MasterCard Gift Card Versus Visa Gift Card - Prepaid Debit Cards

A growing trend among the American public is the use of pre-paid debit and gift cards. Like any prepaid card, they are ideal to give as gifts or for personal or business use. Individuals can benefit from using these cards because unlike regular credit cards, you'll never get a bill and you'll never pay interest. Instead of giving a gift card to one specific place, prepaid gift cards are great because they can be used at millions of locations. Here is a look at what the cards entail.

MasterCard and Visa offer both prepaid gift cards and prepaid general purpose cards. These cards are both quick and convenient, for many they are safer than carrying cash and they are much more flexible than gift cards that are meant only for specific merchants and vendors. MasterCard and Visa prepaid gift and general purpose cards are accepted anywhere debit MasterCard and Visa cards are accepted and they can be used for both online and offline purchases.

Where Can You Buy Them?

Gift cards and general purpose cards for MasterCard can be purchased at both financial institutions and participating retailers. Oftentimes you can find them at kiosks in the mall or even online. The same goes for Visa. The visa website also offers a Gift Card Locater to help find a provider near you.

How Do They Work?

For both MasterCard and Visa, when first purchasing your prepaid card, specify the amount you want on the card. As you make purchases with the card, funds will automatically be deducted; so you'll never be able to over withdraw the card. If you wish to make a purchase that exceeds your card's current amount, you'll need an alternate form of payment to take care of the remaining balance. The card will only allow you to spend the amount that is currently on it.

You can check your card balance at any time by visiting either the MasterCard or Visa website or calling their respective toll free numbers. At this time you can also add more funds to the card if you wish to do so. Many of the cards offered are reloadable so you can add funds whenever you want. It makes shopping both easy and convenient.

Features:

Prepaid cards are very similar to regular MasterCard and Visa credit cards in that they also offer zero liability in most circumstances. Zero liability means that if the card is lost or stolen, you will not be held responsible for unauthorized use. There are certain conditions to the zero liability but most users should have no problems.

- If you are a MasterCard user whose account has maintained good standing with MasterCard and you haven't reported unauthorized charges more than twice in a 12 month span, then you won't be liable for unauthorized activity on the card. If you do not meet these standards then you may not get your money back.

- If you are a Visa card holder, all card holders will get their money returned on unauthorized purchases except for the following: those who purchase the card outside the U.S. and any transactions involving ATM transactions or PIN transactions not processed by Visa.

MasterCard offers another interesting feature for the prepaid gift card: they let you individualize the card. If you're using it for business purposes, you can add your business logo to the card. There are many other options for individualizing the card as well.

Possible Disadvantages:

There are a few things that shoppers may consider disadvantages, but they are vey easy to remedy.

- It's good to always know your current balance before going shopping; that way you can know exactly how much money you have to spend because many retailers will not have the capability to tell you what your card balance is.

- As you make purchases, it's important to hold onto the card in case you need to return an item. Upon return, merchants will want to swipe the card so that they can put the return amount back on it. If you do not have the card at the time of return, you may not be able to return the item for its full value.

It's very important to hang onto the card even if the balance is $0.00; you never know if you'll have to return an item bought. Having your account number and the toll free number handy at all times will help you to keep track of your current balance so that you don't get caught overspending.

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While both MasterCard and Visa do have slight differences for some of the features on their prepaid cards, they are pretty much the same. No matter which company you choose to go with, pre paid debit cards are fantastic for gift giving, traveling, business expenses, and payroll-pretty much anything and everything you can think of. With a pre paid gift card, you'll never be short on cash again.

Sources:

MasterCard

Visa