Working with prepaid cards is just wonderful and great! This is my favorite pastime.
1. With their help, you can pay for any purchases in online stores around the world!
2. They are accepted for payment by all merchants and payment systems!
3. It is not required to enter the vbv code (OTP)
4. It is not required to enter the first and last name, if such information was requested during the payment, you can enter any data since prepaid cards are unnamed.
5. No billing information required. If the merchant has requested such information, you can enter any data!
6. It is required to know at least the approximate balance of the prepaid card for its rational and efficient use.
7. When paying, the DOB is not requested, you can buy or receive prepaid cards without an DOB, since the card is not tied to any specific name of the owner.
Prepaid bank cards
Among the many banking products available to customers, there is an offer for issuing prepaid cards, otherwise referred to as Prepaid cards. They have a number of distinctive features, even if they do not stand out from ordinary debit or credit cards.
What is a prepaid bank card?
Prepaid cards are often referred to as debit cards, although this is not entirely correct, since there are quite significant differences between these two products.
The prepaid card got its name in view of the peculiarities of the process of its registration. The fundamental factor is that in order to receive the card, the client must Deposit a certain amount of money in advance, which will then be on the balance.
The card itself is actually a one-time card – you can't top up your account, it doesn't require entering a pin code, and it's not a personal card.
To get a card, a potential holder needs to:
- Contact the bank where they want to issue a prepaid card;
- Set the amount of funds that will be on the card;
- Deposit funds to your account and immediately receive a Bank card.
How prepaid cards work
In fact, a prepaid card sets a one-time limit, within which it can pay in certain stores. At this point in time, almost all major retailers and stores have entered into partnerships with banks for servicing prepaid cards, a list of which can be found when ordering a banking product.
In addition, the stores themselves periodically offer customers to purchase their own prepaid gift card, which will contain special points (or other "currency", depending on the organization that issued the card), available for debiting only in certain places. For example, it can be bonus liters at gas stations, or in minutes at a mobile operator.
It is rational to use cards issued by banks and replenished with a certain amount as a gift, so that it is comfortable and convenient to spend the funds provided. You can also choose a store (or even several trading companies) when making a card. The only restriction is the legally established maximum amount of funds available on the card.
Adding funds to a prepaid card
Unfortunately, prepaid cards do not have a top-up option. Moreover, ATMs also do not accept prepaid cards and you will not be able to withdraw funds. The only way to withdraw funds from the card is to spend them in the established retail network (you can't spend them outside the stores they are intended for).
Most often, cards are issued with a face value. finding the limit above is not an easy task. In stores, you can buy gift cards.
Advantages and disadvantages of prepaid cards
Despite the ease of use and unusual format, not everyone understands the meaning and meaning of prepaid cards. However, in reality, everything is very simple-prepaid cards are a universal gift that is very convenient to pay for. Unlike regular debit cards, they do not have an expiration date, so you can pay with such a card almost anytime. Plus to the comfort of use, you can include discounts from stores, which are usually higher than when paying by other means.
On the other hand, prepaid cards have their own objective disadvantages:
- If such a card is lost, anyone can use the funds on this card for their intended purpose, and in case of loss, the money cannot be restored;
- There are problems when paying with a prepaid card outside of Russia;
- You can only see how much is left on your account in stores where you can pay with this card.;
- Only adults can make payments using a prepaid card.
However, if you follow basic safety rules, you should not worry about the product. Still, this is exactly the same card as any card issued by a bank, albeit with its own specifics.
Do all prepaid cards require a social security number?
There was a time when most grocery store and convenience store racks were filled with over-the-counter prepaid debit card options that had no identification requirements for activation. Some major banks even allowed consumers to open a checking account without proper identification.
But as these cards became popular with people who wanted to remain anonymous or simply didn’t have a SSN, they also became popular with money launderers. New laws went into effect that made it more difficult to acquire a debit card, including prepaid cards.
Some card issuers will accept other government-issued forms of identification, including an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), passport number, or your native country’s identification number. Other issuers may accept your driver’s license number when you activate your card.
Issuers only require this information to properly identify you before granting access to an account. This information is not used to run background checks or to view your personal credit history.
How can I activate my prepaid card without a SSN?
Anyone can purchase a prepaid card since many retailers sell them in-store and over-the-counter. But you may have issues activating your card if you cannot or will not provide your Social Security number to the card company.
Some issuers will still allow you to activate your card without a SSN, but you should expect limited access to your account and funds until you provide some form of identification.
In place of a Social Security number, the card issuer may accept other identifying information from you. Just keep in mind that every credit card company has its own rules as to what form of ID is required for activation.
Check with a card’s issuer before you purchase the card to see if your preferred identification method will suffice. If so, you may be able to provide your:
- Passport book number
- Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
- Native country’s personal identification number
- Alien registration number
- Driver’s license number
The card’s issuer will also likely require you to provide a valid home address, phone number (or cellphone number), and date of birth. This information is meant to provide positive identification to ensure the cardholder is not using the card for illegal purposes.
If your prepaid has already been activated and is active, then you do not need to confirm it. You can safely use it.
If the card is issued by a US bank and activation by documents is required, then you can simply find out any data from the services for finding the necessary information and activate it successfully. You can also simply specify any arbitrary data for any person and the card will also be successfully activated.
If your prepaid card is issued by a bank other than the United States, then you do not need to confirm it either - it is already ready to use.
It is a great and pleasant pleasure to work with prepaid cards. I recommend these great cards to everyone.