Pay monthly

Prepaid cards are not eligible for protection under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Pay monthly prepaid cards

A prepaid card is a payment card that can be pre-loaded with money. Once you've loaded cash onto your pay monthly card, you can then use it to shop online or withdraw money from a cash machine just as you would with a credit or debit card.

You pay a monthly fee for the card but in return you pay lower transaction or cash withdrawal fees than you would with a pay-as-you-go prepaid card, for example.

Open to everyone

The banks and other lenders behind many of the best credit cards on the market today will only accept customers with good credit scores.

But the advantage of a pay monthly prepaid card is that acceptance is guaranteed so long as the card company can verify your identity using your personal details.

Some cards can even be used to re-build your credit rating by allowing you to borrow the annual fee and pay it back in monthly instalments, thereby giving you a repayment record that will be put on your file by the credit reference agencies.

Budgeting

While pay monthly prepaid cards can be used as an alternative to a credit or debit card, they don't allow you to spend more than you have loaded on to the card. Prepaid cards of this kind are therefore helpful for anyone keen to stick to a budget.

What's more, unlike cash, pay monthly prepaid cards can also be cancelled and replaced easily – making them a safer option than carrying around lots of cash.

Online shopping

If you regularly shop online, you might not like the idea of sharing your credit and debit card details with retailers over the internet due to concerns about identity theft or money being taken from your account. But pay monthly prepaid cards offer a foolproof way to limit your exposure to fraud because they are not linked to a bank or credit card account. And that makes them a very secure way to shop online. 

Other benefits

Many pay monthly prepaid cards give you rewards or cashback on your spending. You might, for example, get up to 10% cashback on purchases at major retailers – both in store and online – or free access to exclusive discount voucher codes.

Some cards also come with one or more companion cards, meaning you can share money with friends or family anywhere in the world. 

But the main drawback to pay monthly prepaid cards is the monthly fee, which can be more than £12 a month. However, the fees for making cash withdrawals are generally lower than those charged on pay-as-you-go cards, while purchases are mostly free of charge.

That’s why pay monthly prepaid cards are a better choice for people making at least six purchases and one cash withdrawal a month.

Find the best deal

Compare a range of pay monthly prepaid cards with MoneySuperMarket and pick the right deal to suit you.