Instead of throwing away cards with small balances you can send them to me and I can use them.
Oh - and to answer some of the specific questions: to use them online you have to first register them at the issuer’s site (as I had mentioned), then you put your own name when you make an online purchase. There is indeed a fee when you buy the card itself, several dollars for example.
The refillable Wal-Mart “debit” cards that Dewey Finn mentioned are slightly different from the Visa Gift Cards you can buy anywhere. Both can, obviously, be used for Visa purchases any place that accepts Visa, but I would bet that the Wal-Mart ones can also be used to get cash (since you’re getting your own cash that you loaded up on them).
Looks like you can even get payroll direct deposit to those. Yes, there are fees, but for someone who isn’t able to (or doesn’t WANT to) open a bank account for whatever reason, it’s arguably a better option than carrying so much cash around. I remember there being a big stink about Wal-Mart starting this service, and gouging fees from folks who could least afford it, but then others pointed out that it’s still a lot less than going to a check cashing service so Wal-mart was, really, providing a needed service.
My opinion is still that this is a good choice only for the unbanked; if you have any other options, I wouldn’t use one.
None of these will affect your credit report in any way, as they’re not debts. If someone wants to build credit, you’d be better off going with a secured credit card offered by many (most?) banks.
Any place that takes credit cards will take the Visa gift cards at the register and let you do that. My daughter has used several at once with small balances left on them at the grocery store as well. She saves them for when she’s running low on funds, since they’re good for 2 years or so after purchase. Calls it her Emergency Stash.
Restaurants aren’t great about this. We had a 100 dollar gift card, and wanted to use it for a 90ish dollar meal at a nice restaurant (planning on paying cash for the tip). It was declined, since I guess the restaurant systems typically put a 20% or so hold on the card.
They do exactly that. Pay at the pump gas stations also want approval for 75.00 before you can use one to pre-pay. It’s not problem if you pay with it after you fill up, but there aren’t many of those still around.
My place of employment does not accept cash in its cafeteria or vending machines. I could use my debit card, but that means entering a lot of $1.25 or $3.45 transactions into my checkbook; so its a lot more convenient to just get a $20 prepaid card and use that for coffee & candy bars, until it runs out.
(and when it runs low, I can just give the used up one to a cashier and say “start with this one…” and hand her a new one for the remainder.)