Prepaid Credit Cards: Basic Things To Take Into Consideration
Dec 16th, 2009 by master
Prepaid credit cards are said to be very beneficial. They are easy to apply for and to get. In most cases you don’t even have to attach your credit report to the credit card application. But still, before you do that, I suggest that you consider the following:
• Hidden fees. Prepaid credit cards usually come with some fees that you don’t know about when applying. Credit card companies make everything seem like there are no fees, when there actually are. There can be transaction fees, monthly and annual fees, and fees fro not using your card for a certain period of time. The short review of the credit card usually doesn’t contain such information, and it is usually stated in the fine print of the credit card application, which not everybody reads.
• Your purpose. If you just need a good credit card for managing your daily expenses and paying for services and bills, you can apply for a prepaid credit card without hesitation. But if your purpose is, say, rebuilding the credit score, then a prepaid credit card can be plain useless. For rebuilding the credit history you will have to have a credit card that will be reported to the credit bureau, i.e. your credit activity will be reported. It causes your credit history to change in either way. But unfortunately most prepaid credit cards’ activity is not reported, and for reestablishing your credit score you had better choose a secured credit card. On the other hand, such a peculiarity is useful if you tend to make some late payments. In this case even if you are in debt or have some troubles with your prepaid credit card, your credit score will remain the same.
• Earlier prepaid credit cards didn’t require any personal information for application – you just bought it and used it. But now the times are different and there are some new laws which oblige the credit card companies to ask you the same personal information that you give in your regular credit card application. So if you are trying to get a credit card because you search for privacy, prepaid credit card is not what you need. In this case it is better to choose a gift card with a credit card logo, which doesn’t require you to give any personal information.
As you see, prepaid credit cards have some peculiarities that you didn’t expect, but they also have some benefits that can be very handy. I am not trying to convince you that prepaid credit cards are bad. On the contrary, they are extremely useful at times, and they are just one of the great variety of credit card types, which are all designed for different types of people with different types of purposes and lifestyles.
The “recession” thing has helped to clear the minds of average people and big financial giants. Maybe this is not the wind of change, but it does help to make all the participants on the market of credit card applications to act accordingly.
However before you dash to fill out credit card applications, please visit this credit card blog. There you will find useful tips about how to find the best credit card applications and avoid the numerous traps of
this industry.
Tweet This Post!
[...] Prepaid Credit Cards: Basic Things To Take Into Consideration [...]