If you own a prepaid card and you’re wondering what you can do with it, or you’re about to get one, here’s a guide to what you can use a prepaid card for.
1. Load Money
The first thing you do with a prepaid card is to load cash onto it, either at a Post Office, a Pay Point or by making a transfer from other banks.
2. Withdraw cash
You can withdraw cash with your prepaid card at ATM points, just as you would with a regular debit card. You will have a pin with which to initiate withdrawals.
While withdrawals might be free across several financial institutions, several other banks have withdrawal charges.
Several fintech doesn’t have charges, even for international withdrawals, making it great for people travelling abroad to enjoy favourable exchange rates.
3. Online Payments
You can purchase goods and services online using a prepaid debit card because the card has a sort code and an account number that you can use to carry out online payments.
4. Regular Payments and Direct Debits
You can set up regular payment plans and direct debit with a prepaid card using your account number and sort code. Just ensure that you have enough funds in your account so that they can be withdrawn when payments are due. Otherwise, you will miss payments and incur additional charges.
5. Receive Wages
You can have your wages paid into your prepaid card using your account number, whether you are a freelancer or a full-time worker.
Workers who can’t open bank accounts with a traditional bank can get prepaid cards and receive their salaries.
What You Can’t Use a Prepaid Card For
There are two major things you cannot do with your prepaid card, and they are both related.
First, you should know that you cannot use your prepaid card as a credit card. This is because a prepaid debit card doesn’t have a credit allowance. While regular debit cards can be set up to allow you to make payments without sufficient funds, with a prepaid card, you cannot spend more than the amount of money loaded onto your card.
Similarly, you cannot go overdrawn at any time. Even if you have 99% of the funds needed to purchase an item, your payment will be declined because you don’t have an overdraft. While this might be a challenge if the payment or purchase is important, the feature can also help you stick to a budget and manage your funds better.
However, there might be a few exceptions, from one financial institution or the other.
How to get a Prepaid Card?
You can get a Suits Me® prepaid card. It has more features than the standard prepaid card. A Suits Me® account comes with a wide range of banking features, such as direct debit setups, creation of standing orders, bank transfers across the UK, mobile apps, online banking, and other management features. You can even make international transfers using a partner application.
