Visa Debit Card, is it a good idea?
jollybluegiant92 asked:
Hi, i just got a new job. They Pay electronically. The choice was direct deposit or visa paycard. I guess you get one free transaction if you need cash once a month from an ATM. They charge you after that. This is new to me, the rest of the jobs i had gave me checks. I don’t have a checking account and i am in college. I was wondering if anyone has used a Debit Visa prepaid card and if it is a good choice to have at my age. My thinking was i have a savings account so over time on the card i can use it like a credit card and not carry around huge amounts of cash whenever i need cash i can go to the ATM for it once a month ( i usually only spend money on gas now since it’s the summer). What do you all think? Thanks.
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Hi, i just got a new job. They Pay electronically. The choice was direct deposit or visa paycard. I guess you get one free transaction if you need cash once a month from an ATM. They charge you after that. This is new to me, the rest of the jobs i had gave me checks. I don’t have a checking account and i am in college. I was wondering if anyone has used a Debit Visa prepaid card and if it is a good choice to have at my age. My thinking was i have a savings account so over time on the card i can use it like a credit card and not carry around huge amounts of cash whenever i need cash i can go to the ATM for it once a month ( i usually only spend money on gas now since it’s the summer). What do you all think? Thanks.
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March 7th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Debit Visa prepaid card is different from a debit card from a checking account.
a debit card is ok as long as you open up an overdraft protection saving account along with it.
the visa prepaid is horrendous.
March 7th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
You should open a checking account and get your checks through direct deposit. Then you can get a real debit card on that checking account. It’s free to open a checking account at most banks, just walk in and bring your driver’s license.
Just don’t pick Bank of America!
March 9th, 2010 at 6:26 am
I would say be careful just blindly accepting the visa pay card they offer you without looking at the fees and terms for the card. I’ve heard some horror stories about pay cards, and really they’re the same as prepaid debit cards except you won’t get to shop around for one and you’ll have to use the one they give you.
If you really want to go with prepaid debit cards it’s likely you can find a better deal by shopping around for your own card, and then sending your employer the information to set up direct deposit.
If you don’t want to have to worry about overdraft fees, prepaid debit cards are the way to go because they don’t let you spend more money than you have. Make sure to look at the fees to see if they charge a decline fee. This is the newest way of making more money for them, they charge like a dollar if you try to make a purchase but don’t have the money. It’s still better than a big $35 overdraft fee, but something to shop around a bit for.
I wrote a bit more about how to decide here: