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Wal-Mart Has The Best Pre-Paid Debit Card

Some readers trashed us for recommending the UPside Visa prepaid debit card to keep college students supplied with cash and avoid credit card problems.

The fees that always accompany prepaid debit cards were a big complaint, even though the UPside Visa is one of the cheapest out there.

But we’ve just got to give a big shout out to the best prepaid debit card around, the Wal-Mart MoneyCard.

It’s always had the lowest fees, and the retail giant recently made it even better by reducing the cost of:

Opening an account from $8.94 to $3.

Loading cash onto the card at a Wal-Mart store from $4.64 to $3.

Monthly maintenance fees from $4.94 to $3.

And here’s what we like the most about the MoneyCard.

Wal-Mart will waive all of those fees for customers that have all or a portion of their paycheck direct deposited into their debit card account.

There’s never been a transaction fee — the $1 or $2 most prepaid debit cards charge every time you buy something.

The cards are issued by GE Money Bank, so deposits are FDIC insured.

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  1. Nate said:
    on April 6th at 02:51 pm

    That sounds like fee-city to me. How many different fees and stipulations is that? I thought they rolled-back prices, not rolled you over with them!Maybe if they are going to college they could be smart enough not to get into CC problems and not to pay fees for using their own money?

  2. John Catanach said:
    on April 6th at 11:35 pm

    Lots of Fees but if you cannot get a credit card or you are not good at budgeting sounds like the right kind of card for any one.

  3. James said:
    on April 7th at 07:44 am

    I think most banks and credit unions will allow you to have several debit cards on an account, or to create a separate account with only a small minimum. Wouldn’t it be better to do something like that for your student? My C.U. allows me to transfer electronically from one account to another, without fees for doing so.

  4. Patrice Peyret said:
    on April 7th at 09:24 am

    Dear CardMogul,

    You are getting your maths wrong: The UPside Visa card has an offering for teens (called UPside Clear) and one for adults (called UPside Life) that have $0 monthly fee, whether you load payroll money in the card or not. The Wal-Mart card is $3 / month. 0 versus 3.

  5. Carl said:
    on April 7th at 09:59 am

    The Upside Visa card for credit-challenged adults is offered on upsidecard.com and it has no monthly or annual fee, it’s way cheaper than the Walmart card! I think the author of this article must have been confused with the other site Upsideclear or Upsidevisa.com that are for parents or teens…(and may come with a small fee).

  6. Bob said:
    on April 7th at 02:45 pm

    The MoneyManager card if you have direct deposit has no fees except a 50 cent billpay fee and includes unlimited completely free ATM withdrawals at any Allpoint ATM. No startup fee, no monthly fee, and FDIC insured. Only direct deposit currently since their focus is payroll but cash reloads are coming. If you have direct deposit this is the best card out there.

    http://www.moneymanagercard.com/pricing.php

    If you don’t have direct deposit but your check is issued through a local bank that you can use then the next best is the Infusion card because reloads are $3.50 versus $4.95 for Greendot and there is no monthly fee or startup fee.

    http://www.infusioncard.com/terms.php

  7. CardMogul said:
    on April 8th at 09:56 am

    Just to clarify: There are lots of UPside cards. Here’s the link to the UPside Prepaid Visa Card that we recommened for college students: http://www.upsidevisa.com/

    MoneyManager is an intriguing card, but it’s a payroll card. You can’t get one yourself. You can only get one if your company is willing to use it in lieu of a paycheck or direct deposit into a checking account. In fact, you have to apply for the card through your payroll or human resources department. That’s a big catch.

    And we don’t think it’s a good idea to give your college student a debit card on your primary checking account. The potential for problems is just too great.

  8. Alan said:
    on April 8th at 10:07 am

    Thanks for sharing. It is useful for me.

  9. Bob said:
    on April 9th at 04:47 pm

    Sorry Card Mogul but you are wrong about that.

    You can get a MoneyManager card yourself. You do not have to apply for one through your payroll department. They want that business but will send you one directly and you just fill out the direct deposit form and you are good to go.

    Just email them, thats what I did. They are adding cash reloads later this year.

  10. CardMogul said:
    on April 9th at 05:03 pm

    Bob: I’ll take your word for that. I was just going by what it says on the MoneyManager web site:

    “How do I get a card?
    “Ask your supervisor, Human Resources, or Payroll department for an Enrollment Form.”

  11. Bob said:
    on April 11th at 04:55 pm

    No offense but thats the difference between those that write about these and those that use them.

    Upside and Walmart cards are 2 of the better ones all around. If you don’t have direct deposit and your check is issued from an out of state bank the Walmart deal is the best one since you’d most likely incur a check cashing fee (never more than $3 through a Certegy service) and a reload fee otherwise.

    If someone belongs to AAA they have a Visa Travel Money card with free reloads and a one time $5 purchase fee. The card says travel card but once registered/personalized online it works almost anywhere

    The worst cards have fees for everything and charge you a surcharge to add money even for direct deposit and then charge to get the money off the card. There will always be some fee to add cash since its a reverse credit transaction but not having an atm network and adding a surcharge for using one is a complete rip off. Other than MoneyManager there are a few Bank payroll cards such as Bank of America’s CashPay that also have free atm withdrawals at least one a week anyway.

  12. Jo said:
    on July 3rd at 08:33 am

    Many have no credit to use a bank or a credit union, much less qualify for a credit card…using the Walmart debit card makes it easier for them to pay bills online, get gasoline at three in the morning, and budget what they spend by putting exactly the amount they can afford on the card. Lets get real here…there are a lot of people out there stuck in the middle because of bad choices or losing a job or whatever.I am talking about the people who work, but do not make enough to qualify for credit or co-signed a brother’s car note who later defaulted after you lost your job…Are there that many people out of touch with the Middle Americans?
    I would hope that we can all see past our own noses long enough to appreciate the citizens of this country who work hard their whole lives, but do not enjoy the privileges of insurance, or jobs that provide paid vacations each year. The Walmart debit card is for these people…

  13. vickie adkisson said:
    on October 8th at 01:55 pm

    what a joke we (my husband and I)went to wal mart and got one of the reloadable visa cards the one that you get two cards,one for the student to use,the other for parents to keep in order to add money when she needs it.after a few weeks wait we recieved the personal CARD….yes one card that the balance from the temporary card we had sent to our child had been automatically transferred to ,our card ,which totally defeated the purpose of having the cards in the first place, thank you very much walmart and GE money bank trying to correct the problem by phone is the biggest joke of all. think very hard before buying these cards the fees are a very small part of the problem.

  14. Larae said:
    on November 20th at 09:37 am

    The Upside card is a rip-off because anytime something goes on with your account, you have to pay $3.00 to talk to someone. I’m disputting a bogus internet charge right now and after paying $9.00 total to talk to a customer service rep, I’m now being told that the only way to dispute a charge is for your card to reported as lost/stolen and then you pay $9.95 for a new one. So I will have spend $20.00 on a bogus unauthorized charge. NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE FRIENDLY AT ALL!!!