Today in our Credit Card Management series we are going to discuss Pre Approved Credit Cards.  Pre Approved Credit Cards are also sometimes known as Prepaid Credit Cards.  Prepaid Credit Cards are offered by most financial institutions, credit unions, and major credit card companies such as VISA and MasterCard.

Pre Approved Credit Cards offer the convenience of paying with a credit card without having to do a credit check or open a bank account. Pre Approved Credit Cards are accepted everywhere that MasterCard and VISA are accepted.  It is also becoming a bigger trend for travellers to use Prepaid Credit Cards while abroad.  Pre Approved Credit Cards are a great idea for college students who are backpacking during their summer vacations.

Everyone is approved for a Pre Approved Credit Card.  Pre Approved Credit Cards are available at financial institutions as well as in local pharmacies, and at Money Mart.  We must be careful to read the fine print about fees that are associated with Pre Approved Credit Cards.

Pre Approved Credit Cards can be purchased with a fixed amount of money, or they can be reloaded online with money from our bank accounts.  As an example we can buy a $100 Prepaid MasterCard.  When this amount of money has been spent, we can reload it by transferring money from our bank account to our Pre Approved Credit Card online.

VISA offers 3 different types of Pre Approved Credit Cards.  VISA Gift Cards are the perfect gift for anyone of any age.  It is a great alternative to giving cash as a gift.   Pre Approved Credit Cards are protected against theft and fraud if our credit card is lost or stolen.  This is an advantage of a Prepaid Credit Card as a gift over cash, because if we lose cash it cannot be replaced.

The VISA Reloadable Prepaid Card offers clients the option to make retail purchases, pay bills, and shop online just as if they were using a traditional VISA card.  Pre Approved Credit Cards only allow us to spend what we can afford.  We can reload the card with money that we already have in our bank account, and therefore we can never over spend or be in debt.

The VISA Travel Money Card is a Prepaid Credit Card which is specifically designed for travellers.  It is a great alternative to converting money to foreign currency or buying travellers cheques.  These Pre Approved Credit Cards are accepted worldwide at merchants and ATMs.  Similar to traditional VISA cards, The VISA Travel Money Card allows multiple credit cards to share the same prepaid amount.

Pre Approved Credit Cards are a great idea for college students who may not be approved for a Student VISA Card.  The downfall about Pre Approved Credit Cards is that they don’t actually offer us any type of credit.  Therefore, having a Prepaid Credit Card does not help establish a credit history.

Before deciding what type of Credit Card is best for you, please check out the other posts in our Credit Card Management series which include a review of the TD Bank Payment Plus VISA Card , The Best Solutions to Credit Card Debt , and Are Credit Cards Good or Bad?  

Photo By MoneyBlogNewz

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