Does Speedway, Sheetz, Pilot, Flying Jay, BP, Racetrac, Chevron, Mobil, Exxon, or any other gas station sell prepaid cards? Well, probably not. But do they let you buy gas with a prepaid debit card? The answer is most certainly yes. Some convenience stores like Wawa do sell prepaid cards, but many gas stations do not sell them. That’s why we recommend you consider getting a MiCash prepaid MasterCard.

Here’s something to consider if you want to pay at the pump with a prepaid card. Make sure you have at least $75 on the card, because even if you pump only $20 in gas, the gas station will put a temporary “hold” on your card up which might be $50 or it might be $75 an this hold could last a few hours or a few days. Why does this happen? Because the pump/station doesn’t know how much you have in your account, so they want to make sure they can cover the amount of gas you buy in advance. They wouldn’t want somebody to put $50 of gas in their car or truck and drive off and then discover that the prepaid card only had $10 on it.

You can avoid this problem by not keying in your PIN number at the pump but telling the pump to select “credit card.” Even though your card isn’t one (if it is a prepaid card) the transaction will run on the credit card network and you can avoid the hold.

Do Wawa stores carry prepaid cards or Greendot moneypaks which are used to reload them? This is a question you might have, and one we will attempt to answer. We will also share with you the Wawa store locator in the event you do not elect to get a Micash prepaid MasterCard but would seek one at Wawa.

Wawa is a chain of popular convenience stores on the East Coast. Headquartered in Wawa, Pennsylvania, the company has been around for many years. Most locations are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The company employs 16,000 associates throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

But do they carry prepaid debit cards? Yes. They also carry Verizon and Sprint phone cards and an assortment of gift cards. You can find them on the prepaid card rack. You can’t miss it.

Here is the store locator.

Tips for buying a flat screen TV.

The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show opens today in Las Vegas. This 3-day event is where manufacturers of audio equipment, digital cameras, camcorders, TVs, and other consumer electronics highlight new products and cutting edge technologies. For the past three years, TV sales have been up 20 percent annually, as people replaced their old tube televisions with flat screens. TV sales for this year are projected to rise only 2%, according to industry analysts.

If you haven’t replaced your old TV and are looking for a flat screen, or if you bought a flat screen but see that you can get a much bigger screen for a good price, what should you look for?

Flat Screen Trends for 2011

3-D television is big, but now is not the time to buy, unless you have a lot of money to blow and are the early adopter type.

Television in three dimensions, with eye-popping visuals that require you to wear bulky glasses, is all the rage in your local Best Buy, or high end electronics store. Though manufacturers expected robust sales last year, consumers were reluctant to adopt the technology, realizing the hidden costs such as the high cost of 3-D blueray discs, and the glasses.

While 3-D is back again this year at CES, but now there are some mobile versions and TV sets that don’t require glasses, yet many trend-watchers feel the technology still has a ways to go before it catches on. Sure, a blockbuster movie like Avatar looks good in 3-D, but how many programs or movies would similarly blow you away in 3-D? Not many. Also, some people report eye-strain after a couple of hours of watching 3-D pictures, or fuzzy pictures.

Internet-Connected TVs

Between, Apple TV, Roku, Boxee, TiVo and other so-called “set-top” devices, the idea of being able to access Netflix, YouTube and Hulu on a flat-screen in your living room is gaining traction. Google  TV is also on the horizon, but isn’t quite ready for prime time. New internet-connected TVs will be shown at CES from LG, Samsung and other manufacturers. You can also buy Blue Ray players that are “Internet ready.” And X-Box also connects to the Internet and will stream Netflix movies provided you have a streaming account.

How do these TVs or stand-alone boxes work? You just need a broadband Internet connection from wifi or an Ethernet cable, and the Internet-ready device will connect to the Web just like a computer. You can surf the web on your TV, or watch a streaming movie or downloaded movie file.  If you watch certain Internet entertainment content like TV shows or movies, you can access a sidebar of people commenting on a live event, even using Twitter or chat software. It’s like watching a show with a bunch of your friends.

Bigger Screens and Thinner

The prices of 32″ flat screen LCD TVs have come down. Some brands on sale can be had for $350.  A 36″ LCD can be had for $450-$550.  The price of LED screens have also dropped, but they are not yet in the “sweet spot” of affordability. LED is a brighter screen with truer blacks. It is also thinner, so it looks a little more refined than LCD. But hey, who is complaining when you can mount your TV on the wall and it only sticks out 3 or 4 inches?

In case you are wondering, you can buy a flat screen TV–3D, Internet-ready, super big or super flat, with your prepaid MasterCard, online, or at any store that accepts debit Mastercard.

You have probably heard of a reloadable prepaid debit card also called a prepaid card or prepaid credit card. These cards are typically MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express branded cards that you can load or deposit money onto and then can spend the amount that is on the card.

In this economy, many people are increasingly seeking better ways to manage their money and many have found that a prepaid debit card is a good alternative. While a prepaid debit card may not be the solution for everyone, there are many people who find that having a prepaid card saves them money and provides a convenience.

Why Would Someone Want a Prepaid Card?

It is easy to get a prepaid card. You don’t have to have good credit or even any credit history, and you don’t need a bank account. You simply need to be a resident of the US, provide personal information to pass a mandatory identity check, and you can get a card. In this respect, no one is denied a card due to their credit rating or past banking history.

A Cheaper Alternative

Prepaid debit cards can be cheaper alternative for many individuals currently cashing their check and transacting in cash. Many check cashers charge anywhere from 2-5% of the amount of the check to cash a check. And, if someone doesn’t have a bank account, checks, or a payment card, it is not only inconvenient to try to pay bills, but also expensive. Paying for a cashiers check or money order to pay each bill can quickly add up.

Less Risk of Overspending

For parents, a prepaid card may be the ideal solution for their college-bound kid. There is no risk of overspending since it is very difficult to put the card into a negative balance, and there is no risk of creating a bad credit history. Plus, a prepaid card can be a great way to teach budgeting. After all, how many of us are still paying off the credit card debt that we quickly incurred during our college years?

Budgeting Tool

Some people like having a prepaid card to use as a way to budget for non-essential items. Saving up for a vacation or that coveted flat screen TV? An easy way is to have a portion of your paycheck put on the card each pay period, and then you are able to use the funds once you have enough saved. For vacationers, a prepaid card may even be seen as a safer way to travel with money. Travelers can access cash at millions of ATMs worldwide, the card may be used anywhere the brand (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, etc.) is accepted, and if the card is lost or stolen, the traveler’s liability is reduced to what is on the card versus what is in your bank account. Plus, the cardholder is covered by MasterCard liability protection and lost cards can quickly be replaced.

While prepaid cards are not for everyone and there are fees associated with use of the card, for many, they are a good solution. MiCash offers a low cost prepaid MasterCard to meet this need. MiCash prepaid cards are a good value and provide the convenience, cost savings and safety that many are looking for in a card solution. MiCash is continually looking for ways to provide value to our cardholders and takes pride in providing excellent customer service. If you think a prepaid card might be the answer for you, please consider our prepaid card.

Paying at the Pump

Everybody by now is familiar with paying at the pump by swiping a credit card, debit card, or prepaid MasterCard card or Prepaid Visa card. What you might not realize is that many gas station pumps are set up to place a “hold” of $50 or even $75 on a gas purchase, which means that your transaction will temporarily be higher than the amount of gas you have purchased. For example, if your gas purchase was $25 at the pump, another $50 might be added to the purchase, making the withdrawal request of funds from your card $75, but only long enough to confirm the actual purchase amount. At that point, the “hold” amount of $50 would be put back onto your card. This process can take a few minutes to as long as 48 hours.  If you aren’t aware of this fact, you could drive away thinking you had that $50 available on your card, and be upset when your card is denied for lack of funds an hour later when you are out shopping.

The bottom line is that the $50 hold amount is returned to you electronically behind the scenes. But you have to have that extra $50 in your account to cover the hold amount, otherwise your transaction could be denied at the pump. For example, if you only had $50 on your card, and go to buy $25 worth of gas, you won’t have the $25 + $50 ($75) to let the transaction go through. So, you could be frustrated.

Why do these holds exist? The reason is that until the transaction is processed fully processed, being electronically transmitted over the MasterCard or Visa network, through a bank, and back to the merchant, there is a delay. Your prepaid card company won’t know exactly how much you spent until the gas station processes its receipts and submits the purchase to the card company for payment. And so the prepaid card company preauthorizes the sale and also adds $50 to cover the full cost of a tankful of gas, and credits it back to your account once it knows the exact amount spent. Again, this could take a few minutes or two days. Until the money is credited back, it’s like you don’t have it in your account.

What can you do? Instead of paying at the pump, take your card into the station first. When you give your card to the attendant inside, the cashier should not preauthorize your card. Because they are holding your card, they don’t need to. After you pump your gas, the attendant will ring up the purchase for the exact amount spent. With no preauthorization of $50 to $100, there won’t be a hold on your funds. To be sure, it is less convenient for you to have to go inside, but if your balance is low on your card, it is worth doing. If you have plenty of funds on your card to cover the preauthorization, then you can benefit from the convenience of swiping at the pump.

Target + prepaid cards. Yes!

Target carries prepaid debit cards

It’s not surprising to learn that Target sells prepaid cards, both prepaid debit cards and a wide variety of prepaid gift cards.  Target Corporation is the fourth largest retailer in the United States. This well-known discount chain operates 1556 stores in 47 states. You can find prepaid cards about every other register in the long line of checkout stations. These cards are clustered together on “j-cards” hangers, which enable the fronts of the cards to be well displayed and easily accessible.

Advice about prepaid cards

What you may not realize about the prepaid cards you get in a store is that you will have to pay an activation fee to use the card, just like you would with most any prepaid card, including cards that you can also get online. This is a one-time fee that helps the card company cover the costs of doing business. Of course, because prepaid cards are not tied to a bank account and are easy to obtain even if you have a bad credit rating, they do have a small fee associated with purchases. So for example if you go grocery shopping and spend $49, you can expect to add one dollar as a POS (point of sale) fee when you check out. The problem with store-bought cards is that you can’t really research the fee structure of that particular card, because the j-card cardboard package the card comes in can only hold so much “fine print.” However, on this site, you can read everything you need to know about the MiCash MasterCard before you click on the Get the Card now button and have one sent to you for no charge.

Greendot Moneypaks at Target

Of course as this site explains in several places, you need a way to add money to your new prepaid cards. Fortunately, Greendot MoneyPaks available at Target are a way to transfer funds onto your card.

Target Store Locator

Target store finder? Terget store finder? Targget store finder? Or do you say “Tarh-get? However you Google it, Target does provide an online store locator widget. And it is right here.

Why was my debit card denied?

This is a question you may have and the answer might be one of several reasons.

1. Insufficient funds in your debit card account. This is perhaps the most obvious reason for a decline at the point of transaction. What you might not know is that banks used to be able to allow the transaction to go through even if you didn’t have enough funds in your bank account to cover it. They could then charge a fat overdraft fee, as much as $30 a pop, and you could be hit many times before you realized your error. Now, you have to opt in to overdraft protection. So why do it? Don’t.
2. Your bank could be doing a fraud check on your account. This freezes all transactions until you contact the bank and verify recent charges. They are actually freezing your card to protect you from a thief quickly draining your account with purchases you did not make because your card was stolen.
3. Debit Card is expired. Check your expiration date. This is a commons scenario if you didn’t realize that your card was expired. Perhaps you received a new card in the mail but tossed it thinking it was junk mail.
4. Computer glitch. If you own a personal computer, you know how computers can sometimes hang up or otherwise have a hick up. Even card reader terminals and the computers attached to them can have a glitch that requires a reboot. Sometimes the glitch is somewhere else along the technology chain. This is why it is good to have a couple of different cards at your disposal or some cash.

Any hope many first-time home buyers had of receiving an $8,000 tax credit died along with the  jobs bill that was threatened with a filibuster in the senate last week by 40 Senate Republicans and one Democrat. Bill H.R. 4213 went down by a vote of 57 – 41 in the Senate, failing to reach the 60 votes required to end a filibuster. This effectively killed an amendment to the jobs bill that would have extended the first time homebuyer’s tax credit from its June 30th deadline to September 30th, for any pending sales now under contract. It also killed the extension of unemployment benefits, although lawmakers will probably revive that piece of the bill and attach it to another bill.

Thousands of houses contracted as “short sales” (where the buyer is selling the house for less than what he or she paid for it) and first time home buyer sales will likely fall apart, and no doubt the end of this tax credit will dampen any real estate recovery.  Writes the Associate Press:

The death of the measure meant that more than 200,000 people a week would lose their jobless benefits because they would be unable to reapply for additional tiers of benefits enacted since 2008. People seeking the popular homebuyer tax credit would be denied a paperwork extension approved by the Senate last week. And state and local governments would lose subsidies on bonds they issue to finance infrastructure projects.

If you aren’t buying a home, why should you care? Because the collapse of the housing bubble triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression (and it’s a depression to you if you’re out of a job)! Economists believe the best chance the economy has of turning around is for the real estate market to not only stabilize, but for housing prices to rise. And collapsed home sales mean more houses on the market and lower selling prices.

The Washington Post reports that most government benefits payments will be made by direct deposit by 2013 in a cost savings move.

Americans who enroll for benefits payments on or after March 1, 2011 will receive them by direct deposit or be enrolled in the government’s Direct Express Debit MasterCard program if they do not provide bank account information. Beneficiaries now receiving payments will switch to direct deposit or the debit card by March 1, 2013, after agencies inform them of the changes, according to the proposed rule change set for publication in Monday’s Federal Register. About one million Americans already receive benefit payments through the Direct Express card, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Officials argue that direct deposits or the debit cards ensure the safe, quick delivery of funds…”

The government will save millions of dollars with this move. The unbanked who previously spent money and time cashing government checks will also benefit.

Isn’t it time you considered FREE direct deposit to a prepaid card?

Using prepaid cards to gamble on offshore Internet gambling websites is not allowed under new U.S. legal rules that went into effect June 1, 2010. It is now up to banks and prepaid card companies to enforce the law, known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The law is specifies that card issuers must police “illegal online gambling” transactions, but the Off Shore Gaming Association points out that the government has not provided clear guidance about what that exactly means.

It is important to keep in mind that the UIGEA was not written to go after any player sending money offshore or receiving payouts from gaming companies. Instead, it enforces steep penalties on financial institutions for allowing ‘illegal Internet gambling’ transactions to occur.

Some further background from Wikipedia.