Reviews

The Walmart MoneyCard is a reloadable prepaid debit card. It offers some unique features, such as cash back rewards. These benefits, however, apply only on Walmart purchases. We’ll explore whether the Walmart MoneyCard deserves a place in your wallet in this detailed review.

Snapshot

Rating

Pros & Cons

What we like

• Low fees if you add $1,000 or more a month
• Cash back on Walmart purchases
• Free cash reloads at Walmart
• High-yield savings account

 

What could be better

• Best features limited to Walmart purchases
• Mobile app is not highly rated
• Cash back capped at $75 a year

Features

Direct Deposit	Yes
Bill Pay	Yes
Free ATMs	No
Savings Account	Yes
Cash Back Rewards	Yes
Mobile App	Yes
Text Alerts	No
Mobile Check Deposit	No
Purchase Cushion	No
Virtual Card Numbers	No

Fees & Limits

Fee	Monthly fee
Monthly Fee	$5.94*
PIN Transactions	$0
Signature Transactions	$0
ATM Withdrawal Fee	$2.50
Cash Reload Fee	$3.00
Direct Deposit Fee	$0
Purchase Fee	$1.00

*The monthly fee is waived when $1,000 or more is added to the card the previous month.

Card Limit	$10,000
Transaction Limit	$3,000
Daily ATM Limit	$500
Daily Cash Load Limit	$500

Rewards

The offers cash back rewards when you shop at Walmart. Here are the details:

• 3% cash back at Walmart.com and in the Walmart app
• 2% cash back at Walmart fuel stations
• 1% cash back at Walmart stores.

That’s the good news. The not so good news is that cash back is capped at $75 a year.

Benefits

The card offers a number of benefits:

• Get paid early with direct deposit
• Savings account paying 2% APY on up to $1,000 in savings
• Order up to 4 free accounts for family members ages 13 or older
• Transfer money from a bank account
• Live chat with customer care

Loading Funds

You have to load funds to the card before you can make purchases with the card. You can reload the card as often as you want. There are several ways to load funds:

• Load Cash: Load cash at a WalMart store for a $3 charge.
• Direct Deposit: You can have your pay check or government check automatically deposited to your card. This service is free.
• Online Bank Transfer: You can transfer funds from your bank account, credit union, or other financial institution for free.
• Green Dot® MoneyPak®: You can use a Green Dot® MoneyPak® to reload your card. You can pick up one at thousands of locations across the country and the charge varies.

Comparison

Who the card is best for

Without question, the is ideal for those who frequently shop at Walmart. The card’s key benefits, including cash back and low fee cash reloads, apply only at Walmart.

Who might do better with a different card

Those who don’t shop at Walmart several times a month will miss out on the card’s key features. If you don’t live at Walmart, there are better prepaid debit cards. As one example, the Netspend Prepaid Visa offers more benefits than the Walmart MoneyCard with reasonably low fees.

FAQs

Check out are complete list of the best prepaid debit cards.

The Netspend Prepaid Visa Card offers a range of benefits and features at a reasonable cost. Many use the card as an alternative to a checking account. Others use the reloadable prepaid card to avoid overspending and overdraft fees. We’ll cover the benefits, features and fees in this detailed review of the Netspend Prepaid Card.

Snapshot

Pros & Cons

What we like

• No credit check
• No activation fee
• No minimum balances
• Get paid up to 2 days faster with Direct Deposit
• Earn cash back with Payback Rewards
• Anytime alerts
• Mobile app

What could be better

• ATM withdrawal fee
• Inactivity fee

Features

Direct Deposit	Yes
Bill Pay	Yes
Free ATMs	Yes
Savings Account	Yes
Cash Back Rewards	Yes
Mobile App	Yes
Text Alerts	Yes
Mobile Check Deposit	Yes
Purchase Cushion	Yes
Virtual Card Numbers	Yes

Fees

Fee	Monthly Plan	Pay-As-You-Go Plan	Premier
Monthly Fee	$9.95	$0	$5
PIN Transactions	$0	$2.00	$0
Signature Transactions	$0	$1.00	$0
ATM Withdrawal Fee	$2.50	$2.50	$2.50
Cash Reload Fee	$3.95	$3.95	$3.95
Direct Deposit Fee	$0	$0	$0

Card Limits

Card Limit	$15,000
Transaction Limit	$5,000
Daily ATM Limit	$940
Daily Cash Load Limit	$940

Features

Direct Deposit: Get your paycheck or government benefits check deposited directly to your Netspend account. Direct deposit is free and can result in getting paid up to 2 days faster. You can also get your tax refund deposited to your card.

Mobile Check Load: Using the Netspend smartphone app, you can deposit checks by snapping a picture of the check.

Reload Locations: Load cash to the card at over 130,000 retailer locations nationwide. You can search for reload locations here.

Send Money: Send and receive money to other Netspend account holders.

Anytime Alerts: Receive text alerts for any of the following activity on your account:

• Individual transaction details
• Received deposits
• Declined transactions
• Budget notifications

You can setup alerts to be received daily, weekly or with each individual transaction. Netspend works with most major mobile phone carriers.

Purchase Cushion: With the Premier card plan, Netspend’s purchase cushion may cover you up to $10.

Smartphone App: With the Netspend smartphone app you can see your balance and transactions any time. It allows you to send and receive money or find the nearest reload location. The app also enables you to deposit checks by snapping a picture of the check.

Online Account Center: With the Netspend website you can see all your transactions, set up direct deposit and activate Netspend Payback Rewards. The account center also offers budgeting tools and enables you to set up Anytime Alerts.

Rewards & Benefits

Most prepaid debit cards don’t offer cash back rewards. Netspend is an exception. It offers four types of rewards:

Payback Rewards: Netspend offers cash back rewards customized to your spending patterns. These offers can be specific to certain retailers. Rewards are credited to your account.

Refer a Friend: Refer a friend who loads at least $40 to their new card, and you both receive a $20 credit.

Savings Account: Netspend offers an FDIC-insured savings account that pays up to 5.00% APY. You can transfer funds between your Netspend card and the savings account. You can also set up automatic transfers to the savings account to automate your savings.

Prescription Savings: Netspend offers a free Pharmacy Savings Card that can save you up to 50% on prescriptions.

Custom Cards: You can upload your own photo to create a personalized card. Upload an image of you, your family or your pet, for example. A photo of yourself can help avoid fraudulent use of your card if it’s ever lost or stolen.

Virtual Card Numbers: You can create up to 6 virtual card number for online or over the phone shopping. Once the transaction is complete, you can log back into your Netspend account and cancel the virtual number. That way, if it’s stolen, it can be used.

Comparison

Who the card is best for

The is best for those wanting a low-cost prepaid card and who want–

• an alternative to a checking account
• ability to budget spending
• direct deposit of a paycheck or government benefits check

Who might do better with a different card

Those looking for a prepaid card for the whole family, including children, would be better served with the teen prepaid card, such as the Greenlight card.

FAQs

Rating

Still haven’t found what you want? Check out are complete list of the best prepaid debit cards.

A prepaid card can help parents manage a teenager’s allowance. It can also help them monitor how and where their child is spending money. And the best cards can even help parents teach children how to manage money. We look at one potential option that does all three in this FamZoo review.

Several years ago I met the founder of FamZoo, Bill Dwight. We attend FinCon every year, a personal finance blogging conference. I’ve always been impressed when talking to Bill. He seems to have a genuine desire to help parents teach children responsible money habits. Let’s see how FamZoo can help accomplish this goal.

What is FamZoo

Most think of FamZoo as a prepaid debit card for teens and their families. While that’s true, it’s really more than that. FamZoo describes itself as a “virtual family bank.” The parent is the “banker” and the kids are the “customers.”

FamZoo gives parents the tools to manage their kids’ money. It does so through what it calls IOU accounts and through prepaid cards. These tools allow you to set the “rules” of your family bank, including–

• Automated allowances
• Rewards for chores
• Withholding for saving or giving
• Penalties for missed work
• Parent-paid interest on savings
• Expense sharing
• Matching contributions
• Budgets
• Loans

How FamZoo Works

You can think of FamZoo as a combination of an app that manages what FamZoo calls IOU Accounts and a bank account (with prepaid cards if you choose). You can choose to just use the IOU Accounts through the app, just the prepaid cards, or both.

IOU Accounts

The FamZoo app enables you to set up virtual accounts for each of your children. Through these accounts, you can pay your child an allowance, give them spending money, encourage saving and giving, and even take money away if they fail to do their chores.

The IOU Accounts are not connected to a bank. Parents are the bank. If your child gets a $20 birthday gift, they give the money to you and you credit their IOU Account. If they want to buy something that costs $10, you pay for it however you wish (e.g., cash, credit card, check), and subtract it from their virtual account.

You can automate IOU Account transactions, such as a weekly allowance. If managing the cash yourself isn’t appealing, FamZoo offers prepaid debit cards.

FamZoo Prepaid Debit Card

Famzoo also offers prepaid debit cards. These cards are linked to an FDIC-insured bank account. Apparent sets up the primary funding card in his or her name. Both parents can have a prepaid card if they so choose. Then, each child gets his or her own prepaid debit card at the parent’s discretion.

For children under the age of 13, the card is in the parent’s name. For children 13 and older, the prepaid debit card is in their own name. In either case, the parents have complete control over all of the prepaid debit cards.

Related: The Best Prepaid Debit Cards

The parent funds his or her prepaid debit card. Once funded, they can transfer money at no cost between all of the family’s prepaid debit cards. Each family member can have one or multiple cards. For example, a pair of could set up separate cards for child spending, savings, and giving.

Parents have complete control of each debit card. When a parent logs into the FamZoo dashboard, for example, they can see all balances and transactions of each prepaid debit card. In contrast, when a child walks into his or her FamZoo account, the only see their own balances and transactions. 

FamZoo Fees

A FamZoo account costs $5.99 a month. That fee covers the entire family. If you prepay, the monthly cost goes down by as much as 58%.

You Pay	Which Equals	Why Pre-Pay?
$25.99 for 6 months	$4.33 per month	You save $9.95 or 27%
$39.99 for 12 months	$3.33 per month	You save $31.89 or 44%
$59.99 for 24 months	$2.50 per month	You save $83.77 or 58%

There are some additional fees for certain transactions. For example, there are fees for ATM withdrawals at ATMs outside of FamZoo’s nationwide network. There are also fees for transactions occurring outside of the U.S. By and large, however, these fees are easy to avoid.

FamZoo Features

FamZoo offers a host of features to help parents and children manage money.

Family Features

• Parent/Child Roles: Parents have complete control of all accounts, while children only see their accounts.
• Instant Transfers: Parents can move money between cards instantly and without fees.
• Scheduled Transfers: Parents can automate recurring transactions such as allowance.
• Activity Alerts: Both parents and children can receive card activity and balance alerts.
• Lock/Unlock Cards: Parents can turn cards off and on.
• Money Requests: Parents can automate and track requests for money.
• Reimbursements: Parents can automate and track reimbursement of family expenses.

Financial Education

• Payment Checklists: Parents can teach children the relationship between money and work. They can schedule chores and odd jobs and tie them to rewards or penalties.
• Spend, Save and Give Accounts: Parents can order additional cards for each child. Each card can be given a unique purpose, such as spending, giving and saving.
• Payment Splits: Parents can split payments between multiple accounts.
• Parent-Paid Interest: Parents can set up automatic interest to paid to their child’s account to encourage saving.
• Savings Goals: Children can set and track savings goals.
• Family Billing: Automatically charge a child’s account for their share of a family expense.
• Informal Loan Tracking: If you lend money to your child, track the loan and the progress of payments.

FamZoo FAQs

The PEX Visa® Prepaid Card For Business is a prepaid card that is available to businesses. The PEX Card Account is not a bank account, but all funds on deposit are FDIC Insured. The PEX Visa Card is not a credit card which means there is no credit check required to apply for the card. Prepaid cards work similar to a credit or debit card, except that money must be deposited prior to purchasing. Purchases can not be completed if the transaction amount exceeds the value remaining on the card. This card is designed to meet the needs of businesses and allows them to control how cardholders use their cards. This is a way for businesses to use a prepaid card, but still be able to give cards to their employees. You manage where and how much your cardholders receive and spend. There is an administrative website that allows you to pick and choose settings to control spending. You can adjust the balance on a particular card, temporarily turn cards off, place maximums on spending, and even specify merchants.

Summary of Card Benefits

• Instant funds disbursement to employee cards
• 24/7 control over where and how much employees can spend
• Specify spend category or daily limits with online tools
• Block, remove, or add funds to cards instantly
• Review spending as it occurs online
• Monthly reporting
• Protect your business and personal credit
• No preset spending limit or line set by a bank – you set your own limits!
• Simple pricing – no transaction or card load fees, no overdraft or penalty fees
• Free 2 Month Trial
• No credit check

Adding Funds To The Card
Since it’s prepaid, cards are issued inactive, with a zero balance – there is no minimum funding requirement. The transfer feature uses ACH, (similar to an electronic check) to move funds to and from your bank account and PEX Card Account. Once the PEX Card Account balance is updated, you can dispense funds to specific PEX Visa Cards. If you need to take unused money back, you can always transfer funds back to your bank account. Your money is always yours until purchases are made or fees are charged. The maximum allowance per card is $10,000.00, but there is no minimum.

Authorizing Spending Amounts
One of the best features of the card is the way in which you can authorize the spending of your staff. You have complete control over the amount your employees can spend and when your employees can use the card. At anytime you can suspend or reactive any cards on the account. This will give you complete control over the spending of your employees. You will have access to an administrative website which will allow you to custom each card for your employees just the way you want.

How To Apply
Applying is easy and can be done online. Applicants must be registered business entities. The application must be submitted by an authorized officer of the company (usually an executive member such as: CEO, CFO, director or president). Approvals are based on our ability to confirm the details of your application. Approval is not based on your credit score (this is prepaid, not credit). It takes approximately 5 business days to complete the application process. When applying you need the following on hand: The routing number for your business bank account and you Tax ID or EID. Once approved you can expect 7-10 business days from request to card arrival.

PEX Visa® Prepaid Card Fees
There are certain fees associated with using the PEX Card. To see a complete list you should review the card terms and conditions.

Update: The Baby Phat Prepaid Visa Rushcard is no longer available. Green Dot purchased Rushcard and is no longer offering the card. Here are several excellent alternatives:

• Netspend Prepaid Card–Excellent alternative to a bank account.
• Greenlight Prepaid Card–Ideal for families with children

Baby Phat Prepaid Visa^® RushCard Review
The Baby Phat Prepaid Visa Rushcard is a prepaid card that offers a variety of perks for its members. With the card you get a low monthly fee, a variety of places to load the card, direct deposit and you can use the card anywhere Visa Debit^® is accepted. This card is available to anyone, it doesn’t matter if you have good credit or bad credit.

Card Summary
The Baby Phat Prepaid Visa^® RushCard is a basic prepaid card that does not charge its members a monthly fee. With this card there are a variety of place you can load the card, more than 10,000 to be exact. There are also millions of ATM where you can make cash withdraws if needed. Since this card is a prepaid card you don’t have to worry about overdraft fees or negative consequences for your credit. The card doesn’t hurt your credit in anyway and is available to those that have a bad credit history.

Pay As You Go Plan
This card works a little bit differently than some prepaid cards. This card offers a Pay As You Go Plan which comes with fees specific to the plan. With the plan it requires an activation fee of $19.95, but there is no Monthly Fee. Signature and PIN transactions are $1 per transaction, with a maximum cost of $10 per month. Any transaction fees charged beyond the first 10 will be credited back to your card the following month. ATM withdrawals have a fee of $1.95 per use.

Credit Builder Feature
This card has a unique feature that helps members build credit. The RushPath Credit Builder keeps track and reports when you pay bills with your card. You can pay any bill like your utilities, rent, phone, and etc. RushCard automatically reports your payment history to LexisNexis^® and PRBC^®, a national credit reporting agency. These credit reporting agencies basically will create a file for you to report positive credit. In the even you apply for a loan or credit card if the lender uses this service they may use your prepaid history in order to approve your. The service is free to all members you just have to enroll in it.

Free Card Features
It is always free to use your online account. With this you can view your account history, balance information, monthly statement and much more. You even have the option to get free text messages or emails about account information. The card also offers an online money tool to help members develop a budget and teaches overall account management.

Loading Your Card
There are several options when it comes to loading your card. Direct Deposit offers a great deal of convenience and its free. You can have your paycheck or government check deposited into your account automatically on pay day. You can also add cash anytime to the card by going to a participating location like Western Union, MoneyGram and Green Dot Money Pak. Bank & Wire Transfers, PayPal Transfers and Card to Card transfers with other BabyPhat members are acceptable too.

Card Fees
This card is a prepaid card which means the card does not charge interest on any transaction. You also can’t be charged an overdraft fee. There are still fees you should be aware of and some of them are listed below. If you need a complete list of fees you should consult the terms and conditions of the card.

• Activation Fee: $9.95
• Monthly Fee: FREE
• ATM Withdraw Fee: $1.95
• ATM Balance Fee: $0.50
• Add Money Fee: FREE
• Paper Statement Fee: $1.00
• Replacement Card Fee: $9.95
• Card Transfer To Card Fee: $9.95
• Bill Payment Fee: $1.00