What is the difference between prepaid and debit cards?
Answered on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 by
Amy Miller

Debit cards are tied to your bank account and prepaid cards are not. To start using a prepaid card you need to load it by making a direct deposit of your paycheck or government benefits, a transfer from your bank account, or by making in-person deposit at one of the retail locations. With prepaid cards you cannot overdraft or overspend, you can only spend what you have pre-deposited.

Other Popular Prepaid & Debit Card FAQs

Almost all prepaid cards allow ATM withdrawals abroad, the only difference is fees. For example, consider the American Express® Prepaid Card. The card offers one free ATM withdrawal per month, and you will be charged $2.00 per ATM withdrawal thereafter. Also this card does not have monthly or annual fee. You can compare this card [...]

Continue »

Most prepaid cards do not report to the credit bureaus as these are not about extending credit to you. Prepaid cards are not credit cards, thus they do not help your credit. But these are a good alternative to carrying cash. If you are interested in prepaid cards, browse through the cards here and apply [...]

Continue »

  1. What is your question?
  2. Please, enter your question and contact information so that we can send our answer to you by e-mail.
  3. (valid email required)
  4. (required)
  5. Captcha
 

Best Credit Offer
Consumer Rating: 4 / 5
Our Financial Expert Team
Amy
Miller

While she enjoys writing about money, Amy admits she is not your typical personal finance writer-she is a shopaholic, an impulse/emotional buyer, and unable to save for longer than a few months at a time. But she is trying to improve her finances and shares her experience and tips on learning how to budget money, manage debt, and set goals in her writing for BestCreditOffers.com. She hails from the foggy city of London, but now resides in Salt Lake City.

James
Williams

James Williams is a personal finance expert, trained in journalistic writing. As a freelance writer and professional blogger who works from home, he contributes to many personal finance websites including BestCreditOffers.com.

Copyright © 2001-2013 BestCreditOffers.com All Rights Reserved.