I’m researching the whole ‘prepaid visa’ thing (or mastercard–I don’t care which) and it’s so confusing. Some of them you have to be the parent in order to buy it. Some of them the kid has to be at least 13.
Of the five, two are boys: one is over 13 and the other is almost 13, but the girls are years away from that age. I’m thinking something small like $25 on the card. See, they live out in the boonies and a store-specific gift card could be problematic. For example, the closest Target is 2 hours away at least.
So does anyone know of a visa or mastercard backed gift card that meets at least most of the following criteria?
can be used by kids
can be bought by people other than the kid’s parents
doesn’t have a monthly fee that comes out of the balance
doesn’t have transaction fees for using it
doesn’t expire, or at least not for a good long while
Sure. Visa gift cards match all those criteria except for having the kid’s name on it.
Did you want to give them an actual Visa debit card, that you can reload and use over and over again? Or did you just want to give them a $25 gift card that happens to say Visa on it?
Both the Visa debit card and the Visa gift card have no age restrictions AFAIK; I sell both kinds at my store, and I’ve never been prompted by my register, or by management, to ask for ID. If you’ve got the cash to buy one, you can have one, no matter how young you are.
Now, the Visa Buxx card (which is what I believe you’ve been looking at in your research) is specifically designed for a parent to monitor a teen’s spending–only the purchaser of the card is supposed to be able to reload it to a pre-set limit by having money automatically transferred out of their own bank account at stated intervals–but you don’t have to be the teen in question’s parent in order to get one for him/her. And, the Buxx card is a reloadable debit card, not a simple gift card, which I don’t believe is what you had in mind.
Visa gift cards don’t have a way to program the recipient’s name into them, although you can write it on there yourself. The gift card is as good as cash, like any other gift card, so ya don’t wanna lose it, and you can spend it anywhere they accept Visa gift cards.
Just get 'em all $25 Visa gift cards. You don’t have to go to a bank, we sell them at Walgreens. They’re kept behind the counter because people kept stealing them (go figure), so ask the cashier.
There are a lot of places that sell Visa gift cards (if you google for it you will see) that will print the name on them… but they have a billion fees.
Well if there are ones with no extra costs, I’d rather do that. Plus at least some of them can be replaced if lost. I’d rather give the card than cash because I think they’d think it was more fun.
Anyway, this is not a thread to ask what to give my siblings for Christmas, so please stop with the “just give them cash” stuff.
I got one for myself through Amscot several years ago, when I didn’t have good enough credit for a real credit card.
I don’t know if any other posters can confirm whether this is still happening, but my only problem with my card (no crazy fees, expiration, all those other things you worried about) was that the card itself said “Debit” on it. Therefore, cashiers often ran it as a debit card. But, I had no pin. It had to be rung as a credit card. It also occasionally had to be entered manually to work. I had a couple of problems (I think one was in Target, where the cashier refused to run it that way, even after I explained it, and I ended up leaving my purchases there in a huff).
This was back when these prepaid credit cards first came out, so in the intervening years they might have fixed the glitches. But that would be my biggest concern.
I’ve never used one of these, but in the back of my mind, I recall reading that they may have a limited lifespan, or after a certain time, VISA deducts a service charge. I think someone gave my daughter one once, and for some stupid reason, unless she knew the exact balance on it, she couldn’t use it to make a purchase. Sorry I can’t be more specific - it’s just a niggling thing in my memory.
If nothing else, you might ask when you go to get them.
Visa may be different, but I did get a similar American Express gift card last year. The paperwork that came with it stated a 12 (or maybe it was 24) month “fee free” period, after that the balance would get reduced by some amount. I can’t remember exactly what the amount was, or whether it was a flat amount or a percentage of the remaining balance. It did have a phone number on the back, which allowed me to check the balance of the card. Depending on the merchant you deal with, you might run into issues with making a purchase partly on the gift card and partly cash (or another payment method) if the remaining balance isn’t sufficient for the amount of the transaction. But Best Buy was able to process a $50 purchase with $25 from the card and the rest cash.
Presumably because the stores are far away, she’d like her siblings to be able to use the gifts to make online purchases, which can’t be done with cash.
I also don’t understand why you’d give them plastic instead of cash. They are actually pre-paid debit cards because they don’t extend credit to the holder. In addition to the purchase fee ($3.95 and up), unlike most retail gift cards, they expire, in some cases within 6 months. Others start tacking on fees after 6 months.
What elfkin477 said is also true: with the card they could buy something online if they wanted to. In addition, they’d probably think it was cool and fun to use the card. I know my son does. They don’t have bank accounts and so a check would be a bad idea. But regardless: I have already said that I am not here for advice or debate as to whether or not to give them cards versus cash or a check. I’m just looking for info about the cards.
(they really do live in the middle of nowhere. Their whole COUNTY has something like 1200 people in it.)
Because if your Visa Gift Card is lost or stolen, and Opal was careful enough to keep the little slip that came with it, she can get it replaced.
Can’t do that with cash.
And sending them each a check creates hassle, because they have to figure out a way to cash the check, even if it’s only getting Mom or Dad to cash it for them, and then it becomes Mom or Dad’s problem to deal with. But if you send 'em a Visa Gift Card, it doesn’t create hassle for anybody.
Plus you can get all kinds of cute gift card holders.
What part of “I’m not looking for advice on whether or not to buy gift cards versus cash or check” is so difficult to understand? Christ. Can you read? I am not interested in your opinion on this matter. I’ve made that abundantly clear.
No, I don’t know of any Visa or M/C prepaid card that will let a kid use it, imprint a kid’s name on it, and most of all not charge anything for providing the use of the card and the account maintenance that goes with it.
I won’t expect thanks for this info since it hasn’t been forthcoming to anyone else who’s tried to help either.
This has always struck me as an odd attitude when I’ve encountered it. For me, it wouldn’t occur to me to expect to be thanked every time I contributed to a conversation. Sometimes a thank you on the spot is fitting. I did, for example, say thank you to the person who sent me a specific suggestion in private message. Other than that, my inclination would be to have the full discussion, then at the end when I’ve come to some sort of decision, I’d say a generalized thanks to everyone for their input. To interject personalized thank-yous to every single person every single time they reply seems awkward and bizarre to me. If you think I’m rude for not doing so, I think you’re far, far, far more rude for your comment.