6 Benefits of Prepaid Debit Cards

Benefits of Prepaid Debit Cards

Prepaid cards can be very convenient and also help you manage your spending. Major benefits of prepaid debit cards include:

1. No credit check required: To get a credit card, you usually need to have decent credit. So if your credit isn't great — or you don't have any credit history yet — getting your hands on a card can be difficult. With a prepaid card, no credit check is necessary.
2. Limit your spending: Another major benefit of prepaid debit cards is the ability to control your spending. With a regular debit card, there's always the danger of spending more than what's available in your checking account and overdrawing. A prepaid card allows you to load exactly the amount of money you have to spend. Once the balance reaches zero, you can't spend any more until you reload more funds.
3. Manage someone else's spending: A prepaid card is also helpful if you're managing finances for another person. For instance, if you have older kids that need a bit of freedom to spend money, but you don't want them to have full access to a bank account or credit card, you can load their allowance on to a prepaid card and keep tabs on their spending.
4. Reload funds: Unlike a gift card, which you usually toss when you've spent the balance, a prepaid card is reloadable. You don't have to worry about getting a new card and updating your recurring payments every time you use up the balance. Instead, simply add more money to your account as needed. There are a variety of ways to reload your card, including setting up direct deposits, loading funds at select retailers, and depositing checks at the ATM.
5. Access cash at ATMs: Speaking of ATMs, you can use your prepaid card to pull out cash at ATMs just as you would with a regular debit card. And unlike a credit card, there's no cash advance penalty or interest. Just be sure to check what your debit card's fee is for making an ATM withdrawal — and whether there are in-network ATMs that are either free (or less expensive) to withdraw from.
6. Prevent fraud: Finally, using a prepaid card is a great way to prevent criminals from gaining access to your bank account or credit card information. If a criminal hacks your debit card, they can drain your bank account or run up a lot of charges before they're caught. With a prepaid card, on the other hand, your risk is limited to what's loaded on the card. Plus, you can set up alerts on your card to notify you when unusual activity takes place.

Compare Your Options

While there are quite a few benefits to using a prepaid debit card, not all cards are created equally. Be sure to take the time to compare several card options and choose one that offers account perks, low fees and plenty of security. The Synovus Connections Visa Prepaid Card. is a great one to consider.

Apply for a Synovus Connections Visa Prepaid Card