Question about prepaid debit card -- are there fees?

[TrixieB]

Dh and I want to give someone a prepaid debit card as a gift. I think we can buy the card at the grocery store, just like any other gift card.

 

We need to know:

 

When we buy the debit card, let's say we want to buy a $50 debit card, does it cost us $50? Or is there an extra charge added? Dh thinks it isn't quite like a regular gift card somehow, and that there area extra charges... either is costs more than $50 to buy the card, or the recipient will have a "per use" fee deducted from the balance, or ???

 

Has anyone used a prepaid debit card and can answer these questions?

[Hannah C.]

From what I recall from working at a store which sold prepaid debit cards, there may be some sort of activation fee that you pay. It is probably between $2 and $5.

 

I've never heard of a per use fee for prepaid debit cards. However, I know people have said that the Visa debit cards in particular have hidden fees and are difficult to use. I've been given prepaid debit cards from American Express and have had no problems whatsoever with them. Nor were any fees taken out of the money on that card for any reason.

 

It used to be that if you didn't use the prepaid card for a while (e.g. a year) then fees would be charged to the remaining balance, but I'm not sure that's allowed anymore.

 

Hope this helps! And I'm sure someone else will have more info, too. :)

[elegantlion]

You have to watch. Most of the ones we've used are a one time only fee that the you pay at the time of purchase. usually you have 12 months to use the balance.

 

However, we bought ds one, can't remember where or the brand, but it had fees that they wanted lots of information to register the card. We returned it (not without issue, but they did it). So read the card details before buying.