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Prepaid credit cards are credit cards that require you to place a specific deposit with the credit card issuer in exchange for which you receive a credit card with a spending limit equal to the deposit amount. You are able to use prepaid credit cards just like you would a traditional, unsecured credit card or debit card; however, no bank account is required.

Prepaid credit cards help build your credit in the following ways:

1. PAYMENT HISTORY: First, many prepaid credit cards operate specifically as credit builders. Approximately 35% of your credit score is based on your payment history; prepaid credit cards help to build your credit by reporting when your payment history monthly, as opposed to the annual reporting seen in many traditional credit cards.

2. PREPAID FEES: Prepaid credit cards can also help build your credit by allowing you to prepay the fees associated with the credit card. For example, many prepaid credit cards automatically withdraw a specific monthly payment each month that goes towards paying the prepaid card's annual fee. As a result, two payments are essentially reported to the credit bureau for each month service, further building your payment history and, as such, your credit.

3. AUTO PAYMENT: Some prepaid credit cards carry the additional benefit of operating as a line of credit, such as the iAdvance Line of Credit on a the AccountNow Prepaid Visa Card. This credit card - and others like it - are, in reality, a hybrid between prepaid credit cards and secured credit cards. They operate like a payday loan, allowing you to take a line of credit when you need it; payments are automatically deducted from your next direct deposit. The advantage here is that while the terms may not be ideal, you get access to the credit you need, and the fact that you were able to repay the sum successfully is reported to credit agencies, further improving your credit.

4. NO CREDIT CHECK REQUIRED: Prepaid credit cards build your credit in other ways as well. For one, there is no credit check required. Being that your credit rating is affected by the number of credit applications you file, having access to a credit card without having to undergo a credit check has obvious benefits.

Lastly, prepaid credit cards can allow you to build your credit while using the account like a checking account. With a prepaid credit card you are able to access the cash in your account, in some cases without fee, and even pay bills online. In this way, you can effectively develop your credit through a "checking" account, basically something you would be doing anyway. Using a prepaid credit card for these transactions just allows you do get a credit-building benefit from it

Most humans adopt to use acclaim cards than debit cards. In fact, cards generally accept a bad acceptability because of their upfront accuse and fees. But are there assertive advantages that alone prepaid debit cards provide? In this article, let's accede advantages that prepaid cards bring:

1. Absorb alone the money that you have. If you accomplish a acquirement and allegation it to your acclaim card, technically, you borrow the acquirement you fabricated and pay it aback at a after time. If you use a prepaid debit card, you alone get to absorb the money you already accept in your account. If you don't accept acceptable funds in your account, again acutely you can't accomplish added purchases.

2. You're spending is bound to alone what you can afford. It is simple to overspend if arcade with a acclaim card. Back you can allegation as abundant as you wish on a acclaim card, you accident traveling over your annual if you're not careful. A prepaid debit agenda doesn't accord you this option. With a card, you can alone allegation the bulk that you accept in your account. Spending added than what you accept is carefully not possible.

3. A acceptable apparatus for baby business entrepreneurs. If you're a baby business buyer or a home based entrepreneur, you can use a debit agenda in paying your freelance workers or sending payments to your suppliers. Are your freelance workers alive alfresco of your State or from addition country? It doesn't absolutely matter. You can use your agenda for sending money anywhere in the world.

4. Prepaid debit cards are acceptable for appointment money. Aside from business owners, parents too can acquisition debit cards absolutely advantageous if appointment funds to their kids who are in boarding schools. Debit cards accommodate common casework so you can forward money to anyone wherever you are in the world. This is a cheaper way to forward and accept banknote compared to bartering money alteration services.

5. Company owners can use prepaid agenda in paying employees. Sending agent salaries via prepaid cards are not alone acceptable it is aswell a safer way of managing your company's payroll. This is advantageous for advisers as able-bodied back they can accept to abjure their accomplishment at their a lot of acceptable time.

6. Debit cards are advantageous accoutrement for those with no coffer accounts. You don't charge to accessible a coffer annual to use the casework of a debit card. If you wish to do your arcade after the charge to accompany cash, you can use a debit agenda instead.

7. Prepaid debit cards are easier to account than acclaim cards. Acclaim agenda companies appoint added requirements for acclaim agenda applicants. On the contrary, anyone can administer for a prepaid debit agenda and get an approval. In fact, humans with bad acclaim or low acclaim array can administer for a debit agenda to advance their acclaim status. Once their acclaim is improved, they can account of acclaim cards with bigger ante after accepting beneath or refused.

Do you use a rubber band and your pocket rather than a bank account to store cash?

Or do you hide money under the mattress? Are you too busy to balance your checking account? Want to give your kid in college a debit card with limited balances? Need a safe way to carry cash for a trip?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, Nevada Federal Credit Union and some of the country's biggest retailers have a product designed for you.

You need to book a flight, rent a car, reserve a hotel room or buy a shirt that's only available online but you don't have a credit card or a debit card.

In today's America, no plastic usually means no deal when it comes to such transactions.

So you walk into your local supermarket and find an alternative: a prepaid debit card. Deposit money onto the card, and you can use it for any transaction you could make with a credit or debit card.

But the solution comes at a price. There is a fee for activating the card and possibly a fee each time you use it -- and there can be an inactivity fee if you don't use the card often enough.

Customers say they like the cards' convenience, and for some, they are cheaper than traditional checking accounts, with which they can incur low-balance fees, overdraft charges and fees for some ATM transactions. People without bank accounts must buy money orders or pay high charges at check-cashing stores.

Austin resident Stephanie Walsh, 48, said she started using a prepaid debit card from Austin-based NetSpend Corp. about a year ago "because I was tired of bank charges."

Walsh didn't close her bank accounts, but she estimates she saves $20 to $40 per month using a prepaid debit card instead of an ATM card.

Walsh said she was drawn to the prepaid debit card because it allowed her to better "manage my own money."

Rosalia Salinas, 27, of Del Valle has been using a Walmart MoneyCard for about a year.

"My mom never showed me how to manage money, so my husband is showing me how to do that with the card," she said.

However, Salinas said, "I think the fees are a little bit too much. They charge you $3 every time that you put money on the card, and if I check the balance, they charge $3."

As the U.S. economy evolves away from the use of cash, more people are using nontraditional banking methods such as prepaid debit cards.

Providers say the cards are a legitimate alternative for consumers who don't -- or can't -- use traditional banking services, and are safer than cash.

Critics question the fees, which vary widely among providers, and say the cards lack the protections of traditional credit or debit cards and target low-income people.

Unlike traditional debit cards, prepaid cards are not attached to a consumer's bank account. Instead, customers deposit money with the card's provider to "load" the cards.

Before 2000, prepaid debit cards were virtually unknown, but their use is growing fast.

In 2007, consumers loaded about $2.1 billion on the cards, according to the Mercator Advisory Group, a research firm for the payment industry. That increased to $36.6 billion in 2009 and is expected to reach $119 billion by 2012.

The industry's popularity hasn't spared it from critics, who say prepaid debit cards carry high -- and often hidden -- fees.

Card fees can vary widely, according to a 2009 study by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports . The study cites 12 types of charges, from fees for activations, transactions and inactivity to charges for customer service.

However, those in the prepaid debit card industry say their fees are no worse, and in some cases are lower, than those charged by banks for checking accounts and other services.

An industry-funded study by Bretton Woods Inc., a financial advisory firm, said a checking account can cost as much as $353 a year, assuming six overdraft charges as well as other fees. That compares with $207 for a direct-deposit prepaid card. Without overdraft charges, checking account fees tended to be lower than those for prepaid cards.

A number of consumer advocacy groups have called for more transparency about the fees and more legal protections for customers.

If a traditional debit card is lost or stolen, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. , limits the card owner's liability to $50 if they report unauthorized use within two business days.

Prepaid cards should have the same legal protection, said Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America.

Those in the prepaid industry say they voluntarily provide protections for consumers.

NetSpend CEO Dan Henry said his company limits liability for customers in the event a card is lost or stolen because it is good business.

"I am a free-market evangelist, and I don't think the FDIC needs to be mandating those laws," he said. "I can tell you those companies (that don't protect consumers) won't be around."

Don Finn, chairman of the University of North Texas' accounting department and an expert on business ethics, said there is reason for concern because "consumers do not always have the financial expertise to make rational financial decisions, especially if their needs are great."

However, Finn said in an e-mail interview, the "reality is that the existence of a prepaid debit card is not illegal nor even unethical."

"At some level, there is the 'buyer beware' principle," said David Miller, director of

Princeton University's Faith and Work Initiative and an expert on business ethics.

"The consumer has their own responsibility. They are legal adults -- they can buy liquor, they can vote, they can serve in the military -- so they can decide if they want to buy this product."

If you are thinking about getting a prepaid debit card, the first question to ask is whether you will be better off opening a bank account instead.

Traditional bank accounts are usually cheaper than reloadable cards and offer the chance to work toward acquiring credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. But they can be expensive for those who keep a low balance and are routinely charged overdraft fees, which can be as high as $39 for each occurrence.

For the tens of millions of Americans who do not trust banks or are ineligible for a bank account, prepaid debit cards can provide a convenient and even affordable alternative. But it is important to carefully read the schedule of fees. Many cards bury dozens of fees in complicated fine print, including fees for A.T.M. withdrawals, purchases, calling customer service and exceeding the amount of cash loaded onto the card.

It is also important to determine how you will use the card. Many cards offer discounts if paychecks are directly loaded onto the card. But fees can pile up when the card is regularly used for A.T.M. withdrawals. And if a card is not used often enough, inactivity fees may be charged.

As the industry expands, some prepaid cards are becoming more affordable. Wal-Mart recently cut prices on its MoneyCard, which now costs $3 to buy, $3 to reload and $3 a month for maintenance.

Several large issuers have followed suit. Green Dot, one of the biggest issuers, dropped the purchase price for its card to $4.95, from $9.95, and eliminated monthly fees when the card was used at least 30 times a month, or with a deposit of at least $1,000.

Industry officials predict the more expensive cards will fold as the business gets more competitive.

"The fact is you have some programs out there charging fees that are too high," said Steve Streit, the founder of Green Dot.

Those shiny pieces of plastic are looking rougher beneath the surface.

For a growing number of consumers, especially those who don't use banks or credit cards, prepaid cards are an increasingly popular choice.

But these cards that you load up with cash and use to make purchases, pay bills or withdraw money are fraught with fees and lack the kind of protection credit cards and debit cards have, a new report from Consumers Union found.

"There are fees for just about everything," said Michelle Jun, a staff lawyer for Consumers Union. "It's very important to look at what you will be using the card for and what it will cost you."

Prepaid cards are catching on. Nearly $4 billion was loaded on to general purchase reloadable prepaid cards in 2007, according to Mercator Advisory Group.

Consumers Union reviewed the terms and conditions of 18 different prepaid debit cards, including the Walmart MoneyCard and Russell Simmons' RushCard, and showed how quickly the costs can add up.

Activation fees ranged from a low of $3 for the Walmart card to up to $99 to initiate the Millennium Advantage Card.

Of the 18 cards, 15 had monthly fees, ranging from $2.95 a month for Discover's nFinanSe reloadable card to $9.95 a month for the RushCard, though most will waive the fee if a direct deposit feature is set up.

Eight of the 18 issuers charged fees for not using the card for a period of time -- as much as $9.95 a month. Some even charge for customer service calls -- one charges $3 per call, another makes you pay $1 a minute.

But it's not just the fees that can sting. Consumers Union is pressing for the federal government to extend legal protections for credit cards and debit cards to prepaid cards.

"Protections for prepaid cards are not guaranteed," Jun said. "They can change their terms at any time for any reason."

While many prepaid cards offer protection in the event your card is lost or stolen and used in fraudulent transactions, they are not legally required to do so. And your money may not be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Kirsten Trusko, president of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, said prepaid cards had gotten a bad rap.

She said they help millions of Americans who don't have a bank account or can't get a credit card. She said info about fees is disclosed and that many fees can be avoided.

"For the underbanked and unbanked users of prepaid cards, the product is a far more affordable and secure tool" than check cashing or money order services, Trusko said.

Gerri Detweiler, credit adviser for credit.com, said prepaid cards can be useful under certain circumstances, such as a parent looking to limit a child's spending.

But ideally, you should get your financial house in order so you do not have to rely on expensive options like prepaid cards, said certified financial planner Scott Brewster of Park Slope, Brooklyn.

"People get used to paying these ridiculous fees and don't realize there is a better way," he said.

The increasing popularity of reloadable prepaid cards, particularly among the unbanked and underbanked, has begun to raise alarms among consumer advocates who view the cards as subject to capricious pricing and lacking important protections offered on bank cards. And, as larger merchant and other enterprises become active in issuing these cards, advocates are lobbying for greater oversight. "Consumers are turning to debit and debit-like products as the economy continues to tighten, so it becomes even more important to guarantee protections," Michelle Jun, staff attorney in the San Francisco office of Yonkers, N.Y.-based Consumers Union, tells Digital Transactions News.

In a report written by Jun and issued this month by CU, the consumer group calls on the Federal Reserve to reconsider amending Regulation E to extend such protections as right of recredit and chargeback rights to reloadable prepaid cards. Common to credit and signature-based debt cards, right of recredit covers cases of unauthorized use and chargebacks refer to disputed transactions. While the Fed declined in 2004 to extend Reg E to cover prepaid cards, citing the "limited" and "short-term" nature of the accounts, Jun argues times have changed. "There have been huge strides in reloadable cards as Wal-Mart has launched and a number of other issuers have launched," she notes. "In light of that, the Fed should act."

Jun's report, "Prepaid Cards: Second-Tier Bank Account Substitutes," also faults the cards for poorly disclosed, high, and widely varying fees, arguing the total monthly cost for usage should be capped. Among 18 reloadable cards examined, the report found activation fees ranging from $3 to $99.95; monthly fees from $2.95 to $10; and dormancy fees (levied by eight of the 18) from $1.95 to $9.95 per month. These and other fees, it says, should be laid out on card carriers in a standardized fashion not unlike the so-called Schumer boxes used by credit card issuers. The report further argues that charges for overdrafts should be eliminated. The report found 10 cards charging overdraft fees ranging from $24.90 to $29.

The number of reloadable cards bearing a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover logo reached 20 million last year, estimates Mercator Advisory Group Inc., Maynard, Mass. That's up from 12 million in 2007 and 6.9 million in 2006, the firm says. Many issuers specifically target unbanked and underbanked consumers. This is a key demographic for Wal-Mart, whose 2-year-old MoneyCard is in the hands of 2 million customers.

Tim Sloane, director of the prepaid advisory service at Mercator, agrees issuers need to do more to disclose their fees. The guidelines, though, should be industry-driven rather than imposed by regulators, he says. Schumer boxes, he argues, would not work on card carriers because they require too much space. As for fees being too high, he cites a staff working paper released this week by the Federal Reserve in which the authors concluded that low- and moderate-income households in Detroit spend about 1% of annual income on transactional and credit products. "...LMI households do not always choose the most expensive financial-services option," says the working paper. "Consumers tend to be pretty sharp," says Sloane.

As for overdrafts, Sloane says these often result from consumers using prepaid cards to pay for gym memberships and other such recurring charges where costs quickly outstrip the value loaded on the cards. Issuers, he says, must assess fees to recover network and paperwork costs they incur to cover these charges. Analysts at CU, says Sloane, "ought to be a program manager for a while and get a feel for the scale of the overdraft problem."

Reg E protections are available from at least some issuers, Sloane adds. "Those cards that don't offer Reg E, stay away from them," he says. But Jun argues such protection can't be left to the caprice of individual companies, or individual customer-service representatives. "We have continuously asked the Federal Reserve Board to take a look at [extending Reg E] again," she says. "Our hope is that as more consumers are using the cards, there's no time like the present."