Pros And Cons Of The Prepaid Rush Card

Pros and Cons of the Prepaid Rush Card

One of the many pre-paid credit card option in the United States is the Rush Card. If you cannot or do not want to get a regular credit card, Rush card has features that may make it useful. However, before you make a decision about getting a Rush Card, it is important to understand both the benefits and high costs of the system.

How Rush Card works

While Rush card markets itself as a “pre-paid credit card,” it works more like any other debit card. The Visa card can be loaded with cash, then used any place that Visa is accepted. The money is debited from the Rush Card balance. When the balance hits zero, no more transactions can go through. Some Rush card accounts also allow cardholders to write checks against the account balance. Rush Card charges several types of fees for using a Rush card. Rush Card was created in 2003 by Russell Simmons, under the business name UniRush.

Why Rush Card can be useful

There are some benefits to the Rush Card. Credit cards can be really tough to get for any person that has bad credit. Because Rush Card works on the Visa system and has a full credit card number, it can be used to make online purchases and where a credit card would normally be used. Because you cannot overdraw a Rush Card account, you won’t have to pay overdraft fees or high interest rates.

High costs of the Rush Card

Standard checking or debit accounts are not the same as Rush Cards. The fees on a Rush Card can be very high. Monthly fees or activation fees can run as much as $ 19.95 a month. There are also fees for using the Rush Card in an ATM. There are statement and “maintenance fees”. There is a fee for paying bills with the Rush Card. The highest cost fee, however, can be the “convenience fee”. This convenience fee charges between 50 cents and $ 1 each time your Rush Card is swiped or used to make a purchase. In order to access your own money, the Rush Card could charge you $ 100 or more.

Alternatives to the Rush Card

The Rush Card does offer convenience for accessing funds. The transaction fees included on the Rush Card make it very expensive to use. If you have bad credit or no credit, a checking account is most likely a better solution than the Rush Card. Many credit unions offer “starter” bank accounts designed especially for customers who would have difficulty getting a checking account at a bank. These starter accounts usually do not carry nearly the fees that the Rush Card does, and a debit card offers the same benefits as the Rush card. Before you sign up for the high fees of the Rush Card, you should check with multiple banks or credit unions and ask for their help.

Sources

Rush Card schedule of fees

ConsumerAffairs.com