First let me add I work in banking and deal with ALOT of service issues some days. If it has the VISA or Mastercard logo it offers the same protection in the event that fraud occurs or other claims that visa & mastercard over (you have up to 60 days from that statement date file claims) , cash gets a little stickier. Many money orders you have to wait 60 days before a stop payment is issued if it's never recieved. If its misapplied to someone else's acct, they are very difficult to locate in a computer system. Prepaid Visa/Mastercards may not always be accepted forms of payment for the things such as renting a car...Although it depends on the company, more and more agencies are refusing to accept them when there is the risk for liabilities, i.e. rental cars, hotels, etc. Unfortunately they have every right to. They are great way to hold your cash/spending $$ when you travel. Most banks sell them or you get them online thru bankofamerica.com and chase.com ( i believe.)
I was very disciplined last year no credit cards. But I still needed a visa or mastercard, so I opened a separate DDA to fund these transactions. My biggest concern was a rental car. I called the rental company and asked how much do they "block" and put that much into the account. Alot of times, the customer is not aware how much gets blocked, bc of that they overdraft.
Trust me I understand, the issues people have with debit cards. They will almost always fund even when your acct is overdrawn, they will work in the ATM if you do not have enough money. They are an excellent invention for banks to make money! Here's a tip, if you are short until payday and still use your card knowing that you will get hit w. fees for each transaction, save yourself some money. Figure out how much you need and take it out of the ATM. 1 overdraft fee is better than multiple. I talked to a client last week that had over $2000 in overdraft fees bc she continued to use her card to buy music online, she bought 25 songs at .89 and each cost her an additional $38!
