How to Spend Multiple Small Value Prepaid Credit Cards (ie $0.10)

xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 13:55
Last edited 13/07/2020 - 16:18 by 1 other user

My work decides that a great incentive is to dish out payments via $10 and $20 prepaid visa cards. Great! I'm all for the bonus cash but i can really only spend on Coles/Woolies etc for using up the balances etc.

Now.. My work has gone one step better! Virtual Prepaid Credit cards! So now i'm practically stuffed with quite a few "virtual" credit cards that have

a. Locked me out of my amazon account 2-3 times now because can't buy amazon gift cards with prepaid credit cards.. ???
b. Got me blocked form Square payments for "fraud"
c. Can't use online or pretty much anywhere unless buying a $10 or less item.

Any advice or recommendations given I've tried the above?

Financial

Comments

[Deactivated] on 13/07/2020 - 14:22

Can you hook the cards up to Beem It and send the money to yourself/spouse?
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 14:33
  
  Haven't used Beeam before but given it's close to the banks i'm guessing they're going to be pretty anti on this type of thing..
  i can give it a try but would love to know if anyone's tried before
  - Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 15:44
    
    +1
    
    This product does not work on credit cards or products that don't accompany the eftpos logo on the back. You require a dual network card Visa or MasterCard with the eftpos network as well.
IVI on 13/07/2020 - 14:36

Alternatively: TransferWise

(which also lets you Send + Receive in up to ~50 of the World's currencies,
usually at less cost than several of its counterpart, eg, PayPal.)
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 14:42
  
  Can I transfer AUD to AUD? it looks like they're only currency conversion… i think the prepaid cards might have some clause against currency exchange..
IVI on 13/07/2020 - 14:41

-3

Oh, as your company it unduly making it hard for you, & may even be doing so for its own profit (eg, using a tax loophole?), why not ask for compensation for all the hassles &/or extra time their scheme is causing/costing you? Maybe sue for harassment, if you can't get them to pay you &/or cooperate, in some friendlier way.
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 14:43
  
  +1
  
  yeah asked and global company with payments and sales promotions and incentives across a wide group of players, it's all via a single platform and no wiggle room to negotiate.. it's like a points program structure and then you can cash out for prepaid cards etc.. the only good value is prepaid visa as they sell most items for 2x RRP it looks like.
brad1-8tsi on 13/07/2020 - 14:48

you just have to reconcile yourself with paying more elsewhere. I was given a heap of Rebel Sport gift cards for cycling gear. I never shop at Rebel because they are 20% more than other places. In the end I had to convince myself that it was "free money" and I wasn't paying 20% more than usual because I didn't have the money before this.

I'm assuming you don't drink, eat out, go to the pub or have large grocery bills because i could easily use up $100/week on groceries & booze & going out (now restrictions have eased in Sydney)
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 15:07
  
  if it were physical cards i'd be much better off.. but prepaid visa virtual cards are pretty hard to use up, I've resorted to buying one item at a time click and collect on coles and it's just a pain in the ass, hoping that someone has a better idea here or that's tried something to be honest, i've tried as many ways as I can think of
  - brad1-8tsi on 13/07/2020 - 15:15
    
    +1
    
    But don't they have a number and a pin? I get online cards and just take a photo of the numbers and go to the supermarket or get fuel with them. Sure, you have to stand there and tediously type in the numbers but… /shrugs shoulders
    
    Am I missing something?
    - xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 15:20
      
      I'll try next time I'm there but i'm guessing self service maybe.. just gonna be a paid for $10 at a time true.
      Woolies they said I couldn't but i'll try coles out.
      - brad1-8tsi on 13/07/2020 - 15:27
        
        @xdivino: You can stack them on the one purchase.
        
        Have you physically been into a store and tried it or just asked some numbnuts on the phone in customer service?
    - Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 16:05
      
      A lot of merchants have locked this down now as it was heavily getting used for fraudulent transactions. I'd be curious to know when the last time you did this at self-serve at one of the supermarkets was?
      - xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 16:08
        
        @Kyle-K: Woolies self serve said no can't enter cards like that only their e-gift card.
        Will try out coles soon but would be painful standing there doing 7 or 8 at a time
        
        Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 16:19
        
        @xdivino: A lot of them have locked direct entry of cards out as an option, these types of transactions were also processed at a higher rate as they were considered card not present transactions.
        
        Actually scammers got quite smart and in other countries I don't know if it ever happened here they found a malicious way to encoded into barcode data to speed up direct entry.
      - brad1-8tsi on 14/07/2020 - 21:16
        
        @Kyle-K: last december IIRC.
  - Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 16:03
    
    Do these virtual cards have support for digital wallets? Could allow you to easily spend them in the real world.
    - xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 16:06
      
      no apple pay or anything, literally useless help from the providers "anyone that takes Visa online or can enter numbers etc."
      combining the balance is too hard for them as well, i'd have even paid a % or $ to do it but no dice..
      - Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 16:25
        
        @xdivino: Yeah without digital wallet support it's gonna get harder and harder for you to spend these in a meaningful way in the real world.
        
        And given the small amounts explains why they've moved away from physical cards it was probably costing them a fortune.
Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 15:46

Ask the company that issues the virtual cards if they can roll them all up into one larger card after a certain period depending on the platform your company is using it should be relatively easy for this company to do this.
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 16:05
  
  tried, they're not helpful in the slightest and had so many outages it's unbelievable.
  prepaiddigitalsolutions i think is the site.. it's got some decent security as i need email and text codes to get in so 3FA lol but yeah not the most helpful customer service when i asked, reply came back in two emails basically No, ask the providers if they can do split payments.
  - Kyle-K on 13/07/2020 - 16:41
    
    That's a name I've definitely heard before and yes they are quite troublesome to deal with I think I've even answered a very similar thread to yours in the last year elsewhere or even on here it may have even possibly been one of yours.
    
    Unfortunately I haven't found a reliable way to do this most of the online options will quickly get you into trouble as a lot of companies you would like to use them at don't like it when you switch out multiple prepaid cards even if you're loading a balance to their platform as you're discovering.
    
    A couple of friends are in a similar situation but luckily the card issuer for their card supports digital wallets so they're okay somewhat but the best they can do is a split transaction at a supermarket.
    
    Unfortunately none of this is going to help you specially with that provider.
deeevan on 13/07/2020 - 15:48

I used up my last prepaid card into my Amazon gift card balance. Might not be so useful these days since Amazon AU launched, I can't find an equivalent AU page
https://www.amazon.com/Reload-Your-Gift-Card-Balance
- xdivino on 13/07/2020 - 16:07
  
  yeah i'd be keen if they had this method, i have been buying amazon gift cards new each time etc, reloading would be way better if they had in AU i think might get around the blocks i keep getting etc.
firestormx on 13/07/2020 - 16:39

+1

In the past when I've had virtual prepaid visa cards, I just use them to buy discounted Woolworths egiftcards from cashrewards or shopback. You do need to play around with the amount to purchase to make sure you clear the card.

My suggestion is to always convert those prepaid visa cards into a form that is more widely accepted in its entirety instead of using a partial amount and having a small left over balance that is virtually unspendable.
- Neoika on 13/07/2020 - 23:18
  
  Minimum balance $4.75 on the card for it.
  
  Some energy companies allow minimum payment $0.10.
- Kyle-K on 16/07/2020 - 17:22
  
  In the past when I've had virtual prepaid visa cards, I just use them to buy discounted Woolworths egiftcards from cashrewards or shopback. You do need to play around with the amount to purchase to make sure you clear the card.
  
  You've not had the problem where eventually they don't like the fact that you've had multiple prepaid debit cards on your account when making those purchases.
  
  This is my biggest experience elsewhere you get shut down for always switching the payment method to a prepaid card.
  
  My suggestion is to always convert those prepaid visa cards into a form that is more widely accepted in its entirety instead of using a partial amount and having a small left over balance that is virtually unspendable.
  
  Yeah always easier to convert a large amount than a small leftover amount.
kyle on 13/07/2020 - 23:06

+3

Pay the ATO, small surcharge applies, then get refunded when you lodge your return if you don't owe taxes.
- xdivino on 14/07/2020 - 13:16
  
  interesting…. maybe…
HowDoIDoThis on 14/07/2020 - 13:12

Ask your work if they can change to just one permanent Visa card, and add your bonuses to that.
- xdivino on 14/07/2020 - 13:16
  
  tried, per above, global mixed supplier/vendor thing.. no chance of it happening.. asked even for reloadable card, no dice.
minniethemoocher on 14/07/2020 - 22:36

I just used mine online at Woolworths for a click and collect shop.
demiurge on 14/07/2020 - 23:26

Coles/Woolies split payment.
teek82 on 16/07/2020 - 00:34

+2

Pay your utility bills.
- Ms Bargainer on 18/07/2020 - 14:26
  
  That's what I have done.
  - xdivino on 18/07/2020 - 23:27
    
    in $10 increments without fee?
    - Ms Bargainer on 19/07/2020 - 18:52
      
      +1
      
      One utility company only allows payments more than $3.00, but the others I have done payments under $1.00 and never been charged a fee.

How to Spend Multiple Small Value Prepaid Credit Cards (ie $0.10)

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