The NetSpend prepaid debit card breaks the record for the number of ways to load money onto the card as well as the amount of money that you can have on your card. While you may never reach the $15,000 maximum balance, it may give you peace of mind to know that you could load that much money on the card. We really appreciate that this TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award winner has an Account Center, Anytime Alerts and a mobile site that all keep you notified of your account balance, transaction history and more.
There are three payment plans that you can choose between: Pay-As-You-Go, FeeAdvantage Plan or NetSpend Premier FeeAdvantage. We suggest that you opt for the NetSpend Premier FeeAdvantage Plan because it allows for more flexibility. To upgrade to the premier plan, however, you must sign up for direct deposit and make $500 in direct deposits within a calendar month.
When you make purchases in the store, you will simply swipe your card like usual. When the card machine asks if you want to run the card as credit or debit, you can choose either, but each method has its own fees. With the Pay-As-You-Go plan, you will pay a $1 fee for each transaction if you choose credit and a $2.50 fee if you choose debit. You will not pay either fee with the Premier FeeAdvantage Plan.
To make an ATM withdrawal, NetSpend charges a $2 fee in addition to any ATM fees. To avoid these fees, we suggest that you use the debit card "cash back" option available at many grocery and convenience stores. If you have the Premier FeeAdvantage Plan, getting cash back is fee free.
Here is a list of other fees you should expect to pay with this prepaid card:
- Monthly fee: $5
- Balance inquiry when using a toll-free automated service: $.50
- Balance inquiry via toll-free with a customer-service agent: $.50
- Balance inquiry using an ATM: $.50
- ATM transaction-decline fee: $1
- Additional card: $9.95
- Paper statement fee: $5.95
- Stop a preauthorized payment: $10
- International ATM cash withdrawal: $4.95, plus ATM fees
- Account-to-account transfer via a customer service agent: $4.95
- International purchase fee: 3.5 percent of the transaction amount
If you do not use your card (i.e., if the card has had no activity such as purchases, cash withdrawals, load transactions or balance inquiries) within 90 days, you will be charged a $5.95 inactivity fee. If you decide that you need to close your account, you can do this by withdrawing all your money from an ATM, or you can request to have a check mailed to you with the money, which will arrive within three to four weeks. There is a $5.95 fee for receiving this check.
With this debit card, you have the freedom to make purchases with online retailers, over the phone, in stores and at gas stations. Although you have these options, there are a few stipulations and flexibility issues that you should be aware of:
Gas station – You can pay for gas at the pump, but the gas station will put a hold on the card, making those funds unavailable for you to use.
Car rental – There are car rental agencies that will charge up to 15 percent for a deposit on the vehicle you choose. This 15 percent will come out of your card's total balance until the transaction is approved. This could take several weeks. NetSpend recommends that you contact several agencies, not only to compare rental prices, but also to see how much their deposit and percentage fees are.
Hotel room – Booking a hotel room with the prepaid card is similar to renting a car. The hotel will charge your room price plus up to 15 percent. This hold will stay on your card until the hotel has authorized the transaction to go through. Again, NetSpend recommends that you call the hotel to ask how much it charges for a prepaid debit card authorization hold and how long the hold will remain on your card.
"Where did all my money go?" This is a question that you should definitely know the answer to, and with NetSpend's Account Center, you can. Here, you can frequently log in to check your account balance, transactions and deposit history.
Coupled with Anytime Alerts, you can keep track of every purchase and deposit that you make. Anytime Alerts work on any phone that has texting capabilities. These messages will give you information regarding every transaction and deposit, your account balance and more.
NetSpend also has an iPhone and an Android app that you can download. With these apps, you have access to the mobile site. Using this site, or even through a text message, you can transfer money to another account. You can have up to three prepaid cards connected to your account, so this is an easy solution to load money.
If you qualify for the Premier FeeAdvantage Plan, you automatically qualify for the NetSpend savings account. This account does not have a minimum balance requirement, and you will earn a five percent APY on your balance.
NetSpend gives you options – many options – for adding money to your prepaid debit card. In fact, the company offers more options than any other prepaid credit or debit card provider, including:
Direct deposit – As cardholder, you can go to your online account and print a direct deposit form to give to your employers. This form will have your prepaid debit card's routing number and account number. Along with work paychecks, you can also have government benefit checks (Social Security, pension, disability and so forth) and tax refunds automatically deposited to your prepaid card account.
Bank transfer – You can transfer money from your bank account to your prepaid debit card. NetSpend accepts all U.S.-issue banks, according to its FAQs page.
PayPal – We love to see a PayPal transfer option. If you have a PayPal account, you can easily and safely send money to your prepaid debit card for free.
Card-to-Card transfer – You can add money to your family, friends and co-workers' NetSpend prepaid cards with your NetSpend prepaid card.
NetSpend Reload packs – You can purchase a reload pack at various retail locations across the U.S.
NetSpend Reload locations – There are more than 100,000 locations where you can reload your prepaid debit card, including gas stations, banks, money centers, grocery stores and more. You can find a location near you by visiting the NetSpend website.
With all the options for loading money, it will be easy to pack your card with cash. For many prepaid debit cards, this could be an issue because their max card limits are around $2,500. This prepaid card, however, has the highest card limit of any prepaid credit or debit card that we reviewed. You can have up to $15,000 on this card at one time. The purchase, transaction and cash-withdrawal limits are pretty lenient as well.
- Purchase Transactions: $4,999.99 every 24 hours
- Over-the-counter Cash Withdrawals: $4,999.99 every 24 hours
- ATM Cash Withdrawals: $325 per withdrawal, but only a cumulative cash withdrawal of $940 is allowed within a 24-hour period
Note: You can withdrawal money up to six times in a 24-hour period.
Cardholders and interested parties can call customer service for support and technical questions Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. CST and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST.
NetSpend asks cardholders to log in to their online accounts to send emails to its customer service department. If you do not have an account with this prepaid card yet, you can still send questions to customerservice@netspend.com.
If you have a general question about your card, including how to get started, add money and actually use it, you should reference the well-organized FAQs section, which has detailed answers to basic questions concerning these topics. You can also connect with NetSpend via Twitter and Facebook and ask questions on both social sites on the company page's walls.
The NetSpend prepaid card has great features, including mobile apps for iPhone and Android and a savings account for Premium cardholders. Then again, while we love the lower fees and additional features that the Premium FeeAdvantage plan offers, we wish that this card had just one plan with one monthly fee and options that everyone can enjoy.
