Best Prepaid Cards: Top Debit Card Alternatives

There is a segment of the population who may not want or have access to a rewards credit card or secured credit card. And they may not want the transactional risk of a traditional bank's debit card.

That leaves a prepaid card as a top option for non-cash transactions. This type of card is not attached to a bank account, so you can make transactions in person and online without having to worry about overspending or running up debt.

But you’re not just limited to the “prepay-and-reload a gift card” style of card anymore. You can make direct deposits and earn rewards like you might with a traditional banking relationship.

And there are emerging options in the space, including “cash” or “debit” cards that draw off your online balances from services like PayPal, Venmo and Apple Cash. This could allow you to fund a fully functional debit card without needing a bank account.

You're probably wondering: Which options are good? And which are rip-offs?

In this article, we'll look at some of the best prepaid card options. You can read our methodology to understand how we evaluated the market to compile this list.

Table of Contents

Best Prepaid Cards

For the purposes of determining the "best" options, I have broken things down into two categories: Traditional preloaded cards and digital wallet-backed cards.

Some of you may have arrived at this article looking to stay "off the online financial grid" with your prepaid card. You may prefer to go to a physical store and buy a traditional prepaid card with cash. We'll rate the best options to do that.

Others may be OK with setting up a non-bank online presence to fund your prepaid endeavors via a digital wallet. This may require some extra hoops to jump through, but it may also save you on monthly fees. We'll rate the best options to do this, too.

Traditional Preload Cards

Walmart MoneyCard Activation Cost: $1 starter pack purchase in store Monthly Fee: $5.94 (waived with direct deposit of $500+ per month) ATM Access: $2.50 fee, plus any operator fees. Rewards Perks: Earn 3% cash back at Walmart.com, 2% cash back at Walmart fuel stations, & 1% cash back at Walmart stores, up to $75 each year.

Why We Like It: This card allows you to set up a bank-like ecosystem without opening a bank account. You’ll be able to give family members cards, earn interest on your balance, gain purchase protection and more. It also offers you rewards for purchasing items at Walmart.

Bluebird® Prepaid by American Express® Activation Cost: $0 Monthly Fee: $0 ATM Access: Free ATM Withdrawals at over 38,000 MoneyPass ATMs Reload Options: You can add cash for free at a Family Dollar register. Other retailers will reload for $3.95 per transaction. Rewards Perks: Access to select AmEx offers and purchase protection.

Why We Like It: This is a rare prepaid card that carries no activation, monthly, or ATM fees. And if you’re able to do your reloads at a Family Dollar location, you can avoid reload fees as well.

Alternative Options: Digital Wallet-Backed Cards

PayPal Debit Card Activation Cost: $0 Monthly Fee: $0 ATM Access: There’s no fee for withdrawing cash from tens of thousands of MoneyPass ATMs worldwide. Reload Options: Direct deposit, bank transfer, cash a check, peer-to-peer transfer, or reload in person at 90,000+ locations. Reward Perks: Earn PayPal Rewards points on eligible everyday purchases, and redeem them for cash back and other options.

Why We Like It: If you have already set up a PayPal account for online activity, you simply need to request a PayPal Debit Card to start using your PayPal balance to make in-store and online purchases.

Venmo Debit Card Activation Cost: $0 Monthly Fee: $0 ATM Access: There’s no fee for withdrawing cash from tens of thousands of MoneyPass ATMs worldwide. Reload Options: Direct deposit, bank transfer, peer-to-peer transfer. Rewards Perks: Activate offers in the app, then pay with the Venmo Debit Card to earn up to 5% cashback.

Why We Like It: If you have already set up a Venmo account to send funds amongst friends, you simply need to request a Venmo Debit Card to start using that Venmo balance to make in-store and online purchases.

What Is a Prepaid Card and Why Would You Need One?

A prepaid card is a physical credit card that you load money onto in advance of spending with it. Many of them function like a gift card in that you can only spend the amount of money that has been placed on the card.

The funding of these cards is usually done in one of the following ways:

While these cards are not the same as a traditional credit card or debit card, they CAN spend like one for in-store and online transactions.

Many of them include either a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover logo and can be used wherever those cards are accepted.

So what’s the reason to have one of these over a traditional debit or credit card?

The top reasons someone might use a prepaid credit card include:

When choosing whether a prepaid card is right for you, there are some pros and cons to consider:

Methodology

For the purposes of this article, I isolated the options to prepaid cards and non-bank account cards only.

That means we did not include any of the following:

When selecting which prepaid cards are “best,” I focused on the following factors:

Do you have a prepaid credit card? How did you make your choice? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the Clark.com community.

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