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Credit and debit cards have become the default payment method for a lot of us when shopping online (or even offline). However, with more and more scammers and hackers looking to scrape off your financial information on the internet, it’s always a good idea to protect your card details as much as you can.
This is where prepaid cards come into play. They offer an alternative way to pay while also protecting your primary card’s credentials. Given their benefits, I almost always use a prepaid card when shopping online, and there’s a strong case for why you should, too.
What Are Prepaid Cards?
Prepaid cards are the same as your traditional debit or credit cards, except they aren’t linked to a bank account or line of credit, respectively. Consider them gift cards, except they’re universal, so any place you’d use your credit or debit cards, you’re able to use a prepaid card as well.
Depending on your bank or payment provider, you can usually request one to be delivered to your doorstep. Once you have a prepaid card, using it is as easy as loading some balance and you’re good to go. As long you have money loaded into the card, it’ll function as usual. Once the card’s balance runs out, it stops working right away without going into an overdraft or something similar.
As you’re able to probably guess, this has both advantages and hassles that you need to keep up with. For example, most banks have fees associated with prepaid card transactions, so it’s best to talk to your bank before getting one. If you’re using a third-party service, be sure to read any documents detailing fees and any other additional costs using the card might incur.
Why Should You Use Them for Online Purchases?
Bringing prepaid cards into the equation changes the game if you’re confused about whether yourcredit or debit card is safe for online shopping. Other than any fees that your bank might charge and the fact that you’ll have to reload them every time they run out of balance, they have enormous benefits for online shopping.
1. Prepaid Cards Protect Your Privacy
Since prepaid cards aren’t attached to your bank account or line of credit, they tend to be really good privacy protectors. Want to try buying something on a sketchy website? Feel free to use your prepaid card, and you won’t have to expose sensitive financial details to a website or service you don’t trust.
Since prepaid cards can also be issued as physical cards, you can also carry them around daily without having to worry about things like NFC skimming, where threat actors can copy the details of a contactless card by brushing a copying device against it. They’re also a good alternative tovirtual credit cards if you’re not sure they’re as safe.
Unlike traditional debit or credit cards, prepaid cards don’t have a lot of sensitive information on them, with some not even holding the owner’s name. Even if you lose your wallet or card, you’ll only end up losing the balance you have on the card, provided you don’t lock it or move the balance first, and that’s the worst case scenario.
2. Protection Against Data Breaches
Another point that makes prepaid cards more secure to use is protection against data breaches. Financial details being leaked in a data breach often involve credit or debit card details that hackers can later put together to either scam people or carry out fraudulent transactions.
In any case, your debit/credit card details are directly linked to your bank account. So, if your card information ends up getting leaked in a data breach, you could be in trouble. Prepaid cards protect you against such situations, as you can just cancel the card and issue a new one, all while using your actual credit/debit card to ensure you can still make payments without having to wait on your bank to block your existing card and issue you a new one.
3. Protection Against Never-Ending Subscriptions
If you’re the kind of person who forgets to cancel subscriptions and then wonders where your money went, a prepaid card can solve the problem for you. You can have a prepaid card dedicated to your subscriptions, and keep manually reloading it as long as you want your subscriptions to be active.
It’s no surprise that websites and services often make it harder to cancel subscriptions. By using a prepaid card, you can just choose not to load money onto the card and get rid of that subscription without ever having to navigate a maze of complicated screens just to complete the task at hand.
4. Better Discounts and Deals
While card discounts and deals often depend on your bank or payment provider, you might be able to find better discounts or deals on a prepaid card compared to your debit card. Credit cards still reign supreme when it comes to deals, but your prepaid card will surprise you every once in a while. In any case, you get another avenue for discounts or a better deal when making a purchase.
Prepaid cards offer a much safer, more private way of making payments that protects you online from shady websites, data breaches, scammers, and anything or anyone else who’s looking to access your bank account. They also allow the convenience of a physical debit card that you can carry around and use to pay for things, as long as you remember to load them with balance, of course. Consider using one if you haven’t already done so.
