Posts Tagged ‘Prepaid Cards’

Benefits of Online Phone Cards

Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Euro Calling Cards recently asked:


The sales of online phone cards are increasing day-by-day. Now, calling a friend or to make an international call has been made so easy, that you can use any phone and make an international call – be it your cell phone, your office phone, your neighbor’s phone or a telephone booth. Use any phone and the phone card and you can make calls.

The basic benefits of these phone cards are

You do not have to switch your long distance carrier. You can purchase the best phone card that suits your need and use it. You receive ease of mobility. You can use your cell phone and the phone card to make the international calls. If you are a frequent traveler, carrying phone cards is much economical to make calls. You have a wide range of phone cards available to choose from. Check the best ones and go ahead buy them online. You get the PIN instantaneously and you can start calling immediately. Payments are accepted online. You have the ability to auto-recharge the card, when the card balance reaches certain amount or minutes. So, you do not have to buy again and again to recharge your card. Moreover, auto-recharge mostly comes with certain discounts or added features. Certain phone cards providers also provide PINLESS dialing. Which is much easy to use.

If you are buying these prepaid cards for the first time, then you need to closely make comparisons on each calling card providers’ services by clearly and properly understanding the fine print that is provided along with the calling card, and make decisions on which one are the best ones that suits your needs and requirements.





Tags: , ,
Posted in Travel Tips | No Comments »

Additional Credit Card Options: Secured Cards, Debit Cards, And Prepaid Cards

Monday, November 9th, 2009
Attila Jancsina recently asked:


A secured credit card requires you to make a deposit into a savings account to obtain a credit limit. This deposit is held as a security for the amount you purchase using the card. In the event that you fail to make your payment for whatever reason, the deposit covers your payment.

Secured credit cards are good for those who have bad credit or no credit at all. It is a way to begin rebuilding your credit by demonstrating that you can make timely payments. From the creditor’s perspective, the deposit you pay decreases your credit risk, so the credit feels comfortable extending credit to you.

A debit card is directly linked to your checking account. When you use your debit card to make purchases, it is similar to using a check. The amount of the purchase will be deducted from your checking account within one to three days.

There are two kinds of debit cards: direct and deferred. A direct debit card requires a personal identification number (PIN) to be used when you make purchases. Purchases made with a direct debit card are subtracted from your checking account almost immediately. A deferred debit has a Visa or Mastercard logo and requires a signature for purchases. In many cases, both the direct and the deferred debit functions are present on the same account.

A prepaid credit card is a hybrid of the secured credit card and the debit card. With a prepaid credit card, you load a certain amount of money onto the credit card. Normally, this is anywhere between $10 and $1,500. The amount of money you load onto the account is the amount you are able to spend. Each time you spend money using a prepaid card, your available amount is reduced by the amount you have spent. For example, if you have $1,500 on your prepaid credit card and you spend $100, you then have $1400 available to spend.

One of the benefits of a prepaid credit card is that there is no interest rate on purchases you make. Since you are spending money that you’ve loaded onto the card, the card issuer has not extended credit to you. It is also easy to manage a prepaid card because you cannot spend more than you have put onto the card.

Prepaid credit cards also have their drawbacks in hefty fees charged for the credit card. Application fees, monthly maintenance charges, fees for adding and withdrawing money, and overdraft charges, are just a few of the charges that come along with using a prepaid card.

Each of these kinds of cards has their advantages and disadvantages. If you are shopping around for a card, weigh the pros and cons to make the best decision for your purchasing habits.





Tags: , ,
Posted in Finance | No Comments »

Could A Prepaid Credit Card Protect You From Fraud?

Friday, September 4th, 2009
Lyndsey Burton recently asked:


Over recent years credit card fraud has become a major problem, and the level of card fraud, particularly CNP fraud, which is card not present fraud, has been rising.

Card not present fraud is, as the name suggests, fraud that affects transactions where the card does not have to be physically presented such as with telephone and online purchases, where the card details are provided but no card is actually seen by the seller.

Because credit card fraud with CNP transaction has become so prevalent more and more people are becoming nervous about shopping online with their credit cards, according to recent reports. The research showed that one in every three people knew someone that had been the victim of card fraud, and this increased their wariness when it came to making credit card transaction online themselves.

In fact, it has been found that over half of the population is nervous about using their credit cards online, and given this information some officials are questioning whether those that are wary about online credit card transactions could benefit from using a prepaid card rather than a regular credit card.

One official said: “Prepaid cards allow such people to be part of the modern day ‘plastic culture’ which allows you to take advantage of online shopping discounts as well as access to hugely popular sites such as eBay.” He added: “The risk with a credit card is that the fraudsters will be able to max out your card, where a prepaid card is almost like a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. The only money that can be stolen, is the money you have loaded on. And unlike a debit card, a prepaid card does not have any link to your bank account or address, so the chance of fraud is next to none.”

You can compare prepaid cards to find those that offer lower or waive the usage and loading fees.

However, there are also disadvantages to using prepaid cards over credit cards. Firstly, you may find that you have to pay charges for using your own money, which can be somewhat offputting. Another downside is that with prepaid cards you do not get the benefits that you get with many credit cards such as section 75 purchase protection (which can be protection from fraud if you are missold an item or it never gets delivered), the interest free credit that you can get on credit cards or the rewards that can be earned on some cards.

For those that do not want to give up these benefits the key to avoiding fraudulent activity may simply be to ensure that you are careful about your credit card details, and this means not saving account details and passwords on websites, not saving account information on shared computers, and not falling for phishing scams, where you link to a website or bank via an email that has been sent to you.

You should also never give out your card details to someone on the phone if the call was not initiated by you, and don’t give your card details to strangers who stop you in the street or come to your door claiming to be selling something, as you never really know who you are giving your details to. With some simple and sensible precuationery steps you could minimise the risk of card fraud without having to opt for a prepaid card and lose the benefits of a traditional credit card.





Tags: , ,
Posted in Credit | No Comments »

10 Unbeatable Advantages of Prepaid Cards

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
cynthiastewart recently asked:


Prepaid cards come as a whiff of fresh air to those suffering from huge drawbacks of credit cards, and credit card debt. The convenience, ease of availability, guaranteed approval and other features make them ideal replacement of credit cards. In this article we take a look at the most important advantages of prepaid cards.

1. Prepaid card is given on the basis of your deposited money. So everyone, even those with bad credit are eligible. There are no credit checks, no employment verification and approval is guaranteed.

2. Prepaid cards can be applied online instantly. And if sufficient deposits are made there are no monthly, annual and other fees. Since, prepaid cards use the deposited money, there are no repayments to be made and hence no late payment fees and other associated penalties.

3. Prepaid cards are as widely accepted as credit cards, and they have even more acceptability than credit cards in some cases. They can be used on the internet, on phone and all other vends.

4. Since, you can only spend what you have deposited, the chances of overspending are negligible. This can hugely increase the financial discipline and help build good financial habits.

5. Adding the money to your prepaid card account is a breeze using direct deposit.

6. Prepaid credit cards can be used to get instant cash from almost all the ATM’s and the transaction is very secure as every prepaid card is protected by a secure PIN number.

7. Some prepaid card report to major credit bureaus and if your account is in good standing your credit history improves.

8. The activity and usage of your prepaid card can be tracked online or by using phone. This makes is super easy to control and monitor all your spending, generate reports and keep records.

9. Prepaid cards can be used to pay utility and other bills online and by using phone.

10. You can even earn money when you refer a friend to use a company’s prepaid card.

Prepaid cards by virtue of these and more qualities are fast getting into hearts and pockets of US population. The benefits are simply too overwhelming to ignore.





Tags: , ,
Posted in Credit | No Comments »