FREE O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card Review

Product Snapshot
The O2 Load and Go prepaid card was launched in the last quarter of 2009 along with the O2 Cash Manager Prepaid Visa Card and the card is quickly winning acclaim across the industry and with consumers too.

This card is aimed at younger people, aged 13+, to provide them with the benefits of a Visa card in a controlled, safe environment. The O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card has been set up by O2 and NatWest Bank as a Chip and PIN prepaid Visa card and is available to O2's customers absolutely free of charge. It is free to get, free to load, free to use in the UK and free to withdraw cash at ATM's too and is rightly earning the tag of the genuine free prepaid card.

So even if you are not a prepaid card fan but are an O2 Customer, you should seriously consider getting the O2 Load&Go card. The alternative would be to get the free O2 Cash Manager Prepaid Card.

Being a VISA card, it can be used at over 14 million locations worldwide that accept VISA in addition to allowing ATM withdrawals at a million ATM's across the globe. It is available to anyone above the age of 13 with parental consent via a secure online application process as long as you are an O2 Customer.

If you wish to educate your teens about financial management and ensure that financial control is learned from a young age, then it difficult to find a better youth prepaid card proposition than the O2 Load & Go Prepaid Visa Card.

The Good
Free Card, Free Loading, Free Usage, Free ATM withdrawals backed up by O2 Customer Service Quality and Service delivery. Need we say more than highlight that the good with the O2 Load and Go prepaid Visa card is very good indeed.

The Not so Good
The card is unfortunately only available to O2 customers - so unless you are one, you cannot get it. Also, the O2 Load&Go Prepaid Card is not great for travel abroad especially in EURO/USD regions where a Euro or Dollar card may be a better bet.

Application Process

• Apply online - If you are an O2 customer and have an O2 Mobile or SIM, you can apply for your O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card on the O2 Website. Simply land up on the site, enter your mobile number and away you go.

That's it really and your O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card should be with you in next 7-10 days. Your PIN arrives separately and will typically arrive a couple of days before your card does. A letter will be sent to the parent or guardian of anyone applying for the card who is under 16.

Card Features

• Free Card - for O2 Customers.
• Free ATM Withdrawals.
• Free POS Transactions.
  

Fees
The O2 Load and Go prepaid card is literally free of all fees for purchase, loading and usage in the UK including ATM withdrawals too making this fee section rather redundant. A truly FEE FREE proposition.

• Card Issue Fee - FREE.
• Monthly Fee - FREE.
• Transaction Fee UK - FREE.
• ATM Withdrawal Fee UK - FREE.
• Reload Fee - FREE.

As you can see, with the O2 Load & Go prepaid card, there are hardly any fees and hence, this is undoubtedly, one of the best free prepaid cards available.

Online Account Management and Self Servicing
Online Account Management is available on the O2 Load and Go prepaid card using the same interface that you use for managing your O2 mobile. Simply visit the online account management area on the O2 Money site and access the members area. You can online account management functionality to

• check your card balance
• review and print your statements
• and review transactions at any time.

Using Abroad
The O2 Load and Go Prepaid Visa card is Visa branded which means that you can use it at over 14 million merchants worldwide as well as to withdraw cash at over 1 million ATM's worldwide.

The card is only available as a GBP card which means that whilst it is great for usage in non USD/EURO regions, there may be prepaid travel money cards available in those currencies which are a better bet. The GBP card can of course, be used overseas but customers should be aware that they will incur a foreign exchange fee on top of the the 2.75% foreign transaction and foreign ATM withdrawal fee.

Hence, the O2 Load & Go prepaid card is best used in the UK or abroad in non USD/EURO regions.

Reload Options
When you apply for your O2 Load & Go Prepaid card, you are told what your annual card load limit is £1800 per annum. This is the maximum amount you can have on your card at any one time.

You can load your O2 Prepaid card as follows

• O2 Website - FREE using a debit card.
• O2 Shops - FREE using cash or a debit card.
• PayPoint - FREE using cash or a debit card.

So not only is the O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card FREE to get and use but it is also 100% FREE to load. Truly sensational.

Customer Service
If you need assistance, you can contact the O2 Load & Go Prepaid Card Customer Services Team in numerous ways as listed below. O2 Lines are open between 7am - 10pm Monday to Friday, and 8am - 8pm weekends and around the clock for Lost and Stolen enquiries.

• By Telephone : 0845 304 0202 - may be Free from BT landlines.
• By Mobile: Dial 10202 from your O2 Mobile
• Lost and Stolen: Dial 10202 from your O2 Mobile
• By Post: O2 Money card services, NatWest, PO Box 5747, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 9AJ

Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint or are unhappy with any aspect of the way your O2 Load and Go Prepaid Card account is being run, you should contact Customer Services below

• O2 Money card services,
  NatWest,
  PO Box 5747,
  Southend-on-Sea,
  SS1 9AJ
  or call 10202 from your O2 mobile (the call will be free if you call from an O2 mobile in the UK) or 0845 304 0202. Minicom: 0870 154 1192.
  
  
• If you are still not satisfied after following our procedures, you can ask the Ombudsman to review the complaint. Alternatively you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR or telephone 0845 080 1800. Calls may be recorded.

Awards
The O2 Prepaid Cards have only been launched in the last quarter of 2009 but we expect to see them win a lot of industry and consumer awards in the next 12 months and rightly so!