What Is A Prepaid Credit Card?

A Prepaid credit card can be used in exactly the same way as a credit or debit card, to make purchases online, over the telephone or even in high street stores both within the UK and abroad.  This gives the user the freedom to use the prepaid credit card like they would a normal credit or debit card but safe in the knowledge that they will never run up a huge bill.

The information below goes in to more detail about the prepay credit card types you'll find at CashSwerve.Com and what sort of prepaid credit card you're likely to find in each section.

Our Prepaid Card Comparison Tables:

Free Prepaid Credit Cards | Monthly Fee Prepaid Credit Cards | Pay As You Go Prepaid Credit Cards |  Travel Prepaid Credit Cards | Teen Prepaid Credit Cards

Prepaid Credit Cards - Free Application

Application free prepaid credit cards are cards that do not have an application fee associated with them.  The prepaid card manager may ask the applicant to preload funds on to the card during the application process which should be available to the card carrier after the prepaid credit card has been delivered.  These prepay credit cards should be available in either Pay As You Go or Monthly Fee style prepaid credit card programs. Check out our comparison table for full details of the application free prepaid credit cards we have on our site.

Prepaid Credit Cards - Monthly Fee

These types of prepaid credit cards are aimed towards those people who will be using the cards on a more regular basis, they usually have no charges set against the transactions and some or all of the loading options available but they do carry a monthly fee, check out our monthly fee prepaid card comparison table for further information.

Prepaid Credit Cards - Pay As You Go

As the name suggests these prepaid credit cards are "pay as you go", each has their own fee structure which you can see within our pay as you go prepaid credit card comparison table. Usually each transaction and sometimes card load is chargeable but once the card is loaded it can be used in the same way as any other Debit or Credit Cards.

These cards could be used by someone who doesn't use a prepaid credit card very often therefore keeping the monthly charges down to a minimum and only being charged for the card loads they do or the transactions that are completed using the cards.

Prepaid Credit Cards On The Move

Prepay travel money cards are becoming more and more popular with tourists and people who travel abroad regularly. They can help reduce fees charged by third party foreign exchange agents as cash can be drawn from most ATM's in local currency, the prepaid card program manager usually applies their own set of fees for this service but it's usually below the fees charged by local banks or agencies.

Another upside of these types of cards is that you don't have to take local currency or travellers cheques with you and as long as the PIN remains undisclosed your cash should be safe. View all our prepaid travel money cards in our comparison table.

Prepaid Credit Cards For Teens

More and more parents are turning to prepaid credit cards as a way to control the spending habits of their children, they are an ideal way of teaching children how to budget because most prepaid cards, not just for teens, have an online account area from where a parent can view the transaction carried out. It's either an easy way to monitor the pending habits of their children or an easier way to know when the cards needs to be topped up again! View our table of teen prepaid credit cards comparisons here.

Prepay Credit Cards Overview

Either style of prepaid cerdit card can be used to shop online, over the telephone or in high street stores and most can be used worldwide. The great thing about the prepaid card is the fact that there is no direct link between it and your own bank account which makes them suited to online shopping for those people who are concerned about losing the funds in their bank accounts.

Most prepaid credit cards are now protected using CHIP and PIN technology making the prepay cards slightly more secure than carrying cash, just make sure you don't lose your wallet or let someone else have your PIN number!

Our Prepaid Credit Card Comparison Tables:

Free Prepaid Credit Cards | Monthly Fee Prepaid Credit Cards | Pay As You Go Prepaid Credit Cards |  Travel Prepaid Credit Cards | Teen Prepaid Credit Cards