Fees & Charges:  

Prepaid credit cards generally have a single set of fees that they charge for various services. READYdebit Visa breaks that pattern by offering two distinct service packages that they refer to as basic and select. In determining which of these programs is better, it’s necessary to compare your personal spending patterns to the offerings of the cards. Our feature matrix compares the select version to other cards because its features come closer to offering a level playing field for that purpose. Here we’ll give details regarding the differences in the two plans.

Both the READYdebit Visa basic and select options come with a $9.95 activation fee that is charged the first time money is deposited to the card account. After that there is an $8.95 monthly fee for the select plan but the monthly fee for the basic plan is just $4.95. There’s no additional charge for signature transaction purchases with either card but with the basic card there is a $ .95 transaction fee for PIN purchases; that is to say purchases that you make using the card as a debit card using the PIN rather than your signature. So if you conduct many PIN transactions, the select card will be the better choice. On the other hand, if you don’t make such purchases, the basic card may be better.

The biggest single advantage of opting for the select plan is if you want to pay bills online. With the select plan, unlimited online bill paying is free for customers who make recurring direct deposits. It’s $4.00 per month if direct deposit is not used. With the basic plan, there is a $4.00 monthly fee for online bill paying service whether direct deposit is used or not.

There are just two other differences between the basic and select programs. ATM balance inquiries are free on the select plan but cost $ .50 on the basic. Also, you can add a secondary card on the select plan for an additional $10.00. An additional card is not available with the basic plan. Other fees are the same and are detailed on our side-by-side review page.