Cards bring prepay 4U; Cashpoint.Byline: TRICIA PHILLIPS PHONES 4U has joined the prepaid pre·pay tr.v. pre·paid, pre·pay·ing, pre·pays To pay or pay for beforehand. pre·pay  ment n. card market with two new cards.
The Escape MasterCard Prepaid Card is aimed at ethnic minorities who regularly move money to families abroad. And the Neon MasterCard Prepaid Card is aimed at 13 to 18-year-olds. Offering cards to children might seem irresponsible ir·re·spon·si·ble adj. 1. Marked by a lack of responsibility: irresponsible accusations. 2. Lacking a sense of responsibility; unreliable or untrustworthy. 3. , but because the Neon is prepaid there is no risk of kids building up debt and it also restricts the purchase of alcohol and tobacco, and gambling. Unlike the fee-free cards that 02 recently announced for their customers, the Phones 4U cards carry charges. They cost pounds 19.99 to purchase - pounds 9.99 for the actual card, plus pounds 10 credit. Although you can load them for free from BACS BACS Bankers Automated Clearing System BACS Banks Automated Clearing System BACS British Association for Canadian Studies BACS British Association for Chemical Specialities BACS Bachelor of Arts Community Studies BACS Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies or with cash at Phones 4U stores, you'll be charged 99p at Post Offices, 3% at Pay Point, 99p on debit cards and 4% on credit cards. Prepaid cards can be useful if you don't want to risk getting into debt, or if you have a poor credit record and don't qualify for a credit card. But be warned, fees and charges can be hefty. Andrew Hagger of moneynet.co.uk says: "On the whole these Phones 4U cards aren't too bad. People need to decide how they will use them and find one that charges the lowest fees for that usage." |
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