Prepaid Credit Card

Hey guys,

Any suggestions on Prepaid Credit cards?
I'm looking into getting one, let me know if you have any suggestions on brands ect.
Anything is appreciated!

My suggestion try getting a $500 limit credit card as opposed to a prepaid one. Amex has one with $500 and reward points. Use that card for a revolving debt like auto insurance. Don't carry a balance

Have you talked to some one at your bank? That would be my first thought.
My second thought would be why do you want a prepaid credit card? Are your trying to build credit? Trying not to over spend?

In my early 20's I had trouble getting a small loan. It wasn't that I had bad credit, I just didn't have any credit. I paid for everything in cash. I managed to get the loan and got a credit card that I paid off every month. I went from no credit to having a credit score over 800 in 10 years. It may have been less but that was the last time I had a credit check done.

Point is that it isn't hard to build credit. Pay your bills on time and don't over extend yourself (don't spend what you don't have).

I had no credit an had to give $1000 to have a card with $1000 limit used it for a year closed it and got the $1000 back. Never carried over a balance and never had to pay interest.

Talk to your bank and start building credit. Don't over spend and you will have great credit quite quickly.

Since you’re young it’s a very good idea to get a pre paid credit card. By the time you’re old enough to ask for a loan or mortgage you’ll hopefully have the credit to do so. That’s if you pay your credit card bill on time.

PCMastercard is pretty good. I got one when I was about 19 years old with a $200 limit on it. It was strictly to boost my bad credit.

I would start off with $100-$200.

not far off how I got started , went to the bank my Aunt worked at said if I put 500 in a savings account and don't touch it , can I have a credit card with a 500 dollar limit.

I actually did my banking at a bank where I went to school and not my home town



My Side , not sure if you are 18 yet , if you are explore this type of option.

watch out for activation fees ,you should not have to pay to use your own money. they already get 3% from what you purchase.

My solution:

I have a debit card. It has the visa logo and can do everything a credit card can do except get me in debt. I've been renting hotel rooms, rental cars, and using it for online purchases for 30 years.

When I was younger, I got a credit card and used it. I planned to pay it off every month and just use it to get over the humps when I was waiting for the next pay check. But, you never make enough in the next check to cover the next 2 weeks plus the debt you accrued in the last two weeks. The balance kept slowly growing. It made our day to day struggle harder than if I had never gotten it - but we were still managing, barely.

Then, we decided we "deserved" some nice things. We were working hard and our friends had some nice things. So, we bought a few nice things. Nothing really fancy but just a few things to keep up with our friends - who were probably also purchasing stuff they couldn't afford using debt. I wasn't able to pay off the debt every month any more but we were still managing to pay at least the minimum payment and we were managing, barely.

Then I lost my job. We missed a payment on the credit card. Our interest rate went from a ridiculous 12% to an unmanageable 28%. The accruing interest pushed us over our credit limit which triggered "over-the-credit-limit" fees every month in addition to late fees, in addition to 28% interest. But, we still needed to eat. Even though we were over the limit, the credit card company let us continue to use the card only to make withdraws at ATM's (Called MACs back then), not for over-the-counter payments. ATM withdraws came with an additional fee. Sneaky how they do that.

Within a couple of months, we were buried. Took us years to pay it off. I probably payed 4x my actual debt in interest and fees. I'll never do debt again. If I don't have the cash, I will live without it.

If you really need a credit card to make a specific purchase, get a VISA gift card. Purchase one in cash at the grocery store, pay the $5 fee to VISA, and use it once to make the purchase, and throw it out.

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I want a card so that I can make online purchases without have to go through my parents all the time.
I DON'T want an actual credit card, because theres always the temptation to spend more then you have. I make online purchases quite often, so a prepaid credit card (that is re loadable) seems like the best option in my opinion.
I know that I can get those gift cards, but I want something more permanent than that.

I know an 18 year old senior in high school who just applied for an Alaska Airlines Visa credit card. He applied online and it was approved immediately. He got his credit card in the mail about a week later, and he has a $1,500 credit limit. I have no idea how he got approved. He answered everything on the application honestly, and where it asked for his occupation he put student. He does make about $20,000 a year working constructionq part time. He entered that amount where it asked how much you made annually, maybe it was monthly and he divided by 12, don't remember.
Anyway, you got the card, I was surprised.

Go to the bank and get a debit card. They will make you keep a certain amount of balance on it, Or they will change you a fee per month.