AccountNow's prepaid debit card is a great option for those who have damaged credit. However, it is also a great way to provide money for your college student or younger children. It is safer than cash, and you can keep track of your (or your child's) spending habits. This card offers reasonable fees, text alerts and even has a cash-back rewards option.

AccountNow offers three different cards: the Gold Card with direct deposit, the Gold Card without direct deposit and the Visa Classic. The differences in these cards are the fees and minimum deposits required each month.

If you plan to use your card for the majority of your purchases and to pay bills, the AccountNow Gold Card with direct deposit would be the best choice. This card does not have an activation charge or set-up fee, as long as you load the minimum of $2,500 per month. However, if you are unable to load $2,500 each month or plan to use your card only on occasion, the Visa Classic would suffice. Keep in mind, with this card there is a one-time fee of $4.95 and fees for many of the other features.

You will encounter various fees for all three cards, including:

• ATM balance inquiry: $1
• ATM transaction decline: $0.40
• ATM withdrawal: $2.50 plus ATM fees
• Bank teller cash advance: $4.95 per transaction
• Card replacement: $10
• Monthly paper statement: $2.95
• International ATM withdrawal: $4.95 per transaction
• Foreign currency conversion: 2.95 percent of total purchase amount
• Purchase transaction: $1 for the Classic Card, no fee for the Gold Card
• Cash back: $1 per transaction for the Classic Card, no fee for the Gold Card
• Debit decline fee: $5 for each occurrence, only allowed one decline fee per month
• Card account closure: $15.95 per request to close the account and bring the balance to zero

The Gold Card allows you to enroll in direct deposit. If you do use the Gold Card and you have direct deposit, you can make calls to the automated phone system and talk with a customer support agent for free. However, if you use the Gold Card but do not enroll in direct deposit, you will pay a fee of $0.50 per call to use the automated phone system and $1 per call to speak to a customer service agent.

The minimum age requirement (which is stated in the cardholder agreements) for the majority of prepaid cards on the market is 18, and 16 or 17 for minors with adult permission. This prepaid debit card's agreement states that you must be at least 14 years old to sign up for this card with adult permission. This is ideal for parents who don't want to give their kids cash, as it tends to get lost, stolen or simply unaccounted for. You can load your high school or college student's prepaid card to use for school trips, books, rent, groceries, etc. Note: You are only allowed to have one card assigned to your account per year.

AccountNow's prepaid debit card enables you to pay your bills online or over the phone with your card. With this prepaid debit card, you can set up recurring transfers for your monthly expenses. You can choose to send your payments electronically, or, for example, if your landlord doesn't accept this transaction, AccountNow will automatically send a check to the payee.

If you have a mobile phone that accepts text messages, you can set up the Mobile Text Alerts feature. You simply submit your phone number and mobile provider to AccountNow, and you'll be able to request information about your prepaid account, including the account balance, transaction history, deposit alerts and more. Although this is a free feature, your mobile provider may charge texting and usage fees.

This prepaid debit card offers a Purchase Reward Program, which gives you cash back just for using your card. You do not get to specially choose your rewards, but you will receive offers based on your spending habits. There is no limit to the cash that you can earn.

For the AccountNow prepaid debit card, there are several options for adding cash to your card, including:

• MoneyGram
• Reloadit
• Green Dot MoneyPak
• Western Union
• Visa ReadyLink
• Direct Deposit

You can add money to your prepaid card up to 30 times within a 30-day period, that is, with every one of these options except for Western Union. You can only add money to your prepaid card up to 10 times within a 30-day period with this option.

Unlike other prepaid credit or debit cards, there is no minimum amount that you must load each time you add money to your card. Although there is no minimum amount, there is a daily maximum load amount, and that amount varies depending on which load method you use. If the source of your money load is direct deposit, the limit is $6,000 - $7,500. If you're making a cash deposit, you can load up to $1,500 per day. You are allowed to load up to $9,500 per month to the prepaid debit card if you use the cash-load option.

The following are the cash-load limits for the other funding options:

• Green Dot – You can load $1,500 up to four times per day; $3,500 up to seven times per week and $5,000 up to 20 times per calendar month.
• MoneyGram – You can make a cash deposit of up to $999.00 per day.
• Western Union – You can make a cash deposit of up to $950.00 per day, or a total of $9,500 in up to 10 transactions in 30 consecutive days.

While these are great load options, we really wish that AccountNow Gold and Classic cards enabled you to load money to the prepaid debit card using your PayPal account or a bank transfer.

The AccountNow Help Center is fantastic. Each item on the list of help topics links to another page, which has detailed information. In the FAQs section, each answer is well written and easy to understand.

If the help center and FAQs do not satisfy your need for help with your card, you can reach the help desk Monday through Saturday, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST, and Sunday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. You can also email customer service anytime.