well for me, but hubby is better off logging into his prepaid account and seeing how much money he has left for the month.  It has dramatically cut down on his impulse spending. 

 

Thank you for the explanation.  I figured it was something like that.

 

Message 20 of 35
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