Prepay Debit Cards

[confuddledDOTcom]

I was just wondering if anyone uses these and whether anyone has any recommendations.

I read about My Cash Plus with Creditbuilder on MSE which he talks quite highly of. It seems a good solution for us as we're struggling to get a bank account (very complicated story doesn't need going into) and when you take what you get for the "loan" you're getting a really good deal. Was thinking about getting a second card (not sure with these or someone else) so that we can siphon off what's needed for bills so bills don't get spent as it's a worry for me.

I was wondering if anyone has any real life feedback on this or other cards?

are you planning on using one of these as a bank account? if so have you looked at all the charges, eg £2 to withdraw money at an ATM?

can you really not get a basic bank account? or do you mean you are having problems getting a debt card you can use online?

With the credit builder account you don't get charges for taking money out within the UK.

We've been without an account for awhile so can only get a basic but that's not been easy either - mostly because he's so laid back he's always happy to leave things as they are and I've not been able to get him to a bank to do it. I'd prefer to have the option of a card because for so long we've been reliant on other people for too long for things that need a card.

He should be able to open a basic bank account online, if his issue is previous poor credit then Barclays, Natwest and Nationwide all do accounts that would be suitable and give him a debit card. He's unlikely to need to go into a branch at all, unless they need additional ID.

Pricing here : www.mycashplus.co.uk/products/uk-prepaid-cards/pricing.aspx

Thats for the Cshplus. - but here www.mycashplus.co.uk/help/creditbuilder-faqs.aspx one of the questions is "How is a Cashplus Account with Creditbuilder different to a ‘normal’ account?" and the answer is "The only difference is that with Creditbuilder we loan you the fees for 12 months usage of your Cashplus card " - now if they were going to not charge you to withdraw on a CreditBuilder, why wouldn't they mention this as a positive?

I think you should take OH to a bank and get him to sign up for a proper account. Not bothering to apply for an account isnt the same as struggling to get one!

If you want a prepay card, fine. But I think the Creditbuilder sounds quite dangerous for you as you don't seem organised enough to ensure you don't miss a monthly payment - and if you do you are in a worse position than if you hadnt taken the Creditbuilder part.

It's not a loan as such, if you choose to have the credit builder added on then they tell the search agencies that they've given you a loan. The fees that they "loan" you are the monthly fees to the account you choose to have which you would pay with or without. They're £5 or £10 a month depending which account you get, each has different benefits. When you look at what you don't pay for by having a fee you are covering what you pay out. For example if you don't have one of these accounts you pay £2 to withdraw money, it doesn't take long to cover that each month, just like the 99p DD fee that you don't have.

I'm not sure how you decide I'm not responsible enough with money. Despite not having a bank account I've managed to never miss a payment of anything in however long it's been (I've not worked it out) and not owe anyone anything, I normally end up with the people I pay owing me money. I never buy anything I can't pay for when I buy it. I'd just like to stop running around paying things for a change and have it all in one place. We're both earning enough to cover the fees without too much worries.

Despite all of that because I've not had a bank account I don't get the credit for it so when I read Martin Lewis' article I decided to go for it.

He has issues because he's been without a bank and nomadic due to work so he hasn't got any decent ID for anything. I've been trying to get some things into his name from here as he's not been living with me long, so that he has some ID.

And yeah, he's terribly lazy and I'm disabled, so if he says he can't be bothered to me it's the same as not being able to because I can't always do it alone.

It sounds like you have already made up your mind despite what everyone is telling you, not entirely sure why you posted to be honest. Generally if you ask advice on something, it's to help you decide??

"I'm not sure how you decide I'm not responsible enough with money" I didn't say not responsible, I said not organised - which seemed like a reasonable deduction from the fact your OH can't be bothered to sort out a bank account for himself. And why don't you have a bank account? I think running this credit builder account if you don't have a cash account and your OH is lazy and you cant easily get to banks sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.