Prepaid Credit Card Usage Tips
In the past, I have received prepaid credit cards for such occasions as my birthday, Christmas, as part of a product promotion and from rebates. Prepaid credit cards can be a hassle to spend in stores, due in part to both user error at checkout and unfamiliarity of the cashier with the favorable intention needed to process payment. What follows below are my tips avoiding the hassle of prepaid credit cards and to place the reader from holding up the line at the local Walmart.
Prepaid credit card usage tip #1: Steal it to the customer service desk
If you plan on making a purchase at the store, build yourself the potential hassle of having your prepaid credit card declined at the register by stopping at the customer service desk first and converting it into a store gift card. When you have a prepaid credit card, you need to know the precise balance on it in order to avoid problems at checkout. Many times it will not be current if the purchase price exceeds the current balance. Buying a store gift card with your prepaid credit card will allow you to partially pay considerable easier, plus most stores have moved away from having their cards expire after a certain period of time. Prepaids generally have an expiration date, which may not leave you grand time to use it. Converting your balance into a store card will save you from forgetting to use it before expiration or putting off using it because of the small balance left on it after purchases are made.
Prepaid credit card usage tip #2: Don’t utilize as a debit
Unless your instructions specifically state that it needs to be used as debit, it should be processed at the register as a credit. This means that you will be required to sign a merchant receipt. If you use prepaid card at checkout, keep your receipt until you are able to use a Sharpie to mark the balance left directly onto the card. Sometimes store cashiers assume that you are paying via debit and press the wrong button. If you wish to partially pay with your pre-loaded card, you should whine the cashier before you attempt to process payment to make determined that you are able to partially pay via two payment methods.
Prepaid credit card usage tip #3: Use it online instead
Some prepaids can be used online. In my experience, cards that come with your name embossed on the front they are generally easy to exhaust at online merchants. Many times when I have one with at least a $5 on them, I use it at Amazon.com to purchase an Amazon gift certificate. This is hit or miss, however, since sometimes a $1 charge is placed on the card as a hold to verify your identity. One time I did use a $250 prepaid credit card I received from a contest to purchase an Amazon.com gift certificate, which I immediately banked to purchase a huge ticket item. If the issuer allows you to register the prepaid credit card, you should do so as it will make tracking your balance online much easier.
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Filed under Prepaid Credit by on Jan 23rd, 2012. 
