What is a Prepaid Debit Card?

In the financial market, there are a number of different cards that do exist for various purposes. The most common form of cards that are currently available in the market is commonly referred to as credit cards. The only problem with credit cards is that only those that have a strong credit rating are able to apply for these cards. If you ever flick on the business channel from time to time or get to read any economical articles, one of the first things that you will realize is that experts advise people to avoid the usage of credit cards altogether. As many of you may already be aware, the world is going through a global credit crisis. The main reason behind this is that more and more people are becoming solely reliable on buying things on credit which they in actual fact can not afford.

So what is a solution? One solution that many experts have recommended on a mass scale is to make effective use of prepaid debit cards. The great thing about prepaid debit cards is that one can only spend money that they actually have, which is the complete opposite to credit cards altogether. One of the major benefits over opting for a prepaid debit card is that there is no chance what so ever that you will find yourself in a position where you are in debt. Now you might be asking yourself how that is possible. This is where understanding what a prepaid debit card exactly is, is very important. With credit cards, you are given a set limit which you are allowed to use on a monthly basis. Even if you do not have money in the account, you will be allowed to make purchases from that particular card through the credit limit provided.

This is not the case with a prepaid debit card. You can only use this card up to the amount that is in the card itself. What that basically means in layman terminology is that if you have a balance of $1000 on your debit card, you can only buy something that is $1000 or less. Anything above this amount will be declined as you would not have sufficient funds for that particular transaction. The other benefit of using prepaid debit cards is that one can not get carried away by spending money on items that are unnecessary.

At the current moment in time, there are a large number of prepaid debit card offers available in the market. Seeing as more banks are trying to get people to spend their own money rather than resorting to credit cards instead, there are a number of generous offers being offered in relation to prepaid debit cards. Offers are known to include things such as cash backs, discounts on certain purchases etc. Before you decide to commit yourself to any sort of prepaid debit card, it is very important that you take your time in reading the fine print agreement.