Prepaid Credit Cards

• 

  WookieMonster on 27/08/2022 - 22:19

  +1

  Take a look at two previous comments as a starting point:

  • Visa/Mastercard gift cards
  • EFTPOS gift cards

  My comments are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all prepaid gift cards available in Australia, as there are some I am not aware of or have no experience using (e.g. EFTPOS gift cards offered by Vicinity Centres, Mobile Pay), but it should be a good starting point nonetheless.

  In terms of a WM recommendation, it really depends on a number of factors. For example:

  • Are you looking to send payments to the ATO?
  • Are you looking to make purchases in-person and want to avoid signing to authenticate transactions?
  • Are you looking for prepaid gift cards that can be purchased using an AMEX?
  • Are you looking to make purchases at international merchants?
  • Are you looking for a prepaid gift card where you can redeem in-person and online?
• 

  Islund on 27/08/2022 - 22:31

  Thanks for this.

  Was watching rugby streaming from LA sevens today. All of a sudden streaming was interrupted by a message saying I had to register to continue. As part of the registration I had to provide credit card details even though “credit card would not be charged”.

  I thought a prepaid credit card would be a lot safer in such instances.

  • 

    WookieMonster on 27/08/2022 - 22:36

    +1

    Hmmm based on that example, I wonder whether it would be better to look at virtual/disposal cards offered by some financial institutions (e.g. Zip, Revolut, Wise). For starters, you would not have to pay $5-$10 in card activation fees each time you create a virtual/disposal card (which you would if you purchased a Visa/Mastercard prepaid gift card from a store).

    One caveat is that some merchants will not accept virtual/disposal cards, but you won’t really know until you try (or you research the internet to see whether someone before you has already tried and posted the results somewhere).

    In this case, a good starting point is to read the rest of the forum post that contained the Visa/Mastercard gift card comment I linked to earlier.

  • 

    vikvance on 27/08/2022 - 23:26

    +3

    Nearly all streaming services will reject any attempt to use a prepaid Master/Visa gift card.

    They require an actual debit card or credit card, with a named cardholder & address details.

    If you're concerned about excess charges or card details falling into wrong hands, then you can open a new bank account with any random Aussie bank, and just keep $1 there as balance, and use the debit card details for that account.