Ever want to make a donation, make a payment, buy something online, but are wary that your information will get into the hands of people who will worry less about your altruism and more about running off to spend your money on whatever. Well if you give them your bank account number they have access to pretty much whatever they want, can cause you an overdraft fee and basically can make your life a living hell fighting to get your money back.
With one of those little Walmart, Rush, Nfinanse, Green Dot, Amex, etc cards you can make your online selection, if somebody just so happens to get that number and want to go ham, cut it up never put another dime on it and call it a day. That's it that's all, unless they want to run and load money on it for you(which you either need the physical card for or else you need the password to log online and punch in the reload information) and of
course if it was about all that why steal your card they would just go buy their own. Another thing is most of those cards have "Load Limits", what I mean by Load Limits are say we take the Walmart card the maximum amount you can load onto a Walmart moneycard at any given time is $1,000 yes a lot of money but not as much as say somebody floating through a fake 2,000 check on your account. Now while you could stack up that much on the Walmart card most likely you are only doing so if you immediately plan to spen it. All you need on a Walmart or any other reloadable is the "monthly fee". Which is about 3 bucks, as free checking seems to be a thing of the past I'm guessing your regular bank isn't as generous with it's checking account fee I know my monthly is 10 bucks for them to hold my money. And if I load at least 1,000 a month most of the reloadables wave the fee, my bank not so much.
Now I'm not saying there is no need for a bank, that you shouldn't have a bank account, or that you know banks are evil(bank fees are, but banks are just the places that hold money) what I am saying is that instead of putting your monies for discretionary spending in your main checking or savings account, put them on a reloadable, especially since they are ready made for online spending, work well for simple things like going to the movies, a park, a quick snack. Yes most of them have a reload fee that is around 3 bucks which is why I am saying it's not a replacement for your bank account, it's just something quick and easy like that old "Emergency Credit Card" we were all told to keep.
The only caveat is you have to use it I don't know how many reload fees you have to miss before they cut the card off, but make sure you keep at least the fee on there. Another benefit of these throw away cards is that if you have a kid/loved one/friend who has one and they need cash quickly all you have to do is buy the reload card and either text or call them with the appropriate numbers. One of the main reasons I love the Walmart Money Card is because I can walk into any Walmart, swipe my card, pay my loading fee and instantly have 20+(the minimum load amount) on there so that the person on the other side doesn't have to wait longer than me getting to Wally World. And if you have a kid or spouse and know of a Walmart within a quick vicinity of you house and possibly place of business I doubly recommend it because if time is of the essence a quick ride down the street is a lot faster than trying to find a Western Union or other wire service firm, plus the load fee stays the same 3 bucks where with those wire services it floats up with the amount of money being sent.
Again not claiming they are a cure all, but they definitely can allow for a few less headaches and in the case of parents you don't have to worry about your kid messing up their credit rating at a young age when they are just getting a grasp on responsibility. Oh I didn't mention ATM fees, if you go to most major retailers they usually have a cash back option so while you could run to an ATM pay the banks ATM fee plus your cards it's a lot easier to just make a debit purchase and take out the max amount. I hope for those looking for a quick and safe option to online shopping, giving distant loved ones a lifeline to cash when they are in trouble, or just a way to squirrel away a quick rainy day fund that this helps in some small way. Thanks for stopping by come back anytime
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