sad

[debit.servus]

There is one called "ReadyCard" which is sold at airports to pay baggage fees, works just like a debit card for a single $5 fee. It's as close as I found to directly loading cash onto a card.

 

[broken ed]

There is one called "ReadyCard" which is sold at airports to pay baggage fees, works just like a debit card for a single $5 fee. It's as close as I found to directly loading cash onto a card.

I checked into ReadyCard; for what I want to do the fees are much too high.

BlueBird monthly fee: $0.00, ATM Withdrawal $0.00 (at MoneyPass ATM)
ReadyCard monthly: $4.95, ATM Withdrawal $1.95 (plus third-party fees)

I'm sure ReadyCard is more widely accepted, being a Master Card, but me - wanting to use a prepaid debibet  card 4 or 5 times a year BlueBird seems it would better for me.

Of I don't have the card yet and you never know until you start using it.

 

[broken ed]

I checked into ReadyCard; for what I want to do, the fees are much too high.


BlueBird monthly fee: $0.00, ATM Withdrawal $0.00 (at MoneyPass ATM) Load cash $0.00 (at Walmart)
ReadyCard monthly: $4.95, ATM Withdrawal $1.95 (plus third-party fees) Load cash $1.00


I'm sure ReadyCard is more widely accepted, being a Master Card, but for me - wanting to use a prepaid debit card 4 or 5 times a year BlueBird seems it would be better. But thanks for the thought.


Of course I don't have the card yet and you never know until you start using it.

 

[RoamerRV428]

did you check your bank?

We have 'money cards' from our bank.

They are not a debit card. They are not a credit card.

You load your own money onto this card from your checking or savings account. This card is NOT directly tied to your checking or savings so no 'extra' money can ever be hit on it.

I keep our card balance at 0. My kid says, mom I want to buy an Xbox game for $49.99. OK....I go online into my bank accounts, transfer $55.00 onto my card in a flash from checking.....she then buys her xbox game.....it hits the card instantly at, say, $52.44 with taxes , THEN I go right back into my bank account and transfer the remainder, the $2.45 extra back into my checking acct. putting my card value down to 0 again. No fees ever etc.

I love this option. I feel safe using it all the time when needed. No one can ever hit my card for any money over the amt that is on the card at any time, ever.

So if you can get this option from your own bank......call the pharmacy company and get an informed charging schedule from them on exact amts they will bill on a known date it will hit your card, ask for TOTAL amt they are to charge, go onto your card, load it with that amt. of money and it will charge thru. If they try to hit over that amt it will not go thru.

now, I don't know if this will help you at all but I love my money cards from our bank. Debit cards are attached to your checking acct and anyone using your card number can hit ya like crazy, a credit card isn't tied to your accounts but it has a large limit so fraud and overcharging can hit ya big on that also.

but my money card is controlled by me only. Not attached to any accounts. I transfer my monies when needed and use the heck out of this card in safety actually. I love my bank money card

just throwing out a suggestion if it might help ya.

just saying this for you if your bank offers any other options like mine does.

 

[WanderingRose]

One obvious thing you can do to be better informed about upcoming prescription charges, would be to call or email the pharmaceutical company when you request your refills.

I might get a small notebook for just this purpose, to keep a record you can refer back to.

Ask them what the scrips will be filled with, and the cost to you.

Then, you will be prepared.

If you have only a certain amount on your card, and the company is unable to process your prescriptions because of an insufficient balance, that could present a delay for you in getting your medications.

 

[broken ed]

We have 'money cards' from our bank.

They are not a debit card.  They are not a credit card.

You load your own money onto this card from your checking or savings account.  This card is NOT directly tied to your checking or savings so no 'extra' money can ever be hit on it.

I'm sure you're very happy with this feature, neither of my two banks offer, or even heard of such product. But thank you for bring it up. I'd be happy too, and my problem would be solved.

 

[broken ed]

Thanks WanderingRose, "be better informed about upcoming prescription charges" that's part of the problem, nothing about my prescriptions has changed, in fact it hasn't changed in years, and you can phone and email - even chat, but it won't help you with prices or changes. The company is simply not going to tell, they're more interested in making money.

"get a small notebook for just this purpose, to keep a record" I'm a record keeper, but it doesn't help with current charges. In fact I have documents from the insurance company and them doing something completely different. I'm such a record keeper I can even tell you what a jar of peanut butter cost at Walmart back in March of 2017.

"what the scrips will be filled with, and the cost to you" You can talk to them but they won't tell you. They say they don't know until it's filled - which means it's shipped and my credit card has been billed. And yes, all of you've would be saying "well, I won't do business with such a company" and you'd be right. I tried but I'm locked in through my wife's job.

"If you have only a certain amount on your card, and the company is unable to process your prescriptions because of an insufficient balance, that could present a delay for you in getting your medications." I wish that was the only problem with this company. They lost my drugs, lost my prescription, and transferred my medication to a third party carrier, which lost my meds. It's hard to explain just how bad they are at what they do. But think about it, this is why they lock people in, otherwise they wouldn't have any customers.

By the way, a jar of Great Value 40 oz peanut butter cost $4.37 in March, 2017, today it would cost you $4.68, but it reached a high in Sept 2019 at $5.36. Like many of you, I'm on a fixed income so yup, I keep track of stuff.

 

[Riverman]

One of the best prepaid Visa card is Open Sky Visa.

It's from a real bank, sign up online, pay whatever you want your limit to be (they have rules)

Use it like any Visa, and pay your mailed or online bill every month.

EASY.....

https://www.openskycc.com/education/opensky-cards

 

[broken ed]

Thanks Riverman , I check on OpenSky and the fees are too high for me to use Annual Fee $35

 

[broken ed]

Update...

I have learned that pre-paid debit cards are a dirty solution to a dirty problem. I have ordered and received a American Express BlueBird card at no cost.

You can add money at any Walmart location with no fee if it's in cash at a register. You can withdrawal money at any MoneyPass ATM, again with no fee. I still have yet to test these transactions.

You can deposit checks with the mobile app. This is no fee if you're willing to wait 10 days, so I was thinking great, that works for me. I have good credit and a checking account, plus I'm in no rush. The thing you notice when you download and install the app is that it needs a lot of permissions. Location, phone, contacts and so on. I don't think this app should need my contacts, but you can turn this off in settings. So I wrote a check for $20.00 to myself just to test the procedure. But using the app, a third party back handles the deposit and you have a whole new set of terms and conditions. I didn't have to read far to not agree. There is no good reason to keep the app on my phone if I can deposit checks, I can do everything I want on the BlueBird website, so I deleted it.

Next time I go to a Walmart I'll see if I can deposit cash. I'll just get cash back after a purchase and then turn around and ask to have it added to the BlueBird card. Should be no fee on either side, no extra permissions, no agreeing to more terms and conditions.

I still think this card is going to work for me and for the intended purpose. One interesting feature that I didn't realize when I applied for the card is that you can create a "SetAside" account. If I understand this correctly, you can move money to this account and it will be protected from spending and charges. So I could - say place $50.00 on the card, move $30.00 to the SetAside account, and spend $18.00 at the mail order pharmacy and they shouldn't be able to tap into the balance in the SetAside account. You can move the money back to the card from the SetAside account any time with no fee from the web or app.

This card allows all or part of direct deposit of paycheck or government checks, including SS checks. For me personlly I don't trust any of these pre-paid debit cards enough to give them access to my income, but that's me. And recap, I really don't trust the app with giving all the permissions it needs. I certainly don't agree to the third party bank American Express is working with. But to show up at a Walmart 4 or 5 times a year and put $20.00 or $30.00 on the card and use this card 4 times a year with a dubious mail order pharmacy, it looks like it will work.

Hope this help anyone thinking about a pre-paid debit card, if you don't have good credit or a bank account you have some hard choices to make.

 

[WanderingRose]

How will you know what to have available on your card, tho, to pay for your prescriptions?

 

[broken ed]

How will you know what to have available on your card, tho, to pay for your prescriptions?

I can log into the BlueBird website to check balance, including from the web browser on my phone. But this isn't for everyday high use or lot of transactions. It's pretty straight forward. I know what my meds should cost every three months. I know how much I put on the card. Done.

I could run a spreadsheet to keep track, but I don't think I'll need it.

I have thought I might like to use this card for some, very few, on line purchases, just because it isn't linked to my credit cards or bank accounts. And that would make it a bit more complicated. But through searching all this I found; I could get more BlueBird cards (I think upto five) for different uses.

Also during my search I found "virtual debit cards" that are not physical. You can produce a single credit card number for a single transaction on the web. After the transaction is complete the card number is gone. But this does need to be linked to a bank debit card, at least from what I read.

 

[WanderingRose]

Sounds like a good plan.

If the pharmacy tries to charge more than usual, they will have to clear that with you in order for adequate funds to be available.

Problem solved. Good job!!!

 

[broken ed]

Update...

For those that are considering a pre-paid debit. I applied and received the American Express BlueBird card at no expense or fees to me. I did this on line, because if you go to Walmart there's a charge. The card came in about 6 business days, 8 days of you count the weekend.

I've loaded a small amount of money on the card also at Walmart with no fees. in addition I created a "set aside" account. A set aside account is something BlueBird offers to keep money aside (away from the card) and is not available to spend until you move it back onto the card, protecting it from spending.

As brought up in this thread, I'm sure BlueBird, which is an American Express card, is not as widely accepted as Visa and Master Card however it was accepted by my mail order prescription company'; I checked before applying for the card.

So all this was done with no fees. One thing I'll mention is funding. On the BlueBird website they claim you can go to any resister in Walmart to fund the card. I was told this changed, you must go customer service. Again, this is low use for me, so not too bad, but anyone that's been in Walmart knows just long and slow the customer service line can move in Walmart.

 

[WanderingRose]

It may also vary from one WalMart to the next.

Sounds like a good solution for you.

 

[broken ed]

It may also vary from one WalMart to the next.

Sounds like a good solution for you.

You're of course right, you have to be near a Walmart for the opportunity of waiting in line at the customer service desk. It's not clear to me if this was just the one Walmart or all. Fortunately for me I don't need to spend this money for nearly another two months, so when ever I go to a Walmart I just load some money onto the card. I'll probably put more money on the card before I spend anything using the card.

There are other ways to load money on the BlueBird card without a fee. You can deposit all or part of a paycheck or government benefits check. You can also link it to a debit card, although I'm not sure if there a fee. You can also reload cash, BlueBird claims $3.95 or less, at CVS, Walgreens, Dollar General and 7-Eleven.

I have no intention of ever paying a fee, I don't pay any fees with my two banks and not going to do it with this card. I won't be doing any link to my bank; I want this completely seperate from my accounts. And I won't be depositing any check using the BlueBird app. I see no good reason for the BlueBird app to have access to my location or personal contacts, and so I deleted the app from my phone.

 

[broken ed]

Tainted drugs: Ex-FDA inspector warns of dangers in U.S. meds made in China, India

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...fda-inspector-warns-dangers-u-s-meds-n1002971

This has hit the mainstream news. Anyone on meds for high blood pressure should check.  Really - why not go to Mexico for you prescription drugs.

One more item I should have mentioned for people considering pre-paid debit card, the BlueBird has no fee withdrawals at MoneyPass ATMs. I have not used the card to make a purchase or withdrawal yet.