Prepaid Debit Card Article #1:
Prepaid Debit Cards Safeguard Your Money
Prepaid debit cards offer an amazing safeguard against identity theft for purchases online. Avoid the risk of someone stealing your credit card or bank information by using prepaid debit cards to isolate your core financial accounts and identity.
Prepaid debit cards work as a buffer between your bank account and online retailers. That is, the card used to make the online purchase is limited to the amount of funds you place on the card. There is no way to relate or link prepaid debit cards to the source of the funds used to load the card. After using prepaid debit cards for online transactions, the card acts like a bank account with a zero balance. This feature of prepaid debit cards is what makes it a great way to protect your money online.
Prepaid debit cards allow you to sign up for product trials offered on the web. Once you are through with the trial period you can of course discard the card safely knowing that it has served its purpose. This of course is safer than using your primary credit card to sign up for such offers and running the risk of exposing your primary bank or credit card account to some mischievous hacker.
When using the Internet there are many deals on electronics, travel, books, and professional services. Many of these bargains require a credit or prepaid debit cards. These electronic payments mean that you run the risk of exposing your money accounts to the online world. Putting prepaid debit cards between your bank and the Internet is certainly a way to assure the protection of your money.
Whether you’re a student, tourist, or simply a person that wants to protect your money, prepaid debit cards can be a real convenient way to maintain security and peace of mind.
Vetulus Pectoris Societas (Poor Souls Society) 
Prepaid cards have now replaced travellers cheques as the most popular way to withdraw money and make purchases abroad. are good examples of the genre which are are free to load here and use abroad with very competitive exchange rates, but most others impose various fees.
Travellers who decide to use prepaid currency cards bought from travel agents are being shortchanged when they withdraw money while on holiday abroad, and with some, subsequentlywhen they are at home!
Staff representatives in high street travel agents are encouraged to earn commission to sell currency and prepaid cards, but competitive these cards are not with rates which are not much better than their standard rates for cash and travellers cheques.
Thousands of customers who are with Co-op, First Choice, Thomas Cook and Thomson will be hit with a range of sneaky fees, including being charged €2 each time they withdraw from an ATM
The Thomas Cook prepaid Mastercard, for example, charges a ‘monthly inactivity’ fee after 15 months of €3 per month, and a negative balance fee of €15 if you spend a few pence more than you had loaded, and if you aim to make a top-up deposit on a credit card you will notice that they now impose a minimum fee of £5.95. So that means for a top-up deposit payment of £50 you pay a fee of nearly 12% !!
Bob from the comparison site Travelsupermarket.com, says: ‘Do not fall for the hard sell from travel agents. Savvy customers should opt for prepaid cards offering topexchange rates, no ATM fees and no charges for purchases.’ He says the FairFX card generally offers the best exchange rates, but it charges €1.50 for cash machine withdrawals, however the Caxton Fx card is free
The Caxton FX and FairFX cards can only be bought online respectively. But allow up to ten working days for your card to arrive in the post.
If you decide to take your credit or debit card to use abroad can also be expenive unless you choose the right card. credit cards have no fees for withdrawing cash or making purchases abroad.
But remember use a credit card at a cash machine and you are immediately charged interest on the amount you withdraw.
Most debit cards have fees for using cash machines and making purchases abroad – withdrawing £100 four times would cost £19.96 with Lloyds, £19 with NatWest and £18.96 with Santander (except with the Santander Zero account).
In conclusion When you are choosing where to buy currency online, you can usually get a better rate and lower usage charges through companies such as Caxton FX and FairFX
Here is a new peppy 1-minute video giving people advice on the responsible use of debit, ATM and credit cards.
“Card Tricks Revealed: How Not To Burn Money”