Best Prepaid Debit Cards – Alternatives to Credit Cards

Written By:

Last Updated:July 10, 2024

Best Prepaid Debit Cards – Alternatives to Credit Cards

Joy Wallet is advertiser-supported: we may earn compensation from the products and offers mentioned in this article. However, any expressed opinions are our own and aren't influenced by compensation. To read our full disclosure, click here.

A prepaid debit card offers a convenient solution for those looking for an alternative to paying with money connected to a bank account or not using a credit card. The prepaid debit cards let you load your money through either a mobile app or participating ATM, and once you load it, it’s ready to use at any participating merchant where debit cards are accepted.

Prepaid cards not only offer a simple payment option, some include additional perks, such as direct deposit capabilities or online bill pay. Since you fund the account upfront, you never have to worry about overdraft fees, foreign transaction fees, or overspending. Whatever your motivation or personal finance goals for choosing them, look for a prepaid debit card offering low fees and user-friendly features. Fortunately, we’ve researched for you to find the best prepaid debit card solutions available.

Jump To

Best Prepaid Debit Cards Overview

Debit card	Best for
FamZoo	Families
Netspend Visa Prepaid	Multiple deposit options
Serve American Express	Perks of a credit card
PayPal Prepaid Mastercard	Largest ATM network
Walmart Moneycard	Cash back rewards
Brink’s Money Prepaid Mastercard	Rewards program
Greenlight	Preteens and teens
Green Dot	If you load at least $500 monthly
Bluebird by American Express	Lowest fees

Best Prepaid Debit Cards

Let’s examine the features and how your wallet can benefit from these prepaid debit card options.

FamZoo

FamZoo is designed with families in mind. Parents and kids can use the FamZoo card's convenient features, but parents will love knowing it’s designed to be a financial literacy app. You can set up payments for chores and allowances, set up rewards, pay interest, and do various other tasks. While you can track where your kids spend money, the one drawback to this card is there are few parental controls.

Netspend Visa Prepaid Card

The Netspend Visa Prepaid Card offers multiple convenient solutions for adding money to your card. You can deposit via the mobile app, or ATM reload locations, which includes over 130,000 locations countrywide. Perhaps the best feature is direct deposit because the card comes with a routing number and account number like a traditional checking account. Not only can you use this for direct deposit, but it offers an alternative to traditional banking.

Serve American Express

The Serve American Express comes with the card benefits you expect from the American Express brand. The prepaid cards offer numerous extras, such as purchase protection up to 120 days after purchase. American Express Serve also includes fraud protection for fraudulent charges and FDIC insurance. It even comes with access to emergency roadside assistance. You can easily reload your funds via the mobile app or through one of the 45,000 ATMs available nationwide.

PayPal Prepaid Mastercard

The PayPal Prepaid Mastercard works like regular debit cards, except you do need to be a PayPal account holder to use it. Because it’s a Mastercard, you have access to over 130,000 ATMs, so you can easily deposit or withdraw funds as needed. You can also move funds between the card and your PayPal account. In addition to the vast ATM network, cardholders can earn up to a 4.30% APY with a minimum balance of $1,000, plus more if they carry an even higher balance.

Walmart MoneyCard

Walmart MoneyCard deserves serious consideration for those who prefer cash-back rewards. Cardholders can earn up to $75 a year in cash when they use the prepaid card to make purchases on Walmart.com, Walmart stores, or Walmart fuel stations. Additionally, you can get a fee-free cash withdrawal from the customer service desk in-store. Each account can have up to 4 cards, making it ideal for families. Plus, you can earn 2% APY on up to $1,000 on your card enrollment anniversary.

Brink’s Money Prepaid Mastercard

The Brink’s Money Prepaid Mastercard offers the large ATM network associated with Mastercard, plus other useful features like early direct deposit and pay-as-you-go options for fees. However, the rewards program sets it apart from others. For each dollar spent with your card, you earn 1 Payback Point, which can be redeemed for rewards such as merchandise, cash back, or even fee waivers. This card has quite a few fees, such as ATM withdrawal fees and cash reload fees, but you can offset some of these by taking advantage of the $9.95 flat monthly fee option.

Greenlight

The Greenlight card is a popular card for parents of preteens and teens and is ideal for improving your children’s financial literacy. Several options are available, but the card has minimum monthly maintenance fees. There are no purchase fees and several ways to reload funds, although you can’t directly deposit cash or checks. One of the most unique features is how parents can set parameters and control spending, so the card is only available for use where you give permission.

Green Dot

Like other prepaid cards, the Green Dot is beneficial for those who don’t have a checking account or prefer the ease of a prepaid card for budgeting. However, you might prefer to use this card if you plan on reloading it each month with at least $500. By doing so, you avoid the monthly $7.95 fee. The card also includes free online and mobile bill pay. And it’s accepted wherever retailers accept Visa card and Mastercard (virtually everywhere). It even allows you to purchase paper checks if you need them as a payment method.

Bluebird by American Express

One drawback to most prepaid cards is the number of fees, but Bluebird by American Express limits the number you have to pay. The financial institution offers a range of financial products to fit your needs. With this card, there are no monthly, foreign, inactivity fees, or card transaction fees. You can get free reloads on the account at any Walmart and withdraw from any ATM in-network for free. If that’s not enough, you can access online banking and early direct deposit but only use it where American Express is accepted.

Raise Your Credit 80 Points

Raise Your Credit 80 points*

5 star service trusted by over 450,000 members
Have processed over $11,000,000 in bill payments for members
No deposit, no credit check, no interest
New member promotions available

*Potential increase based on StellarFi member data. StellarFi numbers observed an average of 80 points VantageScore® 3.0 increase during a member’s lifetime. Score increase based on members with an incoming score range of 300-499 pts, who made regular on-time payments, with regular on-time payments. Results may vary.

Raise Your Credit 80 Points with StellarFi

Best prepaid debit cards

Debit card	Monthly fee	ATM fee (card issuer only)
FamZoo	$5.99	No charge
Netspend Visa Prepaid	$0 to $9.95	$2.95
Serve American Express	$6.95	Free in-network, $2.50 elsewhere
PayPal Prepaid Mastercard	$4.95	Free in-network, $1.95 elsewhere
Walmart Moneycard	$5.94, but waived with a $500 monthly deposit	$2.50
Brink’s Money Prepaid Mastercard	$0 to $9.95	$2.50
Greenlight	$4.99 to $14.98	Free
Green Dot	$7.95, but waived if you load at least $500	$3.00
Bluebird by American Express	$0	Free in-network, $2.50 elsewhere

FAQs

What is the best prepaid debit card to use?

The best prepaid debit card to use is the one with the features most beneficial to your finances. Whether it’s low fees, easily depositing funds, a user-friendly app, or other features, you find most valuable. You may also need a card offering the widest fee-free ATM network.

What is the downside to using prepaid debit cards?

Prepaid debit cards offer convenience for those without access to credit cards or choose not to work with a traditional banking account. However, these cards often come with high fees, from ATM fees to monthly charges. Also, they do not help you build credit.

Can prepaid debit cards hurt your credit score?

Unlike credit cards, prepaid debit cards do not impact your credit history. This also means you will need to use other methods to build credit, such as using secured credit cards or making on-time payments to existing loans.

Raise Your Credit 80 Points

Raise Your Credit 80 points*

5 star service trusted by over 450,000 members
Have processed over $11,000,000 in bill payments for members
No deposit, no credit check, no interest
New member promotions available

Raise Your Credit 80 Points with StellarFi

The bottom line

If you’ve decided a prepaid credit card is best for your financial needs, then it pays to research the features and fees associated with each one carefully. They all include varying monthly, ATM, or purchase fees. But some have useful benefits, such as rewards programs or cash-back opportunities. Taking extra time to compare these features can save you money in the long run.

Joy Wallet is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor, financial advisor, loan broker, insurance producer, or insurance broker. Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only. They are not intended to provide investment advice. Joy Wallet does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information in regard to your individual circumstances. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific investment issues. Featured estimates are based on past market performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

Our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market. We are compensated by our partners, which may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on our site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice. Our editorials are grounded on independent research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.

We value your privacy. We work with trusted partners to provide relevant advertising based on information about your use of Joy Wallet’s and third-party websites and applications. This includes, but is not limited to, sharing information about your web browsing activities with Meta (Facebook) and Google. All of the web browsing information that is shared is anonymized. To learn more, click on our Privacy Policy link.

Images appearing across JoyWallet are courtesy of shutterstock.com.

Sara Coleman is a former corporate gal turned creative entrepreneur. She began writing professionally several years ago and now contributes to multiple websites, blogs, and magazines. She’s also an avid reader and can’t resist a great historical fiction novel. Sara holds a BA in journalism from the University of Georgia and can be found supporting her Bulldogs every chance she has. She resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her wonderfully supportive husband and three children. When she’s not ushering her kids to sports and dance lessons, she can be found creating content for her own website, TheProperPen.com.

Share this article