Green Dot Prepaid Cards Are Great For Students

When my daughter was in high school, she was invited to attend many leadership conferences across the US.  Due to her unfortunate incident when visiting my sister in California (her wallet was stolen before she stepped off the plane), I was hesitant to give her my debit card.  I didn't want her to lose it or have it stolen. I opted to give her cash.  However, her father found a better way.  He purchased a Green Dot prepaid card . 

Green Dot prepaid cards are great for kids and college students.  They are reloadable debit cards that can be used to make purchases wherever Visa and MasterCard are accepted.  My daughter was able to use her card to make purchases without a problem.  Best of all, if she needed more money all she had to do was call.  We could reload the card without a worry.  See, Green Dot cards have safety measures in place.  If the card is lost or stolen it can be deactivated. 

It's better and quicker than Western Union and cheaper too!   Trust me. My niece had to go to Western Union to get money her father sent her and it was such an inconvenience.  We had to go there three separate times.  We had to have certain ID and for some stranger reason, our Western Union didn't get the money transferred immediately.  We had the transaction number for the wire transfer, but it wasn't available at our location!  WT???   Green Dot eliminates all the waiting, the ID requirement and the drama.

Green Dot reloadable cards can be activated online free of cost.  You can also get them through a retailer like KMart or WalMart with an activation fee of $4.95.  (Get them online, they're FREE!)  You can set up direct deposit which means no waiting at a bank or check cashing office! 

It's simple to keep from getting charged with a fee. 

• You will not get charged with an ATM fee if you use their network which is Money Pass ATMs. 
• You can get access to your money without a fee if you use the cash back option when making a purchase.
• To avoid paying a monthly charge, set up direct deposit with a minimum of $1000. per month.  
• You can also avoid paying the monthly service fee by making 30 qualifying purchases per month.  

Green Dot cards are a great way to teach children how to be responsible with money, debit card use and monthly fees.  It is a great exercise in learning how to get the most out of a convenient financial service.

Thanks to Green Dot for sponsoring this post.  We are happy with the service and I am sure many readers will be just as satisfied.