Pre Paid Debit Cards

[sanmiguel]

I am looking to get one of these pre paid visa/mastercard debit cards they offer at the post office/Thomas cook etc.... as back up in case i lose my bank card.

Does anyone use these or know which one is the best?

Is it possible to transfer money onto them online and are they a viable alternative to bank debit cards as im with Yorkshire bank and their charges are excessive.

[Mali1964]

I am looking to get one of these pre paid visa/mastercard debit cards they offer at the post office/Thomas cook etc.... as back up in case i lose my bank card.

Does anyone use these or know which one is the best?

Is it possible to transfer money onto them online and are they a viable alternative to bank debit cards as im with Yorkshire bank and their charges are excessive.

First of all join the Nationwide its free to draw cash from any foreign ATM the only English Bank to do this, if you do not need an Overdraft just apply for the Cash Card this is ATM only but you don't need an A1 credit Rating to get one.

Check out this link to compare pre paid cards Cashplus is one of the cheapest ,there are some that allow top up on line via a Debit Card you just need to study which one is best for your needs there great for leaving with the misses, but the best is just to leave her with the Nationwide card when back home & just add money to the account as required.

prepaid-cards

[sanmiguel]

Cheers but im too late to get a nationwide account card as im looking to go away shortly, will sort it when i get back.

[Mali1964]

Be careful with the post office free load fee's, the small print say it can take up to 3/5 working days to load onto the card,if you have a Money shop where you live they will load Cashplus for free & its on there within 30 minutes

I have tried Payzone the money is there within minutes but the loading fee's make it expensive with all charges taken into account its around 5/6% in fee's most charge 2.75% foreign transaction fee £0.99/£3.00 ATM fee plus loading fee's but due to their new popularity the rates are dropping all the time.

Cashplus also are the best looking card yours or your misses full name is on the card they just look like a real credit card where as Payzone don't even have all the numbers on the card you need to log online to get them for any online purchase.

It takes about a week to get your Cashplus account via the money shop but you could have it posted on to you in Thailand.

[theoldgit]

Don't forget that The Nationwide have recently announced that they will be charging on their cards very shortly, but they are still the cheapest.

[Mali1964]

Don't forget that The Nationwide have recently announced that they will be charging on their cards very shortly, but they are still the cheapest.

Thats a shame but it was inevitable with no other bank matching it i suppose they think there throwing money away & banks don't do that no more do they.

Any idea on the charges & when they plan to start.

[Mali1964]

Well i missed that announcement & not 1 of my family have had anything from Nationwide & there's 4 of us with Debit Cards there,still their far cheaper than Barclay's who charge around 5 % in all.

From the Beeb last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7925487.stm

[davidthai]

I am looking to get one of these pre paid visa/mastercard debit cards they offer at the post office/Thomas cook etc.... as back up in case i lose my bank card.

Does anyone use these or know which one is the best?

Is it possible to transfer money onto them online and are they a viable alternative to bank debit cards as im with Yorkshire bank and their charges are excessive.

I have a CASH PLUS master card which i have used for about 3 years , i think Cash Plus where the originators of these credit cards and are the cheapest, you can transfer money from my Internet nbank account and i can look at my account on line , i have never had a problem with them and use for booking hotels /flights in Thailand

[Neeranam]

http://www.what-prepaid-card.co.uk/

[thecatman]

Don't forget that The Nationwide have recently announced that they will be charging on their cards very shortly, but they are still the cheapest.

Thats a shame but it was inevitable with no other bank matching it i suppose they think there throwing money away & banks don't do that no more do they.

Any idea on the charges & when they plan to start.

As of 1st June 09 Nationwide will charge 1% on withdrawals using their visa debit cards abroard.

The same charge will also apply to credit cards, the credit ccard charge kicks in 6th May 09.

More on this in this link

[torrenova]

Er .. get a Thai bank account and put some cash in it that you don't use or need.

Er .. have more than one card, like 10 or so.

Edited April 7, 2009 by torrenova

[sanmiguel]

Don't forget that The Nationwide have recently announced that they will be charging on their cards very shortly, but they are still the cheapest.

I read on a thread somewhere here that if you get the card that isnt Visa with this account they dont charge for cash withdrawals.

Reading the links it looks as if the Caxton fx global traveller card is the best in terms of charges, it also claims to offer old fashioned customer service.

Edited April 7, 2009 by sanmiguel

[ArranP]

Don't forget that The Nationwide have recently announced that they will be charging on their cards very shortly, but they are still the cheapest.

Thats a shame but it was inevitable with no other bank matching it i suppose they think there throwing money away & banks don't do that no more do they.

Any idea on the charges & when they plan to start.

As of 1st June 09 Nationwide will charge 1% on withdrawals using their visa debit cards abroard.

The same charge will also apply to credit cards, the credit ccard charge kicks in 6th May 09.

More on this in this link

The UK Post Office credit card does not charge for withdrawls abroad so long as you credit the card first before making the withdrawl.