Pre Paid Credit Card
Credit Card Alternatives
Are you one of those individuals who only got a credit card for the convenience of being able to pay without money, or because you weren't informed of any other simple way to borrow money. Because of the inevitable advertising of the credit card industry, few individuals realise just how many alternatives to credit cards there really are. Take a look at a few of the credit card alternatives listed below.
Pre-Paid Debit Cards
Pre-paid debit cards are frequently used in European countries, but are more or less unknown elsewhere. Basically, they're just like credit cards and are accepted everywhere credit cards are accepted the single distinction is that they take any cash you pay out straight from your bank account, instead of you getting a invoice at the end of the month.
Consumer facts about pre-paid debit cards
Consumer Protection Debit
Pre-paid debit cards have the same security protections as credit cards. Just like credit cards, most pre-paid debit cards have a zero liability fraud protection and dispute reolution options. Zero liability means you pay nothing for unauthorized transactions.
- Pre-paid debit cards look similar to credit cards. You may already have a pre-paid debit card and not realize it. Many financial institutions give you a pre-paid debit card when you open a bank account.
- Purchases are directly deducted from you bank account, so there is no grace period when you make a purchase. Make sure you have the money available to cover the full transaction amount at the time of sale.
- Some pre-paid debit cards have monthly or per-transaction fees. Carefully review your cardholder agreement.
- Pre-paid debit cards are generally used for everyday expenditures, instead of cash, checks and other forms of payment. Consumers are using their pre-paid debit cards for Internet purchases, as well as for regular or "recurring" payments for things such as gym memberships, utility payments, and other standard living costs- it's one less check to be write each month.
Pre-Paid Credit Cards
Pre-paid credit cards work similar to credit cards, except that you can't keep a negative balance ' you have to put cash on the card before you can purchase anything. That means that you 'top-up' the card, similar to using a cell phone. This is beneficial if you wish to understand how much you're spending, not to mention that you can even pass the pre-paid credit cards to children. They're also safer than pre-paid debit cards, since someone who stole the card could only spend whatever cash was on it at the time.
Bank Overdrafts
An adequate bank overdraft, used together with a credit card, can be a far superior way of borrowing cash than using a credit card. Your overdraft limit is set by the bank according to how much you get paid into your account each month, and you are not required to pay it off until you want to.
Basically, it just gives your account the ability to go into minus numbers, if you want it to. Numerous banks charge somewhat high interest rates for bank overdrafts, but seldom as high as a credit card and they will give superior rates to satisfactory customers.
Personal Loans
When you're buying one big item at a set amount (like a car), or you're going to spend all the cash on one kind of item (home improvements, for example), it's worth budgeting it all out and going to a bank or another persoanl loan finance company. They'll be able to loan you the cash at a much better rate than a credit card would, merely because they understand why you're taking the personal loan and can set regular monthly payments for you to repay it.
Credit Union Banks
Credit union Banks are similar to banks, just more local. They are co-operative, owned by their members and run by the community, and are a great place to borrow money. Because there are limits in law on how much interest credit union banks can charge, and they are not required to make a profit for owners or shareholders, because they don't have any. It's well worth checking if there's one in your area.