Buy Uk Prepaid Visa Card

Your benefits may vary by card type and issuing bank or credit union. Refer to your issuing bank for complete benefit coverage terms and conditions or call Mastercard (0800-96-4767) for assistance. Certain terms, conditions and exclusions apply.

buy uk prepaid visa card

Your benefits may vary by card type and by issuing financial institution. Refer to your issuing financial institution for complete benefit coverage terms and conditions or call Mastercard (0800-96-4767) for assistance. Certain terms, conditions and exclusions apply.

However, they're certainly not for everyone. Unlike credit cards, prepaid cards don't offer many perks to those who are already good with money. That's why it's important to do your research and weigh up your options before deciding which option to go for.

Wise is a prepaid card that's perfect for UK and international spending. It allows you to send money to 80 countries and hold over 50 different currencies. This is perfect for international students, if you travel often or if you do any freelance work for which you receive payment in a different currency.

With Clubcard Pay+ from Tesco, you can get a digital prepaid card which you can use via their app. And unlike other prepaid cards, the Tesco prepaid card gives you FSCS protection, since it's linked to Tesco Bank.

On top of that, you'll earn Clubcard points for using the card, even if you don't spend it at Tesco. You get the regular one point per 1 when shopping at Tesco, but you can get one point per 8 when using the card elsewhere.

Another handy feature that comes with this prepaid card is the Round Up savings account. It rounds up your transactions and puts the difference in a special savings pot, making it very easy to save money without really trying.

Our latest National Student Money Survey found that students spend on average 116/month on groceries. By topping up the Tesco prepaid card with less than this, you can push yourself to spend less than the average student on food.

On the app, you can set up different money jars (for anything from groceries and takeout coffee to holidays and Christmas presents), which makes it much easier to budget efficiently and put money aside for bigger purchases. With the Hyperjar prepaid card, you can then spend directly from any jar.

The Ode prepaid card is a little different from the other cards on this list. You can only get it if you are a carer, charity worker or work in education or healthcare. If any of these apply to you, it's definitely worth checking out.

There are some downsides, however. While the first year is completely free, you'll have to pay a small fee to keep the card every year after that. You also won't be able to make any ATM withdrawals. Plus, there's an inactivity fee of 5 per month, but this only applies to accounts over two years old that haven't been active for 12 months.

Although this can be annoying, the major bonus is that you'll never have any interest to pay back and no charges to catch you out if you go over your overdraft limit (because, of course, you don't have an overdraft). With a prepaid card, you can only spend what you have preloaded or transferred onto the card.

As for actually topping up a prepaid card, you can do this with cash, by phone, online, text or with an app. It depends on the kind of card that you have. Just be aware that there can be additional fees involved depending on the card's terms and how you choose to top up.

You can always check your balance online, and the latest prepaid card technology gives you instant updates and notifications to your smartphone. This way, you know exactly how much and where you're spending your money.

Prepaid cards like Wise and Clubcard Pay+ are free to set up and don't come with any monthly charges. But it's also not uncommon for companies to offer new customers a prepaid debit card as a reward for signing up or buying a product from them.

This means they usually have all the technology that made app-based prepaid cards so appealing in the first place. That includes live spending updates, digestible breakdowns of your spending and budgeting help.

Prepaid cards definitely have their benefits, but they're a lot more useful for some than others. We'd recommend considering getting a prepaid credit card if one (or more) of these situations applies to you:

Prepaid credit cards are perfect for anyone who struggles to stay within budget each month, because you have no choice but to oblige. There's no overdraft or extra money at the bottom of a prepaid card, so you need to keep on top of your finances.

Unsure how much your weekly budget should be? Our handy budgeting spreadsheet will help you crunch the numbers.You have a bad credit ratingMost prepaid cards come with a guaranteed acceptance rate, which is great for students who have been declined for a credit card in the past. This can happen if you have a poor credit score.

Some prepaid cards can even help improve your credit rating. Certain cards let you pay a certain amount each month. If you make all the payments successfully, they share the details with a credit report company on your behalf, which will help you improve your rating.

• Your parents can have access to your spending. Or, they may even agree to top your card up a certain amount each month (they are technically expected to help out financially, after all).

You're worried about going over your overdraft limitIf you tend to excessively use your overdraft, a prepaid card is a great way to get used to staying within a budget.

• Some prepaid cards will send you a notification when you're onto your last few pennies. That way, you're not left red-faced at the supermarket checkout when your card gets declined while buying toilet paper.

You go abroad quite oftenPrepaid credit cards can be handy for travelling abroad, especially as you'll only have a certain amount on the card at one time. If your card gets stolen or maxed out, it's not the end of the world.

It's worth noting that, in some circumstances, a credit card will actually work out as a better option. This is because, unlike prepaid cards, credit cards can come with lots of added bonuses and perks for those who are already well-off or good at handling their money.

Essentially, the nature of prepaid cards means that they're not owned and run by banks. They're what's called an 'electronic money product'. When you put your money onto your prepaid card, it's stored with a payment processing company rather than a bank.

For this reason, it's really important that you only add money to your card in small-ish doses. We'd recommend topping up once a week (most of the cards mentioned below don't charge for top-ups anyway, so this won't leave you out of pocket). This way, if the company goes bust, you're not likely to lose out on a lot of cash.

• The Clubcard Pay+ prepaid card is an exception to this, as it comes with FSCS protection. This means that your money (up to 85,000) is covered.

Hidden feesThe other main drawback of prepaid cards is the fees. Here's a breakdown of the different charges that could be applied, and what they're for:

Since prepaid cards (usually) aren't linked to a bank, the money you store on them won't gain any interest. That's why it's better to only store a small amount of money on them. Not only does it give you better protection (see the first point on this list), but it also helps you budget in a more efficient way.

• When using the Clubcard Pay+ card, it automatically rounds up any spending and puts the difference in your Round Up account. On the money in this account, you'll earn around 0.35% Annual Equivalent Rate (AER). You can check out our guide to financial vocabulary for more information on AER.

A prepaid card is an alternative to carrying around cash. It works in a similar way - and looks identical - to a debit card, except for the fact it isn't connected to a bank account. Instead, you load money on to the card and then use it for your day-to-day spending, topping it up when you need to. The way it works means there is no risk of overspending on the card, becoming overdrawn or building up any kind of debt.

Using a prepaid card minimises your risk of being a victim of fraud as, unlike a credit or debit card, the amount you stand to lose is limited to the total amount loaded on the card. For this reason, some people prefer using a prepaid card for online purchases or when purchasing items when abroad. A prepaid card can also be preferable to cash as it is easier to handle and, if you lose it, there is more chance of being able to get the money back.

In this article we explain exactly how prepaid cards work and highlight the best cards for general use. If you want specific information about prepaid travel money cards, read our review. If you are looking for the best prepaid cards for children, we also have a comprehensive guide.

You can buy a prepaid card from retailers such as newsagents, or you can buy them online. At the point of purchase you will need to decide how much to load on it. Some cards also allow you to set up a direct debit from your bank account to automatically load money on to your card on a monthly basis. Different methods of topping up your card may have different limits. For example, you may be limited to adding 250 if you are doing it at a shop, but you may be able to do a bank transfer for over 1,000.

Once money has been loaded onto the card, you can use it just as you would a debit or credit card. In fact, if it has a Mastercard or Visa logo, it should be accepted in all places that accept cards from those issuers. As with a debit card, you will have a PIN, which you use when making a payment or withdrawing cash from an ATM. There is usually also the option to make contactless payments up to a total of 100 per transaction.

Most prepaid cards have a fee or charge associated with them, so it pays to shop around and work out in advance what it is likely to cost. While one option may initially seem more appealing because there isn't a charge to take it out, for example, it could cost more in the long run if there is a high transaction fee. 041b061a72