Prepaid Credit Cards

Prepaid credit cards have come of age with the burgeoning e-commerce activity worldwide. Presently, credit cards are an indispensable method for doing almost any business transaction, especially online.

However, since not everybody is qualified to apply for a credit card, prepaid credit cards have come of age.

The most common issuers of prepaid credit cards are MasterCard and Visa. Prepaid credit cards are used like a regular credit card and almost indistinguishable from the real thing simply looking at it or even when using it.

The only difference is that a prepaid credit card has its value loaded up front; it is a stored value card. The holder can not use more than the actual amount of money stored in the card; however, it is re-usable once you load it up again!

Prepaid credit cards are easily obtained and can be purchased online or in local retail stores. It does not require any credit check or proof of income and all that is necessary is to fill out an application, pay a small handling for account set-up and load the card with cash. The amount of cash loaded will be the card’s credit limit.

Since it is the cardholder’s own money that is used in using the card for business transactions, there is no interest charge on the purchases.

Since prepaid cards are issued by MasterCard and Visa, they are accepted anywhere in the world.

There are some disadvantages to prepaid credit cards like the set-up fee (anywhere from 5 to 50 USD) and a loading fee of 5USD every time more money is loaded onto the card. Also, prepaid credit cards can not be used for regular payments of utility bills.

If you have bad credit history, unable to secure a regular credit card because of lack of documentary requirements or simply want to protect your financial records from hackers when buying online then a prepaid credit card is the answer to your dilemma.

For additional information on credit cards or related topics please visit our library of credit card articles.