Fees & Charges:  

NetSpend offers two different fee schedules for their prepaid Visa card. The first is known as Pay-As-You-Go while the other is called Fee Advantage. The amount of usage of particular card features will determine which plan is best for any given consumer so comparing your actual usage patterns to the offering is necessary to assure getting the best deal.

With both the Pay-As-You-Go and Fee Advantage rate plans, the first fee that is charged is a $9.95 activation fee. That is typical for prepaid card. With Pay-As-You-Go, there is no monthly service fee. There are charges, however, for every purchase that is made. For signature purchases, the fee is $1.00 and for PIN purchases it’s $2.00. The difference in the two types of purchases is simply selecting debit or credit at the check stand. If the card reader offers the credit option, it’s advantageous to select it. If it offers only the debit option, the higher $2.00 fee will be assessed.

There is a $9.95 monthly fee associated with the Fee Advantage schedule. The advantage is that there are no individual transaction fees as there are with the Pay-As-You-Go plan. It’s pretty easy to see that if very few transactions are made monthly, Pay-As-You-Go can be less expensive. For those who make more than five to ten purchases monthly, depending on whether signature or PIN transactions, the Fee Advantage plan is the clear winner.

Other fees associated with the netSpend Visa card are the same regardless of the fee schedule chosen. There is an inactivity fee of $5.95 per month if there are no debit or credit transactions or balance inquiries within any 90-day period. NetSpend refers to this as an Account Maintenance fee. Like other prepaid cards, account management is expected to be done and the company charges $5.95 to send a paper statement. Cash withdrawals at an ATM or from a distributor’s cashier cost $2.50 and balance inquiries by ATM or telephone are $ .50. Replacement of a lost or stolen card costs $9.95.