List of Tax Refund Debit Cards

Here’s a question we hear a lot this time of year–How do I get my tax refund deposited on my prepaid debit or credit card? The good news is that it’s not difficult and several low fee prepaid cards now offer fast direct deposit of tax refunds. We’ve provided a list of the prepaid cards that offer direct deposit of your tax refund at the end of this article.

Before the days of the internet, you had to wait 6 to 8 weeks to get your tax refund. More recently, you can get your money back from the IRS within two weeks with direct deposit to a bank account. But this doesn’t help those that don’t have checking accounts or simply choose to use a prepaid card. Until recently, these folks had to wait nearly two months for a refund, or get an expensive tax refund anticipation loan.

Now with some prepaid cards, setting up a quick direct deposit is easy. All you need are two pieces of information–the prepaid card’s routing number and account number. The trick is to realize that this information is NOT on the prepaid credit card. But it’s easy to find.

Each prepaid card that offers direct deposit of tax refunds will give you the routing number and account number. Some cards, like the READYdebit prepaid visa, let you get this information online. All you need is your READYdebit card number and the last four digits of your social security number. Here’s what the screen looks like for READYdebit:

If necessary, you can always call your prepaid debit card issuer to get this information. Once you have the routing number and account number, you can simply use this information on your tax returns to get your refund deposited directly to your prepaid card. About two weeks after you file your returns, you should have your refund on the card. It’s that simple.