For a person without a bank account, recharging a prepaid debit card can be a good way of keeping that handy payment facility. Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to recharge a prepaid debit card, particularly many gift cards.

Prepaid debit cards are becoming popular with several sorts of people as a way of keeping track of how their money is spent. Minors under the age of 18 often find prepaid debit cards useful as they are not legally able to sign for debt, which prevents them from using credit cards. People without a bank account are coming to prefer prepaid debit cards for purchasing goods on the internet as well as for day-to-day expenses. Even internet shoppers with a full transaction account and several credit cards might prefer to utilise a prepaid debit card when doing business with a questionable website, to limit the sums of money at risk.

Some prepaid debit cards are loaded with foreign currency. These are often sold over the internet and can carry extremely good exchange rates, better than those at the airports or local banks. Not all of these foreign currency cards can be topped up, and if they can, it won’t necessarily be at such a good rate.

Prepaid debit cards aren’t always linked to a transaction account but have a separate account, usually through a bank or online debit card provider, that can sometimes be topped up. Other prepaid debit cards are linked to a transaction account, such as a parent’s account, and the parent can top up the card from there. Because of this facility and flexibility, it’s becoming increasingly popular to use a prepaid debit card for issuing an allowance, as some parents believe this increases the child’s financial acumen.

If the bank that issued the prepaid debit card has local branches, then the card holder can often top up their account with cash either at the counter or through an ATM, although these facilities can differ.

There are some prepaid debit cards that don’t allow for top ups. Many although not all gift cards are in this category. These cards can be given as a gift, but there is no linked account to the card. It may be possible to set up a linked account, but this isn’t always the case.