Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard Review

The Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® is a good option for people who need an alternative to a credit card and a checking account. There’s no credit check, so you don’t have to worry about being turned down because you have limited or bad credit. You can use the Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard in places where major credit cards are accepted. Be careful trying to use the card to rent cards, some rental agencies may not accept prepaid cards as a method of payment.

Perhaps the biggest drawback of the Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard is the number of fees the card charges.

There’s no activation fee when you get the card online. However, when you activate your card at a retail store, like Walgreens, you’ll pay up to $4.95. Race car fans who get the NASCAR Prepaid Visa, will pay $6.95 to activate their cards.

The card charges $5.95 per month, but you can have that fee waived by either making at least 30 qualifying purchases or loading your card with at least $1,000.

You can withdraw cash from your card using an ATM. Avoid ATM fees by using MoneyPass ATMs. Withdrawals are also free when you choose the “cash back” option when you’re making a purchase at a grocery store, for example. Otherwise, you’ll pay $2.50 for withdrawals at other ATMs in addition to fees from the ATM owner. The daily withdrawal limit is $400. And the daily spending limit is $2,500.

If you check your balance at the ATM, there’s a $.50 fee. You can avoid the fee by checking your balance online, by phone, or via text message.

There’s a $4.95 fee to replace a lost or stolen card or to order a second card on your account. If you want to get your card in a hurry, you’ll have to pay a $19.95 expedited card delivery fee.

You’ll pay $4.95 to load more money on your card unless you use direct deposit, which is free. You can load a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $2,500 onto your card using cash. The total balance made up of direct deposits can’t exceed $10,000.

A 3% foreign transaction fee applies to transactions made outside the United States.

Though there are a tremendous amount of fees, there are a few ways to avoid or minimize them. Order your card online, have your money direct deposited (30 transactions a month might be hard to make), only withdraw cash using the “debit/cashback,” check your balance online or over the phone, and don’t lose your card.

Biggest Benefit

• Available to consumers with bad credit
• Replaces the need for a checking account

Drawbacks

• Lots of fees