We’re proud of the design of the MiCash card. It’s a beautiful prepaid card design, because we know that design matters. There are certainly some ugly cards out there. What makes our card stand out from the rest? It’s black. Black evokes elegance, refinement, and sophistication. Think of black and white photography. The simple “little black dress.” The coolness of midnight jazz.

The background image on the face of the card is the Washington DC metro, itself a classic design. Since we are headquartered in historic Georgetown, we felt the image was appropriate. However, it is subtle. More of a texture behind the blackness of the card. A few years ago, credit card companies came out with solid black cards, dark blue cards, and platinum cards, all to try and stand out from the average card. Some prepaid cars stand out by being gaudy, with lots of bright colors, and lots of words. Our card isn’t like that.

You’ll be proud to pull out the MiCash Prepaid Mastercard card when dining out, or making purchases in a store. It lets everyone know that you have the power to control your finances.

Are there downsides to owning a prepaid debit card? While we know that prepaid cards are a great way to manage your money, especially if we’re talking about the MiCash MasterCard, there are a few pitfalls you will want to avoid, should you decide a prepaid card is right for you.

Pitfall One: Fees

The only way a prepaid card company can afford to stay in business is to have some way to earn revenue from issuing prepaid cards and supporting customers. Typically, card companies charge a monthly fee, however, MiCash does NOT charge a monthly fee. The primary fee structure for prepaid cards is a transaction fee for every purchase at the point of sale. For MiCash cardholders, this fee is 95 cents added on to your purchase. MiCash charges $2 for an ATM withdrawal. Tip: when making a purchases, for example at the grocery store, add some cash back on your purchase, and you can avoid having to go to an ATM for cash. There’s no extra charge for this, so you just pay the 95 cents.

A MiCash cardholder making 20 purchases a month (which is average) will expect to pay about $20 a month. Compare this to carrying a $2,000 balance on a credit card at 15% interest, which translates to spending $25 a month on interest.

MiCash is proud of our low fee structure. If you go with a different brand card, make sure you understand any hidden and unusual fees. Some cards in addition to point of sale fees also charge a reloading fee and even inactivity fees.

Authorization Holds

When you pay for gas at the pump, typically a $75-$100 credit authorization hold will be placed against your card. This means that the gas station temporarily authorizes that amount, plus your gas purchase, to make you have enough money to cover the purchase of a full tank of gas. This preauthorization is cancelled upon purchase, so you aren’t charged it. However, you need to have that much cash in your card account or otherwise the card will be denied. Similarly, a hotel might put an authorization hold on your card of as much as $500, and unless you have that much on your card to cover the temporary charge, your card will be denied. So, it pays to keep a larger balance on your card, at least for gas purchases, to avoid this inconvenience.

Acceptance

The MiCash card is accepted wherever debit MasterCards is accepted, which is literally millions of merchants around the globe. Just look for the MasterCard sign. Occasionally, however, a vendor will only accept credit cards and not prepaid cards. Some stores and restaurants don’t accept either credit cards or prepaid cards.

Lost or Stolen Prepaid MasterCard

If your prepaid card is lost or stolen, you need to report it right away. If a missing prepaid debit card is reported within 48 hours, cardholders are not responsible for more than $50 in unauthorized charges. Yet if reported two to 60 days afterward, cardholders could be held accountable for up to $500 dollars in unauthorized charges. After 60 days, users face losing their entire balance. With a lost credit card, in comparison, users face a maximum $50 liability, regardless of when the loss is reported.

Under MasterCard’s Zero Liability policy, available for MiCash cards, you cannot be held liable for unauthorized signature-based transactions when you report the suspicious activity within 90 days. Exceptions to the 90 days will be made if you can provide evidence of special circumstances such as a prolonged hospital stay or trip. However, if

Zero Liability protection is provided by MasterCard under these conditions:
a) Your account is in good standing,
b) You have exercised reasonable care in safeguarding your card (****To safeguard your card, make sure you REGISTER it as instructed by your card issuer****), and
c) You have not reported two or more unauthorized events in the past 12 months. Zero liability does not apply if a PIN is used as the cardholder verification method for the unauthorized transaction(s). It only applies to signature-based transactions. Visit MasterCard’s Web site for more details.

Building Credit History

When you use a prepaid card, because you are not using credit but rather your own funds in the card, the credit reporting agencies don’t have a way to test your credit worthiness, and hence you aren’t building credit history. Don’t be fooled by prepaid cards that tout “build credit history” because they are actually touting a loan program, not use of the card itself. If you want to build credit history, you need to have and pay back loans, or credit card balances over time.

Card Declined

With a prepaid card, if you don’t have enough funds on your card, and you try to make a purchase, your card will be declined. This is actually a benefit because you can’t get overdrawn. The pitfall is that you have to stay on top of your balance, and you have to periodically add more funds to your card as you use it. The best way to add funds automatically is through a payroll direct deposit straight to your card account every pay day. With MiCash it is easy to go online and check your balance and transaction history for free.

In Conclusion

While prepaid cards have some pitfalls to look out for, it’s a great choice for people who don’t want to amass credit card debt, or who can’t get a checking account, or who simply want a convenient way to make purchases safely without carrying around a lot of cash.

Henry Ford famously once said that his customers could have any color Model-T car they wanted so long it was black. It turns out, MiCash cardholders can have any color card provided it is black. Why black? Simply put, we believe black is the most elegant color you could have for a prepaid card, debit card, or credit card. If you think about what looks good in evening wear–black–the same holds true for evidence of your financial status of being able to buy things with plastic, especially under the MasterCard banner.

Simplicity denotes elegance. Strong graphic elements also denote elegance. Prepaid cards come in many different colors and designs these days, including pink, purple and bright orange. But what would you rather hand to a server at a fine restaurant, an elegant black premium looking card, or a garish pink card with polka dots and swirls?

3D holograms are also appearing on cards. So too are photo cards, where you can get just about any photo you want printed on the face of your card (perhaps for a fee). But at the end of the day, black never goes out of fashion. It’s timeless. It’s elegant.

Do Marriott Hotels, Hilton Hotels and other hotels used by business travelers accept prepaid cards instead of credit cards? Well, if you are one of the millions of Americans who have made the switch to prepaid MasterCards or Visa or even Prepaid AmericanExpress, the answer is a big yes. Hotels welcome getting paid, especially with plastic. And MasterCard and Visa are accepted literally in million of places worldwide.

The only thing to consider when using a prepaid card at a hotel establishment, whether the large chains or even a ma and pa wayside stop on a lonely highway is the fact that hotels typically put a “hold” on your card of two hundred or even four hundred dollars depending on how long your stay is. They do not take these funds from your card, but they need to see that you have that much on your card to cover any expenses you might generate from damage to the room. Think of it as a damage deposit then. Once you have checked out, the bank issuing your card will then release this hold. However, bear in mind the release can be a day or two later.

So, the bottom line is, if you want to use a prepaid debit card at a Hilton, Marriott, Comfort Inn, or other fine hotel, be sure to have at least $500 on your card, otherwise it might not be accepted. Alternatively, you could provide a credit card as security and pay with your prepaid card when you check out.

People sometimes ask the question which is the better choice: prepaid Visa or prepaid MasterCard and what’s the difference?

The short answer is that Visa and MasterCard are very, very similar in terms of function, features, and cost to the cardholder. Both are recognized brand names, licensed to banks for use on credit cards and debit cards, including prepaid cards. Both operate digital transactional networks that enable consumers to pay for things with “plastic” conveniently and with security. It’s almost unheard of for a merchant to accept one over the other, and indeed both are widely accepted from the smallest mom and pop shop to major online and bricks-and-mortar chains. Both make money by charging fees to banks that issue Mastercard/Visa branded cards.

All the actual features of the credit/debit card (interest rates, reward programs, interest free days etc) are set by the bank, credit union or building society that issued your card. 72% of online retailers accept the following major credit cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, VISA. Only about 10% accept only Visa and MasterCard credit cards and debit or prepaid cards.

Visa Prepaid

You may find prepaid cards under the Visa banner, and that’s because come prepaid bank companies have gone with Visa. Before the name change, Visa was Bank of America card, and then BankAmericard.

MasterCard Prepaid

Other banks, and prepaid card companies like MiCash, offer MasterCard prepaid cards, because of the bank issuing the card accounts, such as Metabank. Some people, including me, prefer the look of the MasterCard logo.

Immigrants who work hard and want to send money home to family members in another country (also known as remittances) can use prepaid cards, such as the MiCash MasterCard. Here’s how:

First, you need to order a prepaid card. Once it arrives by mail, you simply activate your card account. You can add cash to your card account using Greendot MoneyPaks, Western Union, or by direct deposit of your payroll. Next, you order a companion card. This is a second prepaid card tied to your prepaid card account. You can call customer service and transfer funds from your main card to your companion card. Finally, send your companion card to your loved one. They can then use it to withdraw cash from an ATM, or, many places accept the companion card for transactions.

This is cheaper than spending big bucks on a wire transfer, which is the old school way of sending money back home.

Kardashain sisters exit prepaid card market fast

America’s fascination with celebrities also applies to the prepaid card market. Take for example the Kardashian Kard, a prepaid card that was marketed by the Kardashian sisters who are famous for being famous. PUlled from the market after only a month, financial experts such as Suze Orman strong criticized the card for having some of the highest fees ever put out there for a prepaid card. According to CNN, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal blasted the card’s issuer, University National Bank, questioning the legality of the card’s “pernicious and predatory fees.” The now defunct card featured a $7.95 monthly fee, and $1 fee just for loading money on the card, and a $1.50 fee for calling customer support.

The Rush Card is perhaps the best known celebrity branded card. It is aimed at low-income African Americans by hip hop mogul Russell Simmons (not Rush Limbaugh).

One wonders which actress or musician will put out his or her own prepaid debit card.

The fact is, celebrities often put their names on products without having direct oversite of the business. They take a cut of the profits, and you may pay a premuim, or higher fees, just because the card is associated with a celebrity.

We like Dollar General for deals.

Dollar Generals do sell prepaid cards, just like a Walgreens or any other discount store. You can find prepaid Visa and prepaid MasterCards at Dollar General stores. They will be hanging on a kiosk with prepaid phone cards.

The problem with these cards, if you consider it a problem, is that you can’t easily research the company behind the card. What fees do they have? What sort of customer support can you expect? Can you check your balance online? In contrast, getting a MiCash prepaid MasterCard is an online process. Look, you are already on our website, so why not click around and learn more about our card

Prepaid Credit Cards at Dollar General

A lot of people confuse the terms “prepaid credit card” and “prepaid debit card.”

Dollar General in Every Town?

Bloomberg reports the biggest of the U.S. dollar discount stores, had a record decline in New York trading after reporting slowing growth in same-store sales. Fact is, there aren’t too many more places Dollar General can go. They are already in many small towns. Hence, the company is focused on same store sales. It, like many merchants, like people to use prepaid debit cards to shop there.

Do you want a prepaid card that looks attractive when you hand it to a store clerk?

If you are looking for the most attractive prepaid card, you are not alone. When prepaid card holders have been asked on surveys why they favored one card over another, many report that they wanted a black prepaid card or a pink prepaid debit card, or some other reason other than a card’s various features and benefits.

Benefits of a Black Prepaid Card

As you can see from this picture, the MiCash MasterCard is black. It’s a subtle photo of a curving ceiling, but we have to say it looks sophisticated. Perhaps it is an airport terminal for the savvy world traveler, or the curving ceiling of the Washington DC Metro. In any event, black is a great color for a credit card or prepaid card, because it suggests sophistication. Think evening wear. Think stability.

Lot’s of people these days with no bank account–no checking and no savings–are turning to prepaid debit cards as way to manage their money safely and conveniently. This is because they cannot get a traditional debit card, tied to a bank account, so the prepaid card route is a natural alternative. Of course, we hope they consider the prepaid MasterCard for our low fees and excellent customer service. A common phrase to describe people without a bank account is “the unbanked.” Of these, some simply cannot get an account due to bad credit or being on the Chexsystems list. For others, they either don’t wish to have a bank account or they don’t understand what it takes to get one.

Did you know that one fifth of all U.S. households are unbanked, and half of the unbanked have college degrees? This statistic is provided by the Journal of Financial Transformation. With the growth of, in particular, government use of prepaid card products to provide better and more cost-effective services to the unbanked, it would seem that providing prepaid cards to consumers would be attractive to companies, and it is. More and more companies are offering prepaid cards. The ones that have been around for a few years, like MiCash, have name recognition and trust.

Should you want a checking account, you have to fill out a lot of paperwork, and the bank will likely want to know where you work and how much you make.  To get a prepaid card, all you need is to pass an identity check, meaning you use your real name and address and social security number.

So, in short, if you have no bank account, no problem. Just get a prepaid card and you can use it nationwide wherever debit cards are accepted by merchants. You can even get cash back with your purchases and avoid paying ATM withdrawal fees.