Where to get a pre-paid visa card?

mick.fr · 12-02-2008 12:28am #1

Fed up by the bank fees on Visa card here, gonna clear this thing up and I want to get a pre-paid visa card.
I had a look a while ago, seems there is nothing in Ireland, the 3V thing is not what I need, I need a physical card for both shops and online payments.

Seems to be very popular in the US, but not sure how to get one here.

Anyhone knows?

Thanks

Bottle_of_Smoke · 12-02-2008 12:53am

https://mbnagift.ie/

You can only keep E350 on it though.

My advice would be to get a normal credit card & reduce the limit to something tiny & keep it in credit

Sangre · 12-02-2008 1:25am

mick.fr wrote: »

Fed up by the bank fees on Visa card here, gonna clear this thing up and I want to get a pre-paid visa card.
I had a look a while ago, seems there is nothing in Ireland, the 3V thing is not what I need, I need a physical card for both shops and online payments.

Seems to be very popular in the US, but not sure how to get one here.

Anyhone knows?

Thanks

well if you paid your visa on time then you wouldn't be charged anything.

www.3v.ie for prepaid visa. A more expensive option then traditional cards though. If you've money to prepaid for goods you've money to pay off visa and avoid charges.

BuffyBot · 12-02-2008 10:08am

Quite a big market in the UK for them at the moment, but as of yet Ireland hasn't quite caught up. The MBNA gift card is the nearest at the moment, but as it can't be topped up it doesn't quite do the job.

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 11:01am

Sangre wrote: »

well if you paid your visa on time then you wouldn't be charged anything.

Smartboy everytime I use it they take fees...

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 11:03am

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

https://mbnagift.ie/

You can only keep E350 on it though.

My advice would be to get a normal credit card & reduce the limit to something tiny & keep it in credit

Visa electron is not a viable option I am afraid, many shops don't take it and it works not very well sometimes.
Thanks for the link though

Sangre · 13-02-2008 11:48am

mick.fr wrote: »

Smartboy everytime I use it they take fees...

Well I'm smart enough to use one of the many credit cards that don't have such fees. What bank is that with?

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 1:34pm

Sangre wrote: »

Well I'm smart enough to use one of the many credit cards that don't have such fees. What bank is that with?

Yes I suppose this is my weakness and should shop around.
That is what I am trying to do right now.
I use AIB Visa. Very expensive.

Triangle · 13-02-2008 1:39pm

Mick.Fr,
I looked into this a while ago and signed up for 3V - I found it incredibly difficult to add credit to it and the limit was too low. I'd stay away from them if you can.

The only option i found that was viable was (and forgive me if i'm wrong, it was over a year ago) getting an Italian 'AN Post' Prepaid card that you can top up from ireland. As far as i remember you didn't have to be a resident in Italy. I couldn't really look into it further at the time due to personal reasons.

Hope this was of some help!

Trig

exiot · 13-02-2008 1:48pm

I got an email from 3V a few days ago about the new features they offer on their website:

You will be able to:

*Update your address, mobile number, email address and other personal details online.
*View all your 3V Vouchers, with their current balances and transaction histories.
*Redeem the remaining money on your 3V Vouchers to your bank account.
*NEW! Redeem the funds on any Voucher to any another active Voucher.
*Choose the way security details are delivered to you, by email or SMS.

so transferring credit is easy now, though the €5 for each top up is a bit of a rip off

Sangre · 13-02-2008 1:55pm

mick.fr wrote: »

Yes I suppose this is my weakness and should shop around.
That is what I am trying to do right now.
I use AIB Visa. Very expensive.

AIB charge you every time you use the card even if you pay the bill in full every month?

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 1:58pm

Thanks for the other links guys
Yeah it is a difficult one I think, there are plenty of these in the US, but to top up you got to use a Visa/Amex card, which makes the thing pointless.
And the fees are far to be cheap as well.
3V might be a good alternative but there is no physical card as far as I have seen and the limit is like 500 euro.
I suppose it is not really taking off because the banks are keen to rip you off with their fees.

In France, where I am from, Visa cards can be either credit cards or debit cards, so when you use your Visa card, it is immediately debited from your current account. And fees are almost nil. Ideally that is what I would like to have here.

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 2:01pm

Sangre wrote: »

AIB charge you every time you use the card even if you pay the bill in full every month?

My Visa status is not 0. I use it, pay back regularly, not always to come back to 0, sometimes 2-3 months. But every month I got "purchase fees", usual credit fees...And it is not cheap.

So are you saying if I keep my Visa balance to 0 and pay within ..? Refund immediately any purchase from my current to Visa account, I pay 0 fees?

Sangre · 13-02-2008 2:18pm

Well you don't have to refund immediately just pay the bill in full every month before the due date. Do this and you'll avoid any purchase or credit fees. You're not being charged for using the card, you're charged for not paying the bank back in full on time.

If you have money for a prepaid visa you should have the money to pay back your visa in full. Or you could top up the visa, that is, pay off the balance and put your own credit on it above the limit. You'd avoid any purchase interest this way as well.

BuffyBot · 13-02-2008 2:59pm

mick.fr wrote: »

In France, where I am from, Visa cards can be either credit cards or debit cards, so when you use your Visa card, it is immediately debited from your current account. And fees are almost nil. Ideally that is what I would like to have here.

Have you looked at Halifax? They issue a Visa debit card as part of their current account package

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 13-02-2008 3:05pm

mick.fr wrote: »

Smartboy everytime I use it they take fees...

don't be rude to people

/ btw your sig is also wrong

infraction

kaiser sauze · 13-02-2008 3:58pm

mick.fr wrote: »

Thanks for the other links guys
Yeah it is a difficult one I think, there are plenty of these in the US, but to top up you got to use a Visa/Amex card, which makes the thing pointless.
And the fees are far to be cheap as well.
3V might be a good alternative but there is no physical card as far as I have seen and the limit is like 500 euro.
I suppose it is not really taking off because the banks are keen to rip you off with their fees.

In France, where I am from, Visa cards can be either credit cards or debit cards, so when you use your Visa card, it is immediately debited from your current account. And fees are almost nil. Ideally that is what I would like to have here.

I'm sorry to hear that 3V is not what you need; I'm a 3V evangelical, cancelled my credit card and use it all the time now. I believe you can buy up to €750 in credit now, in one voucher. I've never bought that much, so I'm not certain.

I've seen it said elsewhere that the €5 charge is steep, that's a point of view, people get charged much more for not clearing their balances at the end of the month. When I do buy credit, I tend to buy in large amounts, so this charge becomes incidental.

Hanley · 13-02-2008 4:14pm

I can't understand why someone who has enough cash to front load a pre-paid credit card for purchases doesn't just use a debit card instead...?

As Sangre said, pay it off in full each month before the due date and you'll pay no charges other than the yearly gov. stamp duty.

kaiser sauze · 13-02-2008 4:21pm

Hanley wrote: »

I can't understand why someone who has enough cash to front load a pre-paid credit card for purchases doesn't just use a debit card instead...?

As Sangre said, pay it off in full each month before the due date and you'll pay no charges other than the yearly gov. stamp duty.

...because many places will not accept debit cards, particularly foreign establishments. :rolleyes:

Davy · 13-02-2008 5:40pm

BuffyBot wrote: »

Have you looked at Halifax? They issue a Visa debit card as part of their current account package

Second that.

seems to be the best option for what you want.

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 6:35pm

Alright thank you guys for all your input, been a learning experience for me.

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 6:48pm

Roundtower2 wrote: »

don't be rude to people

/ btw your sig is also wrong

infraction

Ok signature changed

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 13-02-2008 7:34pm

liking the new sig!

/ i pm'd you back

Zaph · 13-02-2008 8:24pm

mick.fr wrote: »

My Visa status is not 0. I use it, pay back regularly, not always to come back to 0, sometimes 2-3 months. But every month I got "purchase fees", usual credit fees...And it is not cheap.

So are you saying if I keep my Visa balance to 0 and pay within ..? Refund immediately any purchase from my current to Visa account, I pay 0 fees?

Not meaning to sound pedantic about this, but you're mistaking fees with interest. A credit card is essentially a loan from the bank, if you don't pay a loan back in full within a specific period you'll be charged interest, and a credit card is exactly the same. Interest on credit card balances is charged at a much higher rate than any other form of credit and if you don't pay off the balance in full you'll be charged interest on the full amount, not just the reduced balance after you make a payment.

However, there is one fee that will be charged to your account every year, even if you haven't used the card once. The government apply stamp duty of €30 per year on all credit cards. I don't know how long you've had your card, you may not have encountered this yet, and if not you'll know what it is now when you see it.

mick.fr · 13-02-2008 8:30pm

Roundtower2 wrote: »

liking the new sig!

/ i pm'd you back

Pff I thought I would been accused of some sort of blasphemy or something and got a ban...
Thanks I like it too, just made it up today :-) Copyright me.

KBarry · 14-02-2008 5:30pm

BuffyBot wrote: »

Have you looked at Halifax? They issue a Visa debit card as part of their current account package

Interesting. I'm after a Visa debit card too. I'm with Ulster and only have a Laser card. It's pretty worthless to be honest. When I asked them if they did a Visa debit card they looked at me like I was a mental case.

:shrug

Davy · 14-02-2008 5:55pm

KBarry wrote: »

When I asked them if they did a Visa debit card they looked at me like I was a mental case.

:shrug

the visa is handy, lot more places than laser,,,, just cant use it in aldi/lidl

Where to get a pre-paid visa card?

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