Getting a reloadable pre-paid Mastercard from woolworths usually costs $9.95. Till 29th Feb, it's down to $4.95
Application forms are here
As pointed out by mikljon, Auspost have a reloadable VISA card with no reload fees etc which looks like a better deal
Why would you bother to cancel if its prepaid? Isn't the usefulness of these that they can be discarded at any time?
Also, just to be picky. A credit card that already has money on it….. doesn't that make it a debit card?
from what i can gather after a cursor look at the fees, there is an expiry period and you need to pay to renew and they keep sucking your money until the account is dry.
Card Renewal Fee $4.95
(Incurred when you renew your card)
Expired Card Fee $4
(Incurred each month after your card expires until you cancel your card or the Available Balance becomes $0)
These fees are just ridiculous..
I reckon this works best if you use it and close the card off once the work is done. Card renewal would be equivalent to getting a new card I think (I haven't read the PDS). The fees are a bit high but compared to regular cards where there's annual membership fee and minimum spend, these prepaid cards are useful in some cases.
To each their own.
EDIT - Mattgal has explained as per above comment. Retracting mine as it is the same regarding Fees
what my bank said is with the debit card it does not just allow you to take out only what is in your account, you can take out double. eg you have $20 in your account it will let you take the 20 and overdraw 20 so 40 total. if you have $1000 in your account you can take out $2000. they said there is no limit but its not 100% debit and safe where as this card is
Not entirely true, St George debit does NOT allow you to take even $5 over. However I can confirm ANZ does up to a max of $200 I believe.
I use Westpac Debit card and it has never allowed me to overdraw before.
Also Debit card is supposed work like the bank/eftpos card hence it is not a credit card as it does not allow you to be in credit.
I believe if they charge you a overdrawn fee, you can get the banks to refund you the fee as you did not request for an overdraw functionality and they are not allowed to turn that on without your permission.
This overdrawn issue was in Today/Tonight or Current Affairs a few years ago. If it remember correctly, they say it is illegal for the bank to do that? Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
Your debit card may have a negative balance if offline processing was causing it regardless you have an overdraw facility or not.
For non-offline payment authorisations, it really depends on individual issuers. Some even treat individual customers differently depending on the risk factors.
i've had my ing everyday orange account become overdrawn from a visa transaction once. it was for an online purchase and the merchant did an authorisation. however, the merchant took weeks before processing it and they authorisation went stale after a week (disappeared) and the transaction just appeared out of the blue on my statement. ing don't charge for overdrawn accounts for the first 3 days so it wasn't a problem.
i imagine that it is possible, as mentioned above, with any manual transaction which is not pre-authorised.
is the card even accepted at woolworths?
I agree the fees are a bit much, but if your aim is to have a credit card for a short period (travel or online purchase from someone with dubious reputation), then these are great. Use it and then close off when the purpose is served.
Why are you visiting a website if they have a dubious reputation? That's a different story but these would be useful in any case. I reckon these are best for a travel. Use it for a month then close it off.
28degrees is better for travel.
And none of those rediculous fees!!!
I agree the fees are a bit much, but if your aim is to have a credit card for a short period (travel or online purchase from someone with dubious reputation), then these are great.
just get 2nd card through bank.
Agree, that is another valid approach. That would however involve credit checks and paperwork. Pre-paid cards don't need much of a credit check. Anyway, I just wanted to point out such an offer exists, I don't recommend them one way or another. As pointed out by another user, the VISA reloadable card is another option.
i'm referring to visa/mastercard debit card. i have never seen any mention of opening accounts on my credit history
Cant you already buy real throwaway pre-paid Visa cards from the Post Office?
One variety of this card is reloadable. Not sure if the VISA ones are reloadable or not.
EDIT: Looks like these are reloadable
But if your buying overseas there is a hefty rate:
"Foreign currency conversion fee - 3% of spend"
I remember when I bought a SSD HDD from Amazon for $401.55 CBA charged me $12.05 "International Transaction Fee" Not sure how much percent that works out to be. But in the end I know I'm not getting the best deal because CBA charge me $4 a month to have the account. Planning on moving to the CitiBank deal that looks to be better, http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61969
Amazed no one has compared it here, looking for a comparison,
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61969 (:
3% and thereabouts is a typical rate for most cards,
who ever get these useless prepaid visa card???
I know that special offers are made to mastercard holders. I am a visa and amex holder.
I am wonering if this would open up new discounts.
even better…. FREE, saw this when i got a prepaid card (non-reloadable)
https://www.everydaymoney.com.au/edm/wps/portal/money/!ut/p/…
Not QUITE free - that is for an upgrade only (that would be an upgrade from the non-reloadable one.
There are as much paperwork and id checks on this as there is on any bank account.
who ever get these useless prepaid visa card???
Last time this offer was available Hubby decided he wanted one for the purpose of buying paid apps through the android store etc, and not having to give our regular CC details.
He could have just as easily opened a free NAB account with visa debit but didn't thiink of it at the time. lol.
Anyway, so he put in the application online over a month ago, had to take his 100 points of id to Woolies, and a PIN turned up last week, but as yet no card.
You can select to have either $1 a month fee, or $1 fee per reload.
One benefit of this over a bank visa debit is that it's available to under 18s.
Looks like these are reloadable
http://auspost.com.au/personal/what-is-loadandgo-card.html
That's cheaper if you only do a few of transactions a month - no reload or monthly fees, just 9cents per transaction. They charge a whopping $15 to cancel though - as already said, why would you bother to cancel?!
why would you bother to cancel?!
"Unclaimed funds on expired cards $1 per month until zero or funds are claimed"
Can't find how it expires, though, and the monthly/annual fee is FREE, but it must have an expiry dat on the physical card, so then
"Card replacement, reissue or cancellation fee $15.00"
comes into play….. so Logically if you have $23 on your card when it expired, you'd be better off to cancel and buy a new one.
"Card replacement, reissue or cancellation fee $15.00"
comes into play….. so Logically if you have $23 on your card when it expired, you'd be better off to cancel and buy a new one.
No, you'd be best off to spend the balance before it expires, and have a zero balance when it does expire.
Hypertexting in an insecure world. Discuss …
That's actually not a bad deal if you want it for ePump. I ride a motorbike and hate having to take all my gear off to go in and pay. $1/month to me is worth it to get access to ePump.
does this give you access to epump with the fuel discount ?
You can read about that in the ePump link:
https://www.everydaymoney.com.au/edm/wps/portal/money/aboutt…
I can only see something like this being useful for say teenagers going away somewhere and mum and dad want to give them money at a limit? If the money runs out while the kid is away then mum and dad can reload? right? lol
correct, as far as I know.
My little sister does this.. I just have my own bank account with a mastercard.. o_o
The card can also be a hassle..
As above, good for teenagers who are to young for a credit card and want to be able to purchase something. Some parents may not want their kids using theirs, so this fits the bill. For those old enough, the $0 fee cards are likely a much better alternative, but these do serve a purpose.
or go to bank and get one free, earn interest on your money and avoid some heft fees
want to cancel your card? it will cost you $5