Home About Me My Faith Contact Me Work with Me PR Mummy from the Heart

Monday 14 April 2014

Prepaid Mastercard - would you use one?

Image Credit

I'm lucky that in the nineteen years I've been with my husband he has taught me all about budgeting and being frugal with my money. This now means that we are in a sound position financially and we have a credit card which we use to our advantage, paying it off each month.

I know there are a lot of people who would like the convenience of being able to use a credit card but actually their previous credit history and therefore credit rating is too poor to be able to gain one and even if they can then they worry for fear of spending too much.

Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard - what does it cost?
This is where I believe a pre-paid credit card, such as the Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard comes in really useful. Of course you must check the small print and see what you are singing yourself up to as some companies can make quite a number of charges but the Kalixa pay is upfront about the charges they make. You pay £6.95 initially to register your card and then if you withdraw cash at an ATM in the UK there is charge of £1.75 or £2.25 internally, this is not surprising though as I would have to pay cash withdrawal fees on my credit card too if I used it in that manner.

Great for budgeting and limiting your spending
There is no monthly fee to pay for using the Kalixa pay but you may have to pay a small charge to add credit to your card but this depends how you add that credit, if it is by internet banking or a standing order then it costs you nothing. Little features like this mean that if you are someone who overspends and just can't seem to help yourself the Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard is perfect as there is no overdraft facility and you have to have money available on the card to be able to spend it.

Again if overspending is your weakness and you need a little help to stay on top of things the Kalixa is fabulous in that it will send you an email or SMS message totally free of charge to remind you of each transaction that you make above £5.00. You can also use the online portal (eWallet) if you wish to stay informed.

Using it abroad
I've already mentioned about the charge to use an international ATM but you can take your card abroad with you and use it to pay in whatever currency you need to without paying any foreign exchange fees, transaction charges or commission and you can rest assured that the Kalixa pay offers the most competitive foreign exchange rates on the market.

Other considerations
It is worth noting that as the card is not connected to your bank if you do unfortunate lose it or is is stolen the amount the thief can access is limited to what is live on the card.

Also you probably just need to be aware that a prepaid credit card is different to regular credit cards in that it is not covered under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This protects credit card purchases between £100 and £30,000 against a retailer going bust, or your goods arriving faulty or damaged.

if you would like to get your own Kalixa Pay prepaid Mastercard then you just need to apply online and they will send the card out to you.

So might a prepaid credit card suit you?  They are certainly more useful than I firstly thought!

1 comment:

Thanks for your comment, I will respond real soon. Mich x