Prepayment cards

[didds]

I am led to believe such things exist as a prepayment "debit" card - that is , a card that operates as a debit card (hole in the wall, chip and pin, contactless even) , that you put an amount on and once it is spent it is spebnt... the plastic equivelent of £X in a waller.

Any recommendations?

cheers

didds

[Alaric]

I am led to believe such things exist as a prepayment "debit" card - that is , a card that operates as a debit card (hole in the wall, chip and pin, contactless even) , that you put an amount on and once it is spent it is spebnt... the plastic equivelent of £X in a waller.

They are probably at their most useful as travel cards. So you get a Euro one and use it instead of your regular credit or debit card, periodically topping it up by transfer from your sterling bank account. The hoped for advantage being that you get lower fees and a better exchange rate.

Sterling to sterling ones exist as well, but a quick Google suggests various rafts of fees not charged to those using regular mainstream debit or credit cards.

[didds]

[

Sterling to sterling ones exist as well, but a quick Google suggests various rafts of fees not charged to those using regular mainstream debit or credit cards.

cheers - it would be a £££ one we'd need, without going into any details

cheers

didds

[Alaric]

cheers - it would be a £££ one we'd need, without going into any details

It's an unfortunate fact that those in most need of credit get the higher charges. Payday loans being another example.

[Gaggsy]

Are you thinking about one of these? Starling, Monzo, N22, Revolut?
No direct experience but there's a review here from January 2019 from someone who's tried three of them. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sh ... ?t=5954741

[Sussexlad]

I invariably use a Mastercard Pockit card online and for Paypal. A load appears within a few minutes, You also get cashback at some places. 6% if you use M&S. I've not had any issues with it.

https://www.pockit.com/

[didds]

cheers all.

In short we need a card that can be topped up, that is not directly associated with a bank/savings account, so that only the amount on the card can be used even if there are funds available in another account somewhere (where that account is not accessible by the prepaid card holder)

didds

[Lootman]

You can buy them at convenience stores, much like you buy gift cards. The great thing about them is that they are anonymous, if you buy them for cash.

[PinkDalek]

Further detail here (noting the fees/restrictions etc):

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepai ... /everyday/

[Spet0789]

You can buy them at convenience stores, much like you buy gift cards. The great thing about them is that they are anonymous, if you buy them for cash.

What’s so great about anonymity?

I suppose getting one’s door kicked in at 5am by the Operation Ore team or the counter-terrorist police because you used your plastic to pay for something naughty might put one off a conventional visa for life, but for most of us I can’t see any good reasons.

[Lootman]

You can buy them at convenience stores, much like you buy gift cards. The great thing about them is that they are anonymous, if you buy them for cash.

What’s so great about anonymity?

I suppose getting one’s door kicked in at 5am by the Operation Ore team or the counter-terrorist police because you used your plastic to pay for something naughty might put one off a conventional visa for life, but for most of us I can’t see any good reasons.

I think such a discussion would push us into "Polite" territory. But privacy is generally considered to be a good thing by a much broader constituency than just terrorists and money launderers, if that was what you were implying. The vast array of data privacy laws that have been passed would also appear to indicate that privacy is seen as a widely held and desirable value.

[Nocton]

We use an Optimum card http://www.myoptimumcard.co.uk/
It is a Mastercard and we use it for low-value contactless payments. Top up from bank account or using a debit card from the web site. There are no fees, except a one-time set up fee of £5.

We don't use our main cards for low-value contactless payments as the keeping of records and the resulting statements make a lot of work to sort through. For us, this card is a direct replacement for cash in our wallet. When the balance gets to zero, that's it until you top it up. When I say us, I mean my wife and me, the one account allowing two cards just like any other debit card. You can check the balance on the web site or at any cash machine.

[stevensfo]

Are you thinking about one of these? Starling, Monzo, N22, Revolut?
No direct experience but there's a review here from January 2019 from someone who's tried three of them. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sh ... ?t=5954741

Actually, it's N26, a German bank that introduced its account into the UK last year. It has the the EU 100,000€ (£85000) guarantee.

Monzo and Starling are UK banks, whereas Revolut is an 'Electronic Money Institution' that is trying to get full banking status.

I have all except Starling and the easiest is probably Revolut. You can put as much on it as you like, transfers are instant and you can control everything via an app that lets you turn contactless on/off, disables it, convert between currencies etc. When I tested it, the euro-pound exchange was 3.5% better than my usual bank.

Steve

[Alaric]

There are no fees, except a one-time set up fee of £5. (Optimum card)

Cash withdrawals appear to attract a credit card like fee.

It wasn't clear whether you could just have one card where the card user wasn't the same person as the holder of the bank account financing it. That might not be a problem with the unrestricted account as two cards could be issued, but that would cost £ 10 rather than £ 5.

[Nocton]

Cash withdrawals appear to attract a credit card like fee.

It wasn't clear whether you could just have one card where the card user wasn't the same person as the holder of the bank account financing it. That might not be a problem with the unrestricted account as two cards could be issued, but that would cost £ 10 rather than £ 5.

For us, the whole point is to replace cash. So what is the point of using it for cash withdrawals - one might as well use cash withdrawn from one's bank account rather than top up the card. There are not many places now that don't take contactless payments. As the OP said:

I am led to believe such things exist as a prepayment "debit" card - that is , a card that operates as a debit card (hole in the wall, chip and pin, contactless even) , that you put an amount on and once it is spent it is spent... the plastic equivalent of £X in a wallet.

The Optimum card fits exactly those requirements

The card is not associated with a bank account. As Optimum say: "If it’s running low you simply load more cash onto it, and you don’t need a bank account or a credit check to get one. You might not want a credit card, or you might already have one but want something a bit more convenient that puts you, and nobody else, in control of your money."

[Alaric]

For us, the whole point is to replace cash. So what is the point of using it for cash withdrawals - one might as well use cash withdrawn from one's bank account rather than top up the card.

I think the OP had in mind that they would use the card to give a member of their family a limited spending allowance.

[Lootman]

For us, the whole point is to replace cash.

That is certainly one point of them, although some places still take only cash, like one of my favourite eateries, so you will always need some cash anyway. Other people and places prefer cash and may give you a discount or better service if you pay that way.

But such cards have the advantage of also being capable of being used for card transactions as well as cash transactions, insofar as cards are accepted.

What I haven't tried doing is using an anonymous debit card for an online purchase. Typically there are checks that take place for online purchases that may stop the use of an anonymous debit card. If on the other hand it is a card that you have signed up for with your identity presented, then I do not see why it would not work.

But cash will never go away despite the government's fantasies about that.