You thought you could cut your costs and improve your debt situation by getting a prepaid credit card. As the saying goes, buyer beware. I learned some of this the hard way after I received a prepaid credit card as a gift. I tried to buy one of my favorite Beatles CD's at an online auction. I was surprised that my purchase was rejected, even though I knew the balance was enough to pay for it. The real shocker was that when I called the 800 number on the card to double check the balance, they charged me $1.00 for the call!
I opened a new window in my browser and went to the website of the prepaid credit card distributor. Following the prompts to enter my account number, I was shocked to see the reason for my shortage of funds. When my transaction didn't go through on the auction site I had been charged $1.00 by the prepaid gift card company for the failed purchase. And the reason the purchase had failed was because I had used the 800 telephone number to check my balance - and that had cost me $1.00 also. Sadly, my sought after Beatles disc was going to another home. If only had I read the fine print in the three page booklet that came with my card...
Well, it seems these issues are common for many of the prepaid gift and prepaid credit cards. For many, these prepaid cards have become very popular because of their convenience. Retailers and credit card companies like them a lot too, for another reason. In addition to the fees they charge, there is also a significant percent of these cards that never get used up. It is estimated that 6% to 25% of the $24.81 billion total value of prepaid cards purchased in 2006 goes unspent!
Are any of these cards worth it? First, make sure you read the details on the fees and charges. Gift cards from restaurants, retailers and hotels usually have no intial charge, and often no fees at all. And you can use the balance of a card on a purchase and pay the rest with some other form of payment, so you never have to leave a balance on your card. If you get a prepaid credit card from one of the credit card companies, expect to pay a processing fee right up front.
In addition to upfront fees, look out for the long list of other ways your balance gets whittled down. Things like checking your balance, refused transactions, registering your card for online purchases can all cost you money.
If you do have a prepaid credit card that has lots of these fees, what are you going to do? You cannot use the remaining balance on your card if it is less than what you owe. You could pay another fee. But don't call to get your balance either. You could be charged again! Try one of the retailer prepaid cards to avoid these unreasonable fees.
Don't rule out your local bank as a place for good deals on prepaid credit cards. They often have fewer fees and are less restrictive. And don't forget that all distributors of prepaid gift and credit cards are required by law to explain what fees and charges you are subject to. Do yourself a big favor and check these out and you could save yourself a lot of money and disappointment. I did not get that Beatles CD, but I used the lesson I learned and emptied the balance of my card on a copy of a U2 CD that I have really come to like a lot.
Master and visa cards are premium credit cards that can offer premium kind of benefits to the user.
A credit card is small kind of a plastic card that contains valuable information such as a picture or a signature of the user authorizes him/her to make purchases up to the sanctioned credit limit and the billing has then to be done periodically. In a credit card, the repayment is normally done after thirty days to forty days from the date of a product or a service purchase by the user.
A person can avail a credit card with the help of post, by sending an email or by making a simple phone call. Credit cards like master and visa cards are now offered with a high amount of fabulous gifts, lucrative discounts, and amazing voucher options.
Visa Card and Master Cards are special kind of credit cards that are simply methods of making payments. Master and the visa card are not card issuers but they try to establish payment systems at different merchant locations throughout the world but have never issued any kind of credit cards themselves.
Master and Visa Card have set up business relationships with merchant companies all over the world with the help of which customers can take the help of credit cards for shopping and also making any other payments like restaurant and hotel bills. These credit companies take the help of banks and financial institutions who are the ones responsible for actually issuing credit cards to the customers.
Master and Visa Cards make the payments to the merchant companies where the cards are issued and they also take payments from a company that actually issued the credit card to the customer a special fee for making the payments on their behalf. The card issuing company charges a fee from the merchant like Master and Visa for issuing the card, an annual rental fees for the card and a special amount of interest on the amount of money that had to be paid out to the merchant company.
The credit card companies are actually paid by the Master Card or the Visa Company and they in turn send the bills to the actual card holder. The credit card holder is lucky enough to never make any payments or cash directly to the Master Card or the Visa Company. With the help of a master or a visa card, one can enjoy a discounted favored access to the sole and thrilling opportunities in entertainment, theater and dining, indulgent spa experience and also private shopping experiences in malls.
One can also have an access to the by-invitation-only special film previews, premieres and parties when you get hold of a World MasterCard.
Cardholders whose standing and money are endangered by an ID theft can take the help of advisory services of master and visa credit card companies. In the case of a credit card theft, one can also take the help of administrative tasks to correct the situation of a credit card theft and prevent any kind of damages.
In case if one ensures that he/she has subscribed to a master or a visa card, they can get access to services like full coverage of legal costs as well as other litigation costs which can occur in the event of a credit card theft.
Both Paul Mcdermott & Raffick Marday4455 Raffick Marday4455 are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Paul Mcdermott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Debt Consolidation, Credit Cards and Bankruptcy Law. Paul McDermott reveals more of his hard earned lessons on and finances over at. Paul Mcdermott's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Raffick Marday4455 Raffick Marday4455 has sinced written about articles on various topics from Debit Credit Card, Credit Cards and Credit Check. raffick marday is author of this article on . Find more information about. Raffick Marday4455 Raffick Marday4455's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.