New - First Premier Prepaid MasterCard Review

Product Snapshot
The First Premier MasterCard® Prepaid Card is an excellent new Pay Monthly prepaid credit card bought to you by the team at Payment Card Technologies, one of the UK's leading prepaid card provider and award winning programme manager. The First Premier Prepaid Card brings together all the usual benefits of prepaid cards, coupled with the accumulated knowledge of the prepaid sector and the needs of financially savvy consumers.

The First Premier Card is a general spend card, aimed at customers wanting the flexibility of cash but all the security associated with the MasterCard brand. With secondary cards available, they're also great for parents with kids at school, or university where money can be moved quickly and easily onto the secondary card. With no overdraft facility and no hidden fees, they are a great way for teaching kids to live within their means. Some additional benefits include:

• Focus on money management
  Use the card as an alternative to your usual Chip and PIN card. Use it wisely and you may end up spending far less than you would have otherwise. The unique pay-as-you-go aspect means that you're just not able to get carried away.
  
  
• Great for sharing funds
  The First Premier card is also great for teenagers. Parents are able to buy a Friends and Family card for a teen who may be away at university. Cards are linked and money can be moved onto the second card online.
  
  
• Simple, accessible and secure
  With years of experience managing cards, PCT are very pleased to launch this easy to use, easy to understand card, with clear, upfront and low fees, and a no-nonsense, straightforward online sign up process.

The First Premier Prepaid card is available in GBP Sterling and provides all the benefits of a pay monthly prepaid card but is one of the best priced pay monthly prepay cards around with an extremely low and competitive monthly management fee. The First Premier card combines the old fashioned values of cash in your pocket, with the security features you'd expect from having a MasterCard card. It's the sensible, modern way to manage your money.

The Good
Extremely low monthly management fee makes the First Premier card one of the best priced pay monthly cards around. The cross border fee of 2.00% is also a winner as most providers charge around 2.95% so there are savings to be had on card usage. Not to be discounted is the fact that the card is managed by the team at PCT providing marketing leading prepaid technology and years of prepaid experience to boot.

The Not so Good
The card is currently only available as a GBP sterling card which means that there are better options available for usage abroad but the First Premier Prepaid MasterCard is a sure fire winner as a general spend pay monthly prepaid credit card.

Application Process

• Apply online - To apply for your First Premier Prepaid MasterCard online, simply visit www.firstpremierprepaid.co.uk and complete the simple online four step sign-up form. Once approved, your card will be posted out to you within 7 working days. Any pre-loaded funds are ready to be used once the prepaid credit card is activated.

Card Features

• FREE to make purchases in the UK.
• Easy and quick 4 step online application process.
• Extremely low fee pay monthly prepaid cards.
  

Design
At this stage, there is only one vibrant black card design available.

Card Fees
The First Premier Prepaid MasterCard is one of the best priced pay monthly prepaid cards available in the UK market with a low low monthly fee and benefits to boot.

• Card Issue Fee - £8.95.
• Monthly Fee - £1.00.
• Transaction Fee UK - Free.
• ATM Withdrawal Fee UK - £1.00.
• Reload Fee - Free via Debit Cards, £0.70 via Post Office.

Online Account Management and Self Servicing
First Premier prepaid offer a comprehensive online account management facility via the creation of a personal web account. The personal web account can be created once the card is activated and can be used to customers to

• View their current balance
• View transaction history
• Top their card up and
• Share funds between linked cards.

Do note that these online account management facilities can be used by First Premier Prepaid Card customers absolutely FREE of charge.

Using Abroad
The First Premier Prepaid Card is a MasterCard prepaid card and hence, it can be used wherever MasterCard cards are accepted around the globe which includes over 30 million global locations for purchases as well as over 1.5 million ATM's for withdrawals.

However, the First Premier Prepaid MasterCard is only available as a GBP (Sterling) Prepaid Card which means that usage abroad will cost you a 2% cross border fee on both POS retail and ATM transactions (in addition to the fixed £1.00 fee ATM Withdrawals).

So it is definitely possible to use your First Premier prepaid card abroad and it is one of the better priced GBP cards for usage abroad but it is primarily designed for usage in the UK but if you are looking for a card that is mainly for usage abroad, it may be worth considering travel money cards.

Reload Options
First Premier prepaid cards can be loaded in a number of ways including using debit or credit cards and cash at the Post Office or PayPoint terminals.

• Online Using Debit Card - FREE
• Online using Credit Card - 3.00%
• PayPoint Cash loads - 3.00%
• Post Office Cash Loads - £0.70
• In-Store with specific retailers - £0.75

Customer Service
There are various options to reach the First Premier prepaid MasterCard customer services team as detailed below.

• Telephone : 01753 778647 (calls are charged at the standard network rate)
• Online Support Centre: On the "Contact Us" page of the First Premier Website
• Lost and Stolen: +44 (0)115 9577420 - 24/7 Hotline
• By Post: First Premier Prepaid Card, c/o Payment Card Technologies, PO BOX : 67528 London, EC2P 2HU

Complaints Procedure
If you are unhappy in any way with the management of your First Premier Prepaid MasterCard, you should contact the First Premier Prepaid Card team using the 'Contact Us' facility on the Website so they can investigate your complaints quickly and fairly.

You may be able to take unresolved complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR. Telephone: 0845 080 1800 or +44 (0)20 7964 1000. Calls may be recorded.

Awards
The First Prepaid Prepaid Card has been launched recently by the team at Payment Cards Technologies who are an award winning programme manager. So watch this space.