Prepaid Credit Cards UK

A pre-paid card is like a debit or credit card, and can be used in much the same way. However, it’s not linked to a bank account or credit facility so there’s no risk of going overdrawn or running up any debt, and you can only spend the balance that you’ve put onto the card.

You top up a pre-paid card with cash in much the same way as you do a pay as you go mobile phone, then when you want to buy something, the amount you’re paying is deducted from your card balance. When the card hasn’t got any credit on it, you can’t make any more purchases until you’ve topped it up again – just like that pay as you go mobile phone.

Pre-paid cards are becoming really popular as a method of spending because they provide a lot of different benefits.

They are convenient – It looks and works like a normal credit or debit card, and is often backed by a major service provider like Visa or MasterCard meaning it can be used in all the places any of their cards can be used.
There are NO credit checks – you don’t need to worry if you’ve got a poor credit history or have had problems getting a regular card.

No credit risks & easy budgeting – because the card isn’t linked to a bank account, or to a credit facility, you won’t have to worry about going over drawn, and because you can only spend the money you have loaded onto it, you can budget easily and know exactly what you’re spending by checking your balance regularly.

Overseas travel is easy – Lots of prepaid cards let you buy things and withdraw money abroad as well as in the UK, and there are some pre-paid cards which are designed as travel cards where you get really good competitive rates of exchange too.

Share money easily – If you have the need to share money with someone such as a friend or family member perhaps, but don’t want to open a joint account with them, this sort of card can be a very useful way of sharing money as many providers are able to issue multiple cards for a single pre-paid account. It can also be useful if you’re a parent who wants to help their child when they are away at university, or off travelling.

Pre-paid cards are secure – One of the biggest benefit of a pre-paid card is that it is much more secure than a card that’s linked to a bank account or credit facility. If someone did manage to get hold of your card, the most they would be able to get access to, is the money that’s credited to it at the time. There would be no way for them to build any debt on your account, or get access to any other details about you via this sort of card.

Top Cards

Splash Prepaid Card
Bread Prepaid Card
Optimum Prepaid Card
The Sun Prepaid Card