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BlueIndian
Maestro



Registered: 01/17/10
Posts: 858
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pre paid visa cards?
#12715855 - 06/09/10 04:16 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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I`ve used a prepaid visa card before but it`s been a while. From my memory, they charge you something like $5 for each purchase you make. I can`t remember exactly....if anyone knows the fees for the use of these please let me know. I`m looking at spending about $95 with one and not sure if I need to buy a $100 card or slightly higher to offset the fees.
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migraineur
Geezer


Registered: 02/15/10
Posts: 1,642
Last seen: 6 months, 20 days
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: BlueIndian]
#12715894 - 06/09/10 04:25 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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Why not get a debit card from your bank. It is like a credit card but it uses your savings instead of credit so you can only spend the money you have. I use mine to buy stuff online frequently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card
Try to get Visa if you can. Most places accept Visa and Mastercard as the main two but if you are traveling overseas etc then it can be a bitch if you are not using Visa. Do not even bother with American Express. The places that do take it will charge you higher fees.
Cheers
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BlueIndian
Maestro



Registered: 01/17/10
Posts: 858
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: migraineur]
#12716058 - 06/09/10 05:02 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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By using the pre paid visas I think you can keep your identity low key...where as a debit card from the bank doesn`t. And using these is a form of pre payment......you have to pay first so it isn`t really 'credit'.
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xtokex
Stranger
Registered: 10/22/09
Posts: 662
Loc: SoCal
Last seen: 7 years, 8 months
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: BlueIndian]
#12716251 - 06/09/10 05:49 PM (13 years, 8 months ago) |
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When you checkout @ the register in a grocery store, you pay $100 (amount you wanna put on gift card) + $5.95 (varies if its AMEX, mastercard, visa, etc. activation fee.) Other than that its a totally normal card.
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total
Post Office Tyvek Advocator




Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 11,406
Last seen: 6 days, 22 hours
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: xtokex]
#13230033 - 09/22/10 03:56 AM (13 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
xtokex said: When you checkout @ the register in a grocery store, you pay $100 (amount you wanna put on gift card) + $5.95 (varies if its AMEX, mastercard, visa, etc. activation fee.) Other than that its a totally normal card.
  Some companies say if you dont use $$$ in xxx time they will deduct $x from acct until dry..
*edit* wow...first time browsing thru $matters....didnt know i went so deep on one of multitabs...sorry to dig old stuff :-D
Edited by total (09/22/10 03:58 AM)
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Mycjunky
Stranger


Registered: 07/25/09
Posts: 1,837
Last seen: 3 years, 8 months
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: BlueIndian]
#13247601 - 09/26/10 01:04 AM (13 years, 4 months ago) |
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In my experience it costs $5 to activate a prepaid visa card. So if you want a card for $100 you will pay $105. I think it's like $5 each month or something like that but whenever I've used one I just paid the $5 originally and used the card up on a single transaction so I never had to deal with the other ones cause I just tossed it after that.
Edited by Mycjunky (09/26/10 01:05 AM)
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Groovy Grant

Registered: 07/31/00
Posts: 6,635
Loc: TX
Last seen: 1 month, 2 days
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Re: pre paid visa cards? [Re: Mycjunky]
#13248484 - 09/26/10 09:15 AM (13 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think with the new banking rules, they have severely limited the fees that can and can not be charged (like for gift cards). I know in certain states (TX and FL come to mind) a gift card can not be charged any fees for lack of use. I'm not certain, but I would imagine prepaid visa's are the same idea.
The reasoning behind the fees is fairly understandable, when you purchase a giftcard or prepaid visa it becomes a liability on the books of the vendor. They want to reduce liabilities as quickly as possible, by you either using the credit up or them reducing monthly until eliminated.
However, it works to punish the consumer. They paid for something and don't get full use of what they paid for, so they are punished for not using the card immediately (I want to say they used to have fees kick in after six months). So, I think they changed this, because really the liability will be removed on it's own by inflation (over the long run), and the company still gets to hold the cash and have any interest that bears, so they still get a return for doing virtually nothing.
Amex pioneered this with traveler's cheques. The average 'float' is 90+ days and there are billions of dollars out there floating, accruing them money for just printing a voucher. And a fee is paid to purchase them. Amazing stuff!
Actually, why not look into a traveler's cheque, I can't remember if they have your name on them or not. I think the fees would be lower.
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