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The 7 Best Prepaid Debit Cards With No Fees

ByGraham Last Updated

Prepaid debit cards are commonly used as an alternative to bank accounts and enable you to transform your cash into a convenient payment means. With this type of card, you can shop online at gas stations, groceries, restaurants, pay bills, or even swipe at local retailers. You can use the best-prepaid debit cards with no fees as an option to a checking account or help manage your monthly budget.

However, it’s documented that an estimate of about 40 million US citizens do not have a bank account, and instead, they use prepaid cards. Interestingly, these cards have an account and routing numbers so paychecks can be deposited directly into the card just as the checking accounts. The prepaid card was designed for people with poor or no credit history. Additionally, they are easy to get and readily available even with a bad banking history.

Moreover, with the existence of many debit and credit cards with impressive perks and rewards these days, finding the prepaid debit cards with a mobile check deposit may seem like a demanding task. Besides, when you are dealing with money, fees are inevitable and many consumers are looking for a simple, convenient way to offer limited purchasing power, have direct deposits and pay bills. It’s important to note the major card issuers including American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.

How Do You Use My Card To Get Cash Without Paying a Fee?

Prepaid Debit Cards With No Fees

You can get cash-back through any participating merchants, including the groceries and other convenient stores. If the qualified merchant provides get cash from a prepaid visa debit card during a purchase, you can select “debit” on the keypad, followed by your 4-digit PIN, and then select “Yes” to get cash-back. Lastly, you need to enter the amount of cash you would like and confirm on the merchant’s policies concerning amount limits.

Here are some pros of no fee prepaid cards

Advantage

  • Guaranteed Approval with no Fico credit score
  • No Over Limit Fees
  • Free Direct Deposit
  • Charge no Fees, Low Fees with no interest
  • Online Bill Pay

Disadvantage

  • Lacks reward perks

How Do You Reload a Prepaid Debit Card With a Credit Card?

Back in the days, reloads via a credit card were widely accepted until when prepaid cardholders started using the card inappropriately to get more points and rewards. Recently, reloading a prepaid card using a credit card is not common.

However, one of the ways through which you can transfer money from a credit card to a prepaid card online is by using cash advance checks that are associated with a credit card.

How Do You Transfer Money From Your Card To a Personal Account Without Paying a Fee?

If your prepaid card does not allow transfers to debits card and you are wondering how to address the question of how to transfer money from my prepaid card to a debit card, you can do so using a third-party service to make the transfer. You can transfer money to any eligible Visa or MasterCard debit cards.

The qualified cards that accept this transfer get shown to you in the Instant Section on your money transfer page. It’s important to note that the funds are transferable to the account linked with the card during the transfer. Besides, there is a fee attached to withdrawing money using your eligible debit card.

What Are The 7 Best-Prepaid Debit Cards With No Fees?

1) Wells Fargo’s Prepaid Debit Card

Wells Fargo’s prepaid debit card benefits from free reload of cash and checks through the bank’s extensive network of over 13,000 ATMs and close to 5,500 branches spread in 36 states. With Wells Fargo’s prepaid debit card, you can deposit or reload, cash, and checks with no inactivity or account closure fees, no cost to activate the card, and with no minimum credit score requirement. Its available by phone 24/7.

Card features;

  • General fees – $5 monthly fee
  • Purchases- No fees.
  • ATM withdrawals- $2.50 at non-Wells Fargo ATMs, plus any ATM operator fees.
  • Reload methods- Direct deposit, mobile check deposit, adding cash at Wells Fargo ATMs and branches, and bank transfer (from a Wells Fargo account)

Advantage

  • Spending report with visuals, activity alerts
  • Free cashier’s checks and money orders
  • Live 24/7 customer support

Disadvantage

  • The monthly fee can’t be waived

2) NetSpend Visa Prepaid Card

The NetSpend Visa Prepaid Card delivers the convenience of several reload options and faster account access both in-app and online. You can reload your prepaid account from any of Netspend’s 130,000 reload locations. Additionally, this card offers cashback benefits based on your spending habits, so you can receive money back in your account for purchases.

Besides, you will get an optional savings account, a mobile check reload, and a free mobile app to manage a budget online. When you sign up for this prepaid card, you can choose the pay as you go default account that comes with no monthly fees.

More so, you will pay per every transaction $1.50. If you plan to deposit at least $500 or more, a fee of $5 is applicable per month with up to 50% savings on fees.

Advantage

  • Signing up is quick and easy
  • Widely spread
  • There is no activation fee or credit check and required

Disadvantage

  • Transaction fees applicable

3) Walmart MoneyCard Visa Card

This prepaid card enables you to get cash-back rewards when shopping at Walmart, or Walmart.com. You can receive 3% cash-back at Walmart.com, 1% cash-back at Walmart, 2% cashback at Walmart fuel stations and Murphy USA, and up to $75 in cash-back rewards every year.

Moreover, you can use the card to pay your cable internet, cell phone bills, and other utility bills. There is no credit check required to get a card, no bank account needed and no overdraft fees applicable. You can use the card all over in the US for purchases where prepaid debit cards are acceptable.

Advantage

  • Mobile app-enabled
  • $0 online purchase fee
  • Free direct deposit
  • Cashback rewards

Disadvantage

  • Suitable for Walmart customers only

4) Akimbo Prepaid Mastercard

The Akimbo Prepaid Mastercard is mandated to help users manage their expenses by providing multiple cards to the costumers so that each major expense can categorically have its prepaid card. However, the first sub-account card is free, plus there’s a $0 monthly fee as long as the account remains active.

The other added sub-account cards pose a $4.95 account application fee. Besides, signature and online transactions are free. Interestingly, you can transfer money using the routing number and account number, mobile check deposit, or direct deposit to reload your prepaid debit card for free.

5) Fifth Third Access 360° Reloadable Prepaid Card

The above mentioned free prepaid debit card comes with no purchase fee, although there is a waivable $4.00 monthly fee if you possess an account with Fifth Third bank or if you make a deposit of more than $500 in the previous month. The ATM out of network withdrawals charge $2.75, on the other hand, non-filth third branches in-person cash withdrawals cost $2.00.

Interestingly, this card is one of the reloadable prepaid cards with no fees, plus there are no inactivity fees and no balance check fee as well. You can reload money through direct deposit at any Filth Third financial institution or ATM, or funds transfer from your savings account or checking account to your prepaid card.

Card features;

  • General fees- $4 monthly fee except for people who have a Fifth Third bank account.
  • ATM withdrawal fees- Free at Fifth Third bank Allpoint ATMs, $2.75 for out-of-network withdrawals.
  • No interest charges
  • No inactivity fee
  • No overdraft fees.

6) Bluebird by American Express

The Bluebird by American Express is among the exceptional prepaid debit cards available on the market that charges no transaction or monthly fees or transaction fees, making using the card much simpler and cheaper. However, this card works perfectly well for users who prefer withdrawing their money, rather than using their prepaid card for purchases.

The contributing reason is that it charges no ATM fees among the thousands of MoneyPass ATMs across the country. You can add funds for free using mobile check capture, direct deposit, debit card transfer, or at Walmart. There are $0 activation fee and a $0 card fee when you purchase online, and a $0 monthly fee.

7) Greenlight Prepaid Mastercard

Greenlight Prepaid Mastercard comes with a low monthly maintenance fee, no pin transaction fees, no ATM withdrawal fee, and no signature transaction fees or PIN transaction fees. However, this prepaid card is a perfect option for minors and charges a monthly fee of $4.99. Besides, a fee of $3.50 is applicable for a card replacement fee, only for the second round your child loses a card, the first time replacement is free.

Moreover, parents can put a fund to a child account through transfer from their account or debit card, or direct deposit from their parent’s account or an employer. Notably, there are no ATM cash deposits involved.

Advantage

  • No ATM withdrawal fees: No withdrawal fee
  • No cancelation fee
  • No overdraft fees

Disadvantage

  • No ATM cash deposits

Bottom line

Prepaid debit cards are one of the most cheapest and convenient methods to use if you want to manage your finances. It does so by making sure that you only spend the only money you have, unlike debit or credit cards. Fortunately, most of these cards have no activation fees and offer zero to low charges on other transactions.

However, this best-prepaid debit card selection is based on factors such as applicable fees, perks, features, and user suitability. You can purpose to get one depending on your needs.

Graham