UK Prepaid Debit Cards

Do you need a prepaid Mastercard / Visa debit card program for your business or organisation? Visit our business prepaid credit card page for details.

Below are some of the best consumer prepaid Mastercard & Visa debit (credit) cards for those who reside in the UK.

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Some information about Prepaid Debit Cards (also known as Prepaid Credit Cards)

Prepaid debit cards (often incorrectly named prepaid credit cards) are just like normal plastic debit cards with the usual Mastercard or Visa logo on them except that to use them they must be prepaid with credit, either when you buy them with funds already loaded onto them or when you load or reload them with your own funds. These reloadable cards allow you to add just the required amount of credit, usually with small minimum amounts. It is the same principle as with PAYG mobile phones. This means prepaid debit cards are perfect as low risk, private and confidential second payment cards for use online.

There are no large security deposits to surrender as with secured cards and as they are not credit cards but stored value debit cards you cannot go into debt with them and spend money that you don’t have. Consequently, no credit checks are carried out as with normal credit cards.

Today there are many competing prepaid cards with many different unique selling points and some of these cards are also a great alternative to foreign currency or travellers cheques when travelling abroad because they offer good deals on ATM withdrawals and foreign currency transactions.

Prepaid Visa or Mastercard cards are generally standalone products and are usually not linked to a bank account like most other debit cards. Also, as no credit is involved, prepaid debit cards do not generally report to the credit reference agencies, although some now do including the very popular cashplus card. With this card they create a virtual loan that you never actually use but is paid back over a period of time with each repayment appearing as a positive mark on your credit file thus enabling you to build or rebuild your credit history.

Not all prepaid cards have the Mastercard or Visa logo on them. Some come in the form of a prepaid Maestro, Cirrus or Visa Electron card and some prepaid accounts have no physical card at all, simply an account number to use online or on the phone. This type of account is called a virtual card account. Also, some cards are non-reloadable and these are often known as prepaid gift cards.

The only downside of prepaid debit cards is that they come with associated fees. They usually come with a combination of either monthly fees, ATM fees, purchase transaction or loading fees. For example, some cards might have no monthly fees, but may charge a loading fee.