February 5, 2012

Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard®

Editor’s Rating
Fees
Banking Features
Ease of Use
Customer Service
Other Features

Pros: Relatively low fees, excellent banking features
Cons: Monthly service fee if minimum deposit not made

Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard Review

The Green Dot prepaid MasterCard is one of the most popular prepaid credit cards, with over 10 million customers. The Green Dot does not require a credit check, charges no overdraft fees, and offers direct deposit at no charge. Perhaps its best feature is that it offers access to over 18,000 MoneyPass® ATMs.

Here’s a summary of the Green Dot features:

  • $0 Activation Online –with no credit check
  • Access over 18,000 MoneyPass ® ATMs
  • Get a $4.95 credit on your first MoneyPak cash load (see site for restrictions)
  • Get $10 with qualifying direct deposit (see site for restrictions)
  • No Monthly fee for any month with at least 30 purchases
  • No Transaction fees on US purchases
  • No overdraft fees
  • No Minimum balance required

The Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard® is a prepaid card available to those with bad credit or no credit at all. The amount of money available on the card is determined by what you deposit onto the card, which means you’ll never pay interest charges or be charged for overdrawing your account. Your past credit history does not come into play and will not keep you from being approved. As a debit MasterCard, the Green Dot card can be used anywhere that accepts debit MasterCard, which is just about everywhere.

How To Add Funds

You can have your paycheck or government benefits check directly deposited onto your Card and the service is free. You can deposit your whole payroll check or a portion of it. You can also load cash on your card using what’s called the MoneyPak, which is available at thousands of neighborhood stores nationwide. Finally, you can reload your Green Dot card directly from your bank, credit union, or other financial institution. Many banks offer the ability to transfer funds through a process known as ACH transfer. You can load your card with the click of a button. Green Dot does not charge for this service, although your financial institution may charge a fee.

Green Dot Fees

There are fees you should know about before using the card. This card is a prepaid card which means there will not be any interest fees or late fees, but there are still fees associated with the card. Green Dot’s fees are some of the lowest available from any prepaid card:

FEE TYPEFEE
Initial PurchaseVaries by retailer, up to $4.95 ($6.95 for the NASCAR® Prepaid Visa Card).
Monthly ChargeWaived in any monthly billing cycle when you load at least $1,000 to your Card or have 30 posted purchase transactions (excludes all ATM declined withdrawals, ATM balance inquiries, teller cash advances and online bill payments at www.greendot.com).

Otherwise, $5.95.
ATM Withdrawal & Teller Cash AdvanceFree at in-network ATMs

All other ATM withdrawals: $2.50

Teller cash advance: $2.50
ATM Balance Inquiry at Non-Network ATMs$0.50
Lost/Stolen Card Replacement$6.00
Reload at Retail LocationVaries by retailer, up to $4.95
Expedited Card Delivery$19.95
Second Card$4.95

Apply for the Green Dot MasterCard

Applying for the Green Dot is easy. When applying for a card you do have to provide your name, address, and social security number. Federal law requires this information to be verified. As a bonus the card offers a $10 credit that will be issued within five business days to the card that receives the first direct deposit of $250 or more from an employer or a government agency.

To get started, simply visit Green Dot’s official website by clicking here.

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Green Dot Prepaid MasterCard®, reviewed by Aaron on 2010-03-11T20:07:53+00:00 rating 4.6 out of 5

Comments

  1. WP Themes says:

    Good dispatch and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you on your information.

  2. GARY WYSONG says:

    I forgot to write down my account number. Please can you retrieve and send to my e-mail.

    Thanks

  3. anna gibson says:

    this has helped me and my husband both but i need to know how to get all the payment transactions on the card so i can make a record of all the payments put on the card and taken off the card thank you very much for your help

  4. vie says:

    Can paypal put money from my paypal acct on my green dot card?

    • Aaron says:

      Vie, I think you can. Paypal will try to sell you its debit card. But you can transfer money to a bank account, and all debit cards comes with a bank account number and routing number, which are used for direct deposit. I believe they can also be used for withdrawing money from PayPal.

  5. Mary Britton says:

    Where are the participating ATM’s for withdrawal purposes?

  6. merrion brooks says:

    need this card cancelled. NOW11111111

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