A prepaid MasterCard® is essentially a prepaid card which is MasterCard branded and has the MasterCard brand on it. In today’s world with Credit and Debit cards flying around, you are more than likely to have seen this MasterCard Symbol and just as likely to have used a MasterCard prepaid, debit or credit card.
A prepaid card is basically a card on which you need to put money on before you can spend that money. So unlike credit cards which are essentiall “buy now, pay later” and debit cards which are “buy now, pay now”, prepaid cards arre essentially a form of “pay before, buy later” cards which provide a safe and secure payment mechanism that is not linked to you bank account.
The majority of prepaid cards in the market today are prepaid MasterCard cards but the guys from Visa are catching up pretty fast. American Express is used in America and in South Asia and Maestro continues to be quite popular in the UK and some parts of Europe.
Some of the UK’s Top Prepaid MasterCard Cards
Kalixa
- Monthly Fee item
- UK POS item
- UK ATM item
- INTL POS item
- INTL ATM item
- LOAD Internet, Credit, Debit
Cashplus
- Monthly Fee item
- UK POS item
- UK ATM item
- INTL POS item
- INTL ATM item
- LOAD Internet, Credit, Debit
OrangeCash
- Monthly Fee item
- UK POS item
- UK ATM item
- INTL POS item
- INTL ATM item
- LOAD Internet, Credit, Debit
Net+
- Monthly Fee item
- UK POS item
- UK ATM item
- INTL POS item
- INTL ATM item
- LOAD Internet, Credit, Debit
Advantages of a Prepaid MasterCard:
- High Acceptance - Over 29 million worldwide locations.
- Most recognised brand payment brand in the world, so you should face no acceptance problems.
- MasterCard have recently launched the rePower scheme which will allow you to load your MasterCard prepaid card through MasterCard terminals which means more loading locations as well.
Disadvantages of a Prepaid MasterCard:
- MasterCard is more attractive to fraudsters than other brands so more likely to be targetted by fraudsters. However, since it is not linked to your bank account, you are well protected anyway.
Popular MasterCard Prepaid Cards in the UK
There are a number of Prepaid MasterCard cards which are quite popular in the UK for everyday use, for travel or for shopping. Read the review and- Cashplus Prepaid Card - Everyday use and to build your credit history.
- Freedom Prepaid Card - Everyday use, great telephony offers and for purchase protection.
- Caxton Prepaid Card - Perfect for travel abroad.
- BabeeCard Prepaid Card - For great shopping offers for new mums.
