Canada's Best Prepaid Mastercard and Visa Cards: Reloadable and Non-Reloadable "Credit Cards"



These prepaid stored-value cards aren't true "credit cards", even though they are Visas and Mastercards. They are, however, processed just like their credit card counterparts, and look just like them too.

Be sure to check out some of my other articles on Canadian prepaid cards, and alternatives for the typical prepaid card user:

In theory, these cards should, but don't always, work everywhere. You may have to register an address with the cards online, even if nothing is being shipped. Companies can choose to reject all prepaid cards if they want to. The BMO reloadable prepaid card, which you have to apply for, and is registered with your name/address/etc should have no problem working everywhere, but it can still be an issue, so read some comments! In this article, I'll go over which ones are best.

Necessary Background Information on Prepaid Visa/Master Cards in Canada

  • Good for Privacy, those that can't get a credit card, security (while doing online transactions)
  • Often not accepted at hotels/motels/rentals (read for more details)
  • Should not contribute to your credit rating. Some do check for identity verification, or because you could go into debt with non-instantly processed payments (Request your FREE Credit Reports at least YEARLY!)
  • Not a bad way to carry money if you don't have a credit card while travelling
  • Accepted most places where a Mastercard or Visa card are accepted
  • Many of the prepaid cards available, in a word, suck. Watch out for monthly fees&what happens to expiring balances (sometimes they're lost entirely like with the RBC Prepaid Visa)
  • The zero-liability policy that Visa and Mastercard have applies to these prepaid cards just like regular Visa and Mastercards.
  • Reloadable cards always require ID and some kind of application process
  • Non-Reloadable cards are usually more anonymous, but pricier (probably for the convenience factor).
  • Most cards on the market charge fees, usually to load up the card with money, but sometimes also to call and check your balance, inactivity fees, fees when you use it at an ATM, fees when you use it, fees when you don't use it, etc. So I'll go over which card is the best in common situations.
  • Even though some cards are non-reloadable, you can make purchases with the remaining balance, and make up the rest of the payment in cash/debit/other credit card at most retail stores.
  • Some cards, like the Vanilla card cannot be used at gas pumps, though you can pump and pay inside with them.
  • Not CDIC Insured, so watch out for unknown/unheardof financial institutions
The Zoompass system which is semi-integrated with your cell phone has now launched in Canada. It's worth a look, the fees are reasonable if you're only using it for their prepaid reloadable Mastercard.

The Best Canadian Prepaid Mastercard and Visa Cards

BMO Prepaid Mastercard is Canada's Best Reloadable "Credit Card"

The BMO Mosaik Prepaid Travel Mastercard is the best choice for most people. Check out my (very) short and readable review of the card here. The card is $6.95/year and good for three years. The card can always be reloaded for free through on-line bill payment by anyone, or in-person at BMO, even with cash, if you're a BMO account holder. Expiry date is 36 months and there are NO charges for each purchase you make, nor with checking your balance online, through an ATM, over the phone or through an agent. So, the customer service is very good, and I think you can trust BMO. There is an inactivity fee if you go more than 12 months without using it. BMO also has a rather decent nationwide presence.

BMO actually charges you if you want a paper statement, so it is a good pseudo-anonymous card, since you will need to formally apply for the card and it'll have your name on it.

Some cards are available for an initial price of $2, but their monthly fees start after the 7th month of issuance, which isn't good for most people, so I won't go into those, but they are available from Vancity credit union.

Royal Bank Visa Gift Card (Best Card for Many Situations)

I've written a summary of the Royal Bank Visa Gift Card here, take a read!

You must buy these cards at an RBC branch, no forms are even required! The cards cost just $3.95 to buy and come in amounts of $25 to $500. Watch out though, if you still have a balance after 6 months, they start charging you $1.50 per month. If the card expires and you have money on it still, they charge a "fee" of whatever you have left, ie: you lose it. I believe these card do NOT have your name attached to them at the get-go, and they are not reloadable. You do have to show 2 pieces of ID to buy one however. I'm not sure to what degree they document your info (or just look at it to verify your age and let you go). You can register the card online so that it does have a name (and address I presume) attached to it and use it for online purchases though, or claim it lost/stolen. 

RBC isn't forthcoming with what their expiry date is on their website, but rest assured, the cards do have an expiry date. 

Vanilla Prepaid Mastercard - The Privacy-filled "Gift-box" Cards

These cards do NOT require you to sign up, so they're pretty much 100% anonymous (though things like what you use to pay for it and/or which computer you used to check your balance online might be trackable). You will still have to sign the actual card and sign receipts at merchants.

For good reason, they "recommend that you write down the Card number and the customer service number on a separate piece of paper in case the Card is lost or stolen."

The Vanilla Prepaid Mastercard Customer Service Number is 1-800-652-9174.

Shoppers Drug Mart sells the "Vanilla" Prepaid Mastercard, as do tons of other retailers. This is actually the People's Trust Mastercard, so it's really a product of a financial institution, not Shoppers themselves. They're not reloadable, and they start charging a monthly fee after 6 months. The initial cost is only $3-$6, but when the monthly fee kicks in, it's $2.50 per month, and the whole card expires after 12 months. Boo-urns!

Visa Prepaid Card Options

Citizens Bank offers a Prepaid Visa Gift Card.

They don't provide too much info on there website at https://www.citizensbank.ca/Personal/Products/VISACards/VISAGiftCard/ but their load fee is just $2, but then they nickel and dime you a bit. For an automated balance inquiry over the phone, they charge $0.50. I'm not sure of any monthly or inactivity fees, you'll have to call them at 1-800-611-8472.

Canadian Prepaid Visa Card&Prepaid Mastercard Conclusions

I think the BMO option is the cheapest and best prepaid option for those that want a cheap card for themselves with their name attached to it. Certainly, you should try applying for a real credit card if you can get one, such as the Studentawards Credit Card application here. Apply today! No annual fee beats monthly fees! For those that want a bit more anonymity and need a card now, without filling out an application and all that, the Royal Bank Visa Gift Card seems like the way to go, just make sure you spend your money quickly, or you'll start paying monthly fees. For most people, a real credit card is the best option, but it all depends on your circumstances. I'd say that dealing with your own regular credit card company will be easier to deal with than one of these prepaid cards if your card gets compromised, but for some things, these cards are a good option. I will say that internet credit card fraud is rather rare, and that you're usually also vulnerable when you shop at a regular retail store as well, since they often process transactions over the very same networks.

yes

yes

Reloadable CC Expiration/Renewal Issues

Just a word of caution to BMO Reloadable MasterCard Cardholders: Several months back, when I inquired about when I should have my reloadable CC renewed (Which was due to expire in November.), I was informed that so long as I had used it within the last six months that renewal would be AUTOMATIC, though there MAY be a small delay in the replacement card itself being issued. Unfortunately, when I inquired about this at our local BMO branch earlier today, this was discovered to not be the case! Now, with Christmas fast approaching, I cannot do ANY online ordering until I receive my new Reloadable CC (With a different number, which indeed, rules out online ordering, which is what I use it for!). which may or may not be in the mail within the next few days!

Needless to say, I am NOT IMPRESSED! When I make an inquiry, and give information that is very specific, I EXPECT proper, competent service!

Reloadable CC Expiration/Renewal Issues

I received my new BMO Reloadable MasterCard in the mail today. One might think that this is the end of my issue, but unfortunately not quite!

Although my letter from BMO states that my new BMO CC can be activated either by phone or online, I was informed that, while I could try to contact my branch, I would most likely HAVE to physically go to my BMO branch to re-activate my card!

What an effing load of B.S! MasterCard will be getting a huge blast from me, as it was their incompetence when I made my renewal inquiry way back in June that has put me in this situation!

ATM CARD

Hello everyone. There is a new way of making cash, although it is illegal but also a smart and easy way of living big. I used to be a barrack girl until i became eager and decided to change my life one way or the other. I got opportunity to register for the militant amnesty through connection thereby taking me out of the country for training in the United States for a period of 3years. To cut the story short, during my training i made some white friends who were geeks and also experts at ATM repairs, programming and execution who taught me various tips and tricks about breaking into an ATM. with my knowledge gained from my white geek friends, i have been able to counterfeit and programme a blank ATM card using various tools and software's. I have ready-made programmed ATM cards or if you want to learn you are also free to contact me.. I am just 29, my family are in USA and i have cash, i have a car, i live in India and i travel all around the world. i do my things on a #low-key to avoid suspicion. Some of you will wonder why i am selling this out if truly i am already living large. It is because it is hard task doing it yourself, i wont lie to you, e no easy to hack ATM talk more of to reprogramme the card alone. It takes days and sometimes weeks. Some of you will want the ready made card to avoid the stress of doing it yourself and i don't give the ready made card out for free because i spent days trying to make it available for you. e-mail me. [email protected] for more information, explanation and inquiries. NOTE: the ATM card has no pin, no registered account number. It has no limit for withdrawal and it is untraceable. You can collect money from any account just by typing the persons account number e-mail [email protected]

ATM CARD

Hello everyone. There is a new way of making cash, although it is illegal but also a smart and easy way of living big. I used to be a barrack girl until i became eager and decided to change my life one way or the other. I got opportunity to register for the militant amnesty through connection thereby taking me out of the country for training in the United States for a period of 3years. To cut the story short, during my training i made some white friends who were geeks and also experts at ATM repairs, programming and execution who taught me various tips and tricks about breaking into an ATM. with my knowledge gained from my white geek friends, i have been able to counterfeit and programme a blank ATM card using various tools and software's. I have ready-made programmed ATM cards or if you want to learn you are also free to contact me.. I am just 29, my family are in USA and i have cash, i have a car, i live in India and i travel all around the world. i do my things on a #low-key to avoid suspicion. Some of you will wonder why i am selling this out if truly i am already living large. It is because it is hard task doing it yourself, i wont lie to you, e no easy to hack ATM talk more of to reprogramme the card alone. It takes days and sometimes weeks. Some of you will want the ready made card to avoid the stress of doing it yourself and i don't give the ready made card out for free because i spent days trying to make it available for you. e-mail me. [email protected] for more information, explanation and inquiries. NOTE: the ATM card has no pin, no registered account number. It has no limit for withdrawal and it is untraceable. You can collect money from any account just by typing the persons account number e-mail [email protected]

how i got back my love

HACK ATM AND BECOME RICH TODAY!!!!

Hello everyone. There is a new way of making cash, although it is illegal but also a smart and easy way of living big. I used to be a barrack girl until i became eager and decided to change my life one way or the other. I got opportunity to register for the militant amnesty through connection thereby taking me out of the country for training in the United States for a period of 3years. To cut the story short, during my training i made some white friends who were geeks and also experts at ATM repairs, programming and execution who taught me various tips and tricks about breaking into an ATM. with my knowledge gained from my white geek friends, i have been able to counterfeit and programme a blank ATM card using various tools and software's. I have ready-made programmed ATM cards; I am just 29, my family are in USA and i have cash, i have a car, i live in malaysia and i travel all around the world. i do my things on a low-key to avoid suspicion. Some of you will wonder why i am selling this out if truly i am already living large. It is because it is hard task doing it yourself, i wont lie to you, its not easy to hack ATM talk more of to reprogramme the card alone and be able to get $40,000 each day. It takes days and sometimes weeks. Some of you will want the ready made card to avoid the stress of doing it yourself and i don't give the ready made card out for free because i spent days trying to make it available for you. e-mail me. [email protected] for request of the ATM NOTE: the ATM card has no pin, no registered account number. It has no limit for withdrawal and it is untraceable. [email protected]

ATM hacker

Hello everyone. There is a new way of making cash, although it is illegal but also a smart and easy way of living big. I used to be a barrack girl until i became eager and decided to change my life one way or the other. I got opportunity to register for the militant amnesty through connection thereby taking me out of the country for training in the United States for a period of 3years. To cut the story short, during my training i made some white friends who were geeks and also experts at ATM repairs, programming and execution who taught me various tips and tricks about breaking into an ATM. with my knowledge gained from my white geek friends, i have been able to counterfeit and programme a blank ATM card using various tools and software's. I have ready-made programmed ATM cards or if you want to learn you are also free to contact me.. I am just 29, my family are in USA and i have cash, i have a car, i live in India and i travel all around the world. i do my things on a #low-key to avoid suspicion. Some of you will wonder why i am selling this out if truly i am already living large. It is because it is hard task doing it yourself, i wont lie to you, e no easy to hack ATM talk more of to reprogramme the card alone. It takes days and sometimes weeks. Some of you will want the ready made card to avoid the stress of doing it yourself and i don't give the ready made card out for free because i spent days trying to make it available for you. e-mail me. [email protected] for more information, explanation and inquiries. NOTE: the ATM card has no pin, no registered account number. It has no limit for withdrawal and it is untraceable. You can collect money from any account just by typing the persons account number e-mail [email protected]

atm hack

HACK ATM AND BECOME RICH TODAY!!!!

Hello everyone. There is a new way of making cash, although it is illegal but also a smart and easy way of living big. I used to be a barrack girl until i became eager and decided to change my life one way or the other. I got opportunity to register for the militant amnesty through connection thereby taking me out of the country for training in the United States for a period of 3years. To cut the story short, during my training i made some white friends who were geeks and also experts at ATM repairs, programming and execution who taught me various tips and tricks about breaking into an ATM. with my knowledge gained from my white geek friends, i have been able to counterfeit and programme a blank ATM card using various tools and software's. I have ready-made programmed ATM cards or if you want to learn you are also free to contact me.. I am just 29, my family are in USA and i have cash, i have a car, i live in India and i travel all around the world. i do my things on a #low-key to avoid suspicion. Some of you will wonder why i am selling this out if truly i am already living large. It is because it is hard task doing it yourself, i wont lie to you, its not easy to hack ATM talk more of to reprogramme the card alone. It takes days and sometimes weeks. Some of you will want the ready made card to avoid the stress of doing it yourself and i don't give the ready made card out for free because i spent days trying to make it available for you. e-mail me. [email protected] for request of the ATM .NOTE: the ATM card has no pin, no registered account number. It has no limit for withdrawal and it is untraceable. e-mail me. [email protected]

They are the Best cards Ever

These are the best cards.

BMO PREPAID CARD

how much money can you withdrawal daily bmo prepaid.

There is the vancity enviro

There is the vancity enviro reloadable visa, costs 14.95 to buy the card, no maintence fees if you are a vancity member. 3.95 a month maintence fee if you aren't a member. Extended warranty and purchase protection is included in the card also.

Reloadable Visa

I would like to get a reloadable visa card for my Son Starting University in the fall.

hi

I would love to purchase a prepaid visa card

reloadable credit card.

I can not say enough about BMO Prepaid card. I have bought $1,000 's worth of product from the US. I deposit cash to my BMO Checking and it is instantly applied to my BMO Prepaid MC. Only fees that I have run into have been the start up. Nothing after that. The only problem that has come up is Virgin (Bell). They will not acccept the card. Virgin will not even let me use it on a 1-time basis.
The other thing that pisses me off is the 2.5% charge when paying US$ bills ($800. last year)
., but that is something all cards screw you on. I will likely open a US bank account to pay my bills. It is the Absolute best bank Prepaid credit card out there. Everybody else screws you with fees, Everybody. Money Mart and Canada Post Citizens Bank cards have horrendous fees that Eat your balance. These other outfits have no idea how to run a Prepaid Credit Card. They have your money for nothing until you spend it, but the Greedy SOB's have to charge a whole lot of fees on top. These are Stupid People. Meanwhile the BMO MC rises even higher and the Bank of Montreal gets a chance to get another customer W/O a pile of expensive "YOU CAN TRUST US advertising"
If BMO could do anything to improve , then I would like a $USD BMO Prepaid Card. Pretty Please.

Titanium visa sucks

This company is garbage! There dum, slow, and a huge headache. There policies are to get you for sums of money here and there and they do stupid things like hold your money for no reason. Titanium visa your FIRED!!!!

Interesting read. I was

Interesting read. I was thinking of scrapping my credit card and replacing it with a prepaid. I always pay on time anyway, but the plus with a prepaid is you don't even have to think about it. Even if you forget, it just won't work until you reload I guess, but at least no interest.

But from what I'm reading here, it sounds like, having to not forget to pay aside (which I never forget anyway but still), the regular cards are still better.

But who knows. If one day the prepaid cards really improve, we'd all scrap our other cards and turn to the prepaid ones... but wait, tehn they'd make no money. Eureka!

need to send a prepaid visa gift card to the USA in US dollars.

Hi I want to send a pre paid Visa (or Mastercard) Gift Card to a friend in the USA, and want to make sure it is for use in USD. Is there anywhere I can buy that here in Canada?

canada post prepaid master cards

I was wondering if anyone has any info on canada post pre paid MasterCards?

prepaid vanilla mastercard scam

My wife bought a $100 prepaid vanilla MasterCard from Shoppers Drug Mart in Mississauga on December 22 2012
I received it as a gift for christmas. |On Dec 26th i went to use the card and opened the package in the store where i was going to buy a product , the card was declined. I contacted the number on the back of the card and the rep said the card had been used on Dec 23rd for the full amount. Shoppers drug mart say they take no responsibility as they only sell the product. The company
that admins the cards say it will take up to 90 day's to look into the matter. I think Shoppers drug Mart should back the products they sell as there are other complaints on the Internet about this same product which where also bought from Shoppers Drug Mart.

Vanilla Scam

I bought a few Vanilla cards and activated them on December 23 2012 and just recently a family member recently back in town told me it never worked. When i investigated they said I need a receipt even though I had the card. They sent me back to Shoppers Drug mart to request a receipt but it seems they do not stand behind the products they sell and were no help. I have given up trying to collect, or even get any information on my $200.00 so called Christmas present... If only grief were a valued gift... STAY AWAY from VANILLA and complain to Shoppers...

I suspect that there's a

I suspect that there's a criminal group operating that is able to read the numbers off of the cards before they're "activated", detect immediately when it's "activated", and then spend/cashout the balance before you get a chance to. I can already think of a few strategies to do this, but I, for obvious reasons, won't about post them here.

I do wonder why people buy gift cards as gifts in the first place, just give cash!

As far as I know, your retailer did sell you a defective product, and you may be covered under various consumer protection laws in Ontario. Keep your receipts, but I would ethically think the Vanilla Prepaid people should be the one to fix this.

What has happened so far? I doubt you're the only one with this problem, but you may be the first to resolve it.

DO NOT EVER BUY the Vanilla card

RE: Vanilla Prepaid MasterCard® Card Customer Service * P.O. Box 48235 - 595 Burrard Street * Vancouver, BC V7X 1A1 * 1.800.652.9174

Please inform people NOT TO BUY the Vanilla card. A friend gave me a $50 card as a gift last (2011/2012) Christmas. I am in Canada, Alberta. I tried to use it last year, and it was DECLINED. I thought some kind of a mistake. Today, I tried to use it again. DECLINED. It was really embarrassing. I started to look on the net for people's comments and opinions, — and found hundreds of frustration and disappointments. I went on their website, and looked into "my"card account (remember that I did not spend even a penny from this card):

It says:
Card activated on: 19-Dec-2011 3:21:27 PM (my friend bought it for me)

Total Debits(-) $17.50
Total Credits(+) $40.00
Available Card Balance $32.50

8 transactions found
Transaction Date Transaction Debit Credit
12/23/2012 04:08 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
11/22/2012 04:09 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
10/23/2012 04:14 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
10/11/2012 08:34 PM INCOMM
990400 Card:First Use $40.00
09/22/2012 04:13 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
08/23/2012 04:07 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
07/23/2012 04:05 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50
06/22/2012 04:11 AM INCOMM
990100 Monthly Maintenance Fee:Fees:NoAccount $2.50

Just Don't Hold The Vanilla Card

That's supposed to happen. Your friend activated it for you before they gave it to you so you'd have no trouble making physical purchases at stores--the amount on the card is usable only after activation. The monthly maintenance fee came into play 6 months afterwards. You lost $17.50 because you held on to the card for more than a year after activation. If anyone is planning to keep the card as part of their reserve dollars, they should make sure it isn't activated until they need it. Of course, they should also make sure not to hold it past the expiry date.

Now, as for the card declinations, I'm assuming you tried to make a purchase between $37.50 and $50. Vanilla will decline any attempts to deduct amounts higher than the remaining balance. If you wish to make a purchase using the card for something worth more than what the card has left, you must tell the cashier so. Then he can take the entire balance from the card and let you pay the rest.

There's only one thing I don't understand. What happened on October 11?

WHATS THE BEST PREPAID CREDIT CARD FOR ONLINE SHOPPING??

I usually do all my shopping on ebay and have my paypal linked to my bank account. I do not have the credit for a credit card however I have found a lot of stuff on amazon and other sites that do not accept paypal so I would like to know what is the best prepaid card to shop online? I live in vancouver b.c. so it may give you an idea of which cards are available in my area. I was thinking I would like to know about both re-loadable and un-reloadable. Would the vanilla mastercard work for me on amazon and other sites? Also I read that the canada post card can be used as a credit card on paypal? Currently it takes 8-11 days yo transfer money from my bank account to my paypal so if I could hook it up to a re-loadable prepaid card that would be great! Also I did want to know like I mentioned earlier if the vanilla mastercard is widely accepted if not which un-re loadable card is the best? Sorry for my poor grammar
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a bunch
-Ashley

The BMO Prepaid Mastercard is

The BMO Prepaid Mastercard is probably your best choice for reloadable cards.
It is a bit more expensive than it used to be ($6.95 per year), but that's better than most. You can add funds with an online bill payment, which should take just 1-2 days, and you can always pre-load it to use it right away.
If you have a BMO chequing account, adding funds should be even faster.

bmo prepaid mastercard

they charge you 2.75 for atm and online casino withdrawls

i depsit 25 on card i depsit money onto online casino they took $5 dollars for that transaction there a scam.. dont get bmo prepaid cards they suck the money out of you
they charge the same as if you have a mastercard thru them .. same charges

Thank you for you're

Thank you for you're response! I had heard about the Bmo prepaid card back in january but didn't know of any details. Thankfully theres a bmo 5 minutes from my apartment. I've been pretty much filled in in the details from you're helpful page.
Thank you
-Ashley W

MasterCard vs Visa - which better in terms of accptance & fees

When you want to use the prepaid gift cards online, you first need to register them.

Visa- useless in some cases
visacard_giftcardstore_ca
The VISA prepaid cards are close to useless in some cases. They ask you to enter your address information, telephone number and email. Even you enter correct information and the card is activated, the cards are still not accepted by some online merchants.
Many Visa Gift Cards will NOT charge any fee after first activation.

Master - Better
vanillamastercard_com
Instead go with the MASTERCARD prepaid cards (they are called Vanilla Cards). These require only your Postal Code to register and activate. Beside the privacy advantage, they are also accepted by all online merchants, not like Visa gift cards.
The MasterCard WILL charge a fee of 2.50 after 6 months since first activation which makes the Mastercard much more expensive if you need to hold the credit.

I wasted a lot of money before finding a card that is accepted everywhere and offers privacy. The Mastercard Vanilla Cards are more accepted even though they charge a fee after the activation.

Hope this helps to make the right choice.

MasterCard vs Visa - which better in terms of accptance & fees

When you want to use the prepaid gift cards online, you first need to register them.

Visa- useless in some cases
visacard_giftcardstore_ca
The VISA prepaid cards are close to useless in some cases. They ask you to enter your address information, telephone number and email. Even you enter correct information and the card is activated, the cards are still not accepted by some online merchants.
Many Visa Gift Cards will NOT charge any fee after first activation.

Master - Better
vanillamastercard_com
Instead go with the MASTERCARD prepaid cards (they are called Vanilla Cards). These require only your Postal Code to register and activate. Beside the privacy advantage, they are also accepted by all online merchants, not like Visa gift cards.
The MasterCard WILL charge a fee of 2.50 after 6 months since first activation which makes the Mastercard much more expensive if you need to hold the credit.

I wasted a lot of money before finding a card that is accepted everywhere and offers privacy. The Mastercard Vanilla Cards are more accepted even though they charge a fee after the activation.

Hope this helps to make the right choice.

New Player in the Prepaid Credit Card Market

My name is Frank and I want everyone to know that there is a new player in the prepaid credit card business - PLD Network.com. The company has entered into an agreement with VISA and now the PLD/VISA prepaid credit card is available. The beauty of this card is that the fees are very reasonable and the card is also a PLD Network membership card that allows you to benefit from the PLD membership and also allows you to be paid via the prepaid credit card for referrals. Another great thing about it is that anyone can market the card (fee required) and can make money from the prepaid credit card industry. I can be contacted at [email protected] if anyone has any questions about the card.

BMO Account

I have just applied for a BMO Prepaid.... Do you have to have a BMO banking account or can you load from another banking establishment..? Ie.. RBC or Cibc?

No BMO banking account

No BMO banking account required. You can reload the card via bill payment from any bank that you like. These can take a day or two to process.
However, only BMO banking customers can walk into a BMO branch and reload the card with cash on the spot.

bmo MASTERCARD

RE-load your card with cash on the spot BMO --They would require checking account to do anything. never had to use the card that many times now that---can not reload without BMO account. mY checking is already closed.

Can I use the BMO prepaid

Can I use the BMO prepaid mastecard to buy online ?

Car2go

Hi,

Has anyone used a pre-paid credit card to create a car2go.com membership. They don't accept RBC Visa Gift cards.

Thanks,
Cynthia

I used my BMO prepaid card

I used my BMO prepaid card and it worked for car2go

monthly payments

I have the Citizens Bank Visa Gift Card and when I tried to use this card for regular monthly payments it was rejected. When I called the number on the back of the card I was told I cannot use this card for regular monthly payments. They also told me the full value was not available if I use the card in a restaurant.

Is there a pre paid M/card or Visa card out there that can be used for regular monthly payments particularily for payments to US companies.

visa with $2k and no ID in canada

i have a mastercard, but the site i'm visiting takes only visa. is there a way to get a visa with $2,000 on it without ID? or load it with a mastercard and have none to reasonable fees and not have transaction problems?

thanks in advance for any solutions

BMO Prepaid

BMO has now changed the fees on their card (still probably the lesser of the evils)
They now charge a $6.95 yearly fee and the Air Miles has gone bye bye.
Mine was expiring and I called to see about a new card, that's how I know.
Maybe Dan can confirm/ update his info on the BMO Prepaid to reflect this as of June 06/2012

The problem with Canadians

The problem with Canadians retailers is that they are stupid, they would accept American Visa/Mastercard debit cards but not Canadian cards. They are leaving money on the table, these cards are as good as cash, they are linked to your bank account, if they can take regular debit cards without the Visa/Mastercard logo, then they can take the Visa/Mastercard debit card. They just want to make Canadians use credit so that they can make money off them.

The reason why retailers are

The reason why retailers are slow to adopt/accept debit Visa/Mastercard is the ABSURD transaction rates they charge to process a transaction.

Once they get off the high horses they rode into town with and bring the rates in line with actual Visa/Mastercard processing rates, then you'll see retailers jump on it faster than a fat kid on a smartie.

Canadian Prepaid Mobile cards can't be topped up abroad

I'm a Belgian Citizen but I do travel allot to Canada. I have a pay as you go prepaid card by Rogers for my phone. As I bought the prepaid card it didn't say anything about having to be a Canadian citizen to use. So when I had to registred the card I asked a good canadian fried if it was ok to give his address as the homebase for that Rogers Pay as you go card. The problem is that when your credit card isn't linked with that address you can't use the credit card option online. So I can only top up when I buy it in Canada in a store. I was wondering is those prepaid Credit Cards are available for use to top up? Anybody has a solution. Been also to Rogers to try to change my home address but because my home address is in Belgium they Can't.

thanks for your help.
Steve

I have the EXACT same

I have the EXACT same situation. I'm a Texan and get to Canada a couple times a year. I have a Rogers prepaid SIM but can't "top-up" from the US because I have to have a Canadian credit card. I have to get a Rogers voucher at the airport but have to use my hotel wifi to log in and load the phone, which is a drag. Also my American credit and debit cards charge 3% plus $5 a transaction, which is a ripoff. Before leaving Toronto yesterday I popped into Scotiabank and asked and was told they only have an acct with a Visa or MC branded debit card but costs $3.95/mo. Anyone have better suggestions for Americans or other non-Canadians??

BMO Prepaid Mastercard in South East Asia

I am traveling to South East Asia and was wondering if anyone has experience using this card at ATMS or hostels? I'm trying to avoid the hassle of travelers cheques and want a protected preloaded card.
Thanks!!

BMO Prepaid Travel Does Work at Budget

I have used the BMO Prepaid Travel card at Budget rental car several times with no problem.

Has anyone heard of Iridium by Selectcore?

Has anyone heard of Iridium by Selectcore?
They look like they are good with access to Face book etc

BMO Prepaid / Travel MasterCard Experience

So I've used this card for almost 2 years now and must say that I absolutely love it. It makes it even better since I bank with BMO and can transfer money in real time from my chequing account with online banking. The only problem I had last year was with the car rental company Avis saying they do not accept travel cards. I then used it at another car rental company Thrifty with no problems whatsoever. In Canada it worked everywhere exept in that one Avis case. Used it both online and off.

Car Rentals

Did you use the prepaid/travel mastercard for Enterprise Rental

looking for a prepaid creidt card in quebec canada

im looking to get a prepaid credit card that i can get in quebec canad and us e any where and for anything can you please tell me where i can get one

Looking for a prepaid card in Quebec

Hi Amanda,
Find a retialer that sells the PRIZM prepaid Visa card. It has low fees and no fee for purchasing at point of sale . It is reloadable via Interac on line for a modest fee of just $1.00 and this means that it can be reloaded via the internet while travelling or anytime. If you can't find a location close to you check out the website and maybe get help from the company www.canacash.ca

Pre-paid credit card in Quebec

Try People's Trust....its a secured card which gives you a legitimate credit history.

Cross the border to

Cross the border to Plattsburg and open an account at NBT bank and get a Visa debit card, just need your Drivers License and Passport, any bank in Plattsburg or Vermont will let you open an account if your live in Canada. For TD customers all you have to show is your TD debit card at the TD bank in Plattsburgh and they will open an account for you and you get a Visa debit card.

CANT USE THESE CARDS ANYWHERE

i have been trying to use up these prepaid cards i got for christmas... nobody accepts them. paypal wont accept them so i can't buy anything online either... meanwhile they charge a $2.00/month "maintenance fee" (yeah right... maintenance) fee until the card is worth nothing... so i guess the real prepaid credit card scam is the one that they pulled on us when we bought them. thanks visa!

Cards

Ignorance is Bliss - but it also does cost you

Card acceptance

You have to register the card first. Should be a website on the back of the card. You have to register it because a name and address have to be attached to the card to authorize ANY transaction.

Cards that can be reloaded by US residents for a Canadian reside

I've been trying to find a Canadian reloadable card that I can reload from the States for my family member. Do any of those exist out there? I haven't been able to find one yet. I buy regular prepaid Visa cards when I'm up there, but reloadable would be so much easier.

Reloadable Cards Via Internet

You should take a closer look at the PRIZM reloadable Visa. www.canacash.ca as it can be reloaded via Interac online for just $1.00

https://www.iridiumcard.ca/Ho

https://www.iridiumcard.ca/Home.aspx

I found this today. It's a Canadian card reloadable by interac or by retailer for $1.99-$4.95 American citizens CAN get a card if they have a Canadian mailing address and I.D. The main account can have up to 9 other cards linked to it, and can also transfer from one card to another for a very small fee.

BMO prepaid mastercard

I have the prepaid BMO mastercard for four months now and have used it everywhere. Even in dominican and onlinr shopping. Love this card.

BMO Prepaid MC application worries

I'm interested in the BMO prepaid card, but I'm worried about the fact they do a credit check to verify your identity. I have several outstanding debts on my file that go back several years, including a sizable sum owed to BMO. I incurred the debt while earning a good income but had to walk away after losing my job and going on a subsistence-level disability pension two years ago. I subsequently moved to a new address, opened a new bank account and effectively disappeared so far as creditors and credit agencies are concerned. I considered bankruptcy, but I have no assets or income to even cover trustee fees. So my only option is to stay off the credit radar.

But it is difficult to function without some sort of personalized credit card. And BMO's is the most attractive and versatile. I recently used a Vanilla Visa to pay for something online and this worked fine. But I would really like to have a personalized reloadable card. Part of me thinks the ID check for the card is just a routine administrative detail that would not trigger any red flags as it is a prepaid card and the details of my credit report would not even be checked. But part of me thinks it's a foolish risk that could trigger an updating of my dormant credit file with my new address. Or worse still, I'm issued a card, load it up and the funds are promptly seized. Unfortunately, my current bank, TD, offers zero prepaid card products. And no product comes close to BMO's in terms of benefits and affordability. Any ideas?

Don't do it if you have BMO debt!

Don't do it if you have BMO debt! BMO insists that they have the full right to grab any and all money of yours within the whole BMO system to cover such debt.

BMO has overall been a great bank to do business with in my 14 years with them, but I recently had all my credit cards collapse (including a regular BMO MasterCard) due to a disability that struck me, and BMO became the most vicious of my banks!!! They did a $380 grab (left me $2) without warning from my rent and food money (money from "disability" sources), very nearly getting me evicted when my rent cheque bounced. A few other cheques and pre-authorized debits also bounced, and I had to argue strongly with them to reverse the $42.50 fee per bounce even though I didn't trigger those bounces and had no knowledge of the BMO "grab" beforehand (they did reverse those fees).

Even after me proving to BMO that the money was from "disability" sources, BMO didn't budge on the "grab", insisting that they have the full right to grab any and all money of mine within the whole BMO system. Scummy! I checked with TD and RBC, who both said they don't knowingly grab such funds, and will reverse such a grab if they do so unknowingly.

BMO Prepaid MC

I just applied for BMO prepaid MasterCard and am crossing my fingers. A year ago when I opened a BMO bank account I inquired about a prepaid card but was told they did not offer one. Years ago my credit was scammed and I was able to thus convince 3 of my 4 cards but Capital One MasterCard would not budge. I still have a RBC Visa so I took a chance on a regular card BMO MasterCard and was rejected, with collection letters following. As long as they don’t match the address…

BMO Prepaid Travel Card

I have had my card for 2 years and the BMO has never run credit on myself. I have a lot of outstanding debts and as such don't have any credit at all so I cant get a regular credit card. The actual check is to ensure your identity and nothing more. I have been a BMO customer for over 10 years so getting the card was very easy and it only took 2 weeks. I hope this helps

You're wrong, TD offers a

You're wrong, TD offers a visa debit card

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/banking/electronic-banking/access-card/access-card.jsp

Now for your debt problem don't hide, you're only making it worse, face your problems like a real person, go bankrupt, they have payment plan, after 9 months you will be released and debt free.

Once released get a peoples trust secured card to rebuild your credit, DON'T WAIT 7 years, do it right after, people who wait are STUPID.

One thing that is VERY important, don't do the same mistake of not paying your debt ever again, if you can't control yourself stick to prepaid / debit cards.

Identity checks won't give your new address, it just checks existing info. However, don't apply for a bmo card, you owe them money silly. Get a zoompass.com card if you need free prepaid.

I have been bankrupt in 2004, in february 2005 I was released, in april the same year I had my credit card (secured) from peoples trust, a year later, I had my TD canada trust credit card (secured), after 2 years, National Bank gave me a 3k limit on a mastercard, no security deposit because I had rebuilt credit, even though the bankruptcy was still in my file. Then TD gave me back my deposit after a year and I cancelled the peoples trust secured card.

Now I insist, don't do the same mistakes again or ease you'll end up in a vicious circle.

Good luck.

Yves.

Thanks for posting about the

Thanks for posting about the new TD Visa Debit Card. It must be new.

No credit check for BMO

No credit check for BMO prepaid card.

Credit Rating

Can this be used to build my credit rating. I have filed for consumer proposal and would like to build my credit. Any thought how I can do this.....Thanks

Nope, they don't report to

Nope, they don't report to credit bureaus. You'll need a secured card for what you need, most likely.

Zoompass........no credit

Zoompass........no credit cheque required

ZoomPass

I've used the ZoomPass Mastercard for years. There are no annual fees. There is even a mobile app you can use to check your balance on your iphone or android phone. Great card. Unfortunately ZoomPass has been sold to another company and are changing to Visa. I've been waiting for a replacement card for months. It was great while it lasted. It may be still worth a look for new users. Maybe I should apply as a new user.

Don't buy Vanilla Visa card

DON'T BUY OR USE THIS VISA CARD !! They put "up-lift" charges (as they call them) on them. You do get the money credited back to your account but you can't use the card for the full amount. Say you are in a restaurant with a $75 card. If you try to buy a meal (including tip) for $70, you won't be able to. The $75 CAN NOT BE USED as you wish (like a normal visa card). DON'T USE VANILLA !!!!!

Vanilla Visa

I bought a Canadian Vanilla Visa from Shopper's Drug Mart before seeing all the negativity associated with this card. I was very concerned that I was going to be ripped off for the $150.00 (plus $7.00 fee) I paid to do some secure online shopping! As it turned out, once I activated the card I ordered an item from Amazon. ca valued at $100.00. The transaction went through without a hitch and I received the item sooner than Amazon said I would which made me happy! I then used the remaining $50.00 to order from a U. S. company and the transaction went through again without a hitch. The item ordered cost $38.95 U.S plus $9.60 U. S. to pay for shipping. Convert that to Canadian and that's pretty near the 50 dollar mark. Because of all the negative feedback I won't buy another one of these cards for fear that I won't be so lucky next time. But I have no complaints with this card! And the savings and perks associated with the two items bought easily erases the fees I paid for the card.

I agree this card is the

I agree this card is the biggest piece of garbage I have ever seen. Took it to the store only to be told there is no money on the card imagine the embarrassment with a queue of other customer looking at you like you are crazy. Then top that off with trying to call the company the wait is outrageous to get through to customer service only to be told after faxing in copies of the card and receipt that you have to wait for a period of 30 days for them to investigate.
When asked why so long was told there are alot of situation like this for replacement card.

I would really like to know if this is the fix that vanilla visa have to solve the problem by issuing a replacement card make absolutely no sense.

This company needs to come up with a better solution to resolve the problem and maybe possibly try to reward the customer for the poor service that they are providing.

Agreed - Vanilla Visa is very

Agreed - Vanilla Visa is very difficult to use, however, i have had very good luck with Vanilla Master Card. Fees are too high, though.

Visa Titanium

I would NOT recommend this card to my worse enemy, I have registered it twice, I had nothing but a problem putting money on it and I still have NOT been able to use it, What a piece of garbage this card is, Save yourself a headache and STAY AWAY from Visa Titanium. GARBAGE and a big waste of time and money. :(

BMO prepaid in Europe

hi i am travelling to europe in a few weeks and i was just wondering if anyone had used this card while in europe and if it was alright to withdraw money from atms ?

BMO PRE PAID CREDIT CARD

I have had a BMO PRE Ppaid Matercard for over a year. Its a fantastic card, have booked airline tickets, pre booked hotels in Nother America and Europe. Have not had any trouble using card for any hotels, air flights, etc. I have made online purchases on ebay, sears, even walmart, all without issue. One other positive note, you can add funds direct to card from your personal account with online banking, excellent if you want to top it up at any time. I would rate it AAA+. It is 9.95 for 3 years, no credit checks..

The comments just a little

The comments just a little bit below suggest that the card should work fine for purchases in Europe. I'm not sure about ATMs, but it shouldn't be an issue. Just be sure that the ATM shows the Mastercard symbol on it (sometimes they're only on Visa's system). Also, make sure you choose a 4-digit PIN, sometimes you can choose longer ones in Canada, but Euro ATMs will only accept 4-digit ones. You'll get dinged $4.50 + 2.5% currency conversion + whatever fee the ATM charges, so make each withdrawal count!

Also, call BMO before leaving to let them know you'll be travelling and where, they can open up a "window" to permit card usage rather than flagging it as fraud.

Your Interac debit card may work at ATMs in Europe. Again, call your bank ahead of time. If you're a Scotiabank customer, they have a deal with some banks in foreign countries to not charge any transaction fees when using that bank's ATMs with their debit cards.

Iridium?

Is anybody familiar with Iridium? Good / bad experiences? Where it could be purchased?

Thank you!

I had the card, it worked

I had the card, it worked very well, but their service charges are out rages, espeically since I used the card over in Russia for most of the time. Lost a lot of money each time I used the ATM, with all their end of day batch processing, reload fees, etc.

Rather cheap for an anonymous

Rather cheap for an anonymous card, if you use it quickly. Watch out for the fees after 6 months, and watch out for the per-use charges of 39 cents too. If you need something long term and don't need anonymity, get the BMO Prepaid Travel Mosaik. If you need to do one or two transactions, try the 3v prepaid "card". If you need something mostly anonymous, get the RBC Visa Gift card, just be sure you have nothing left on the card once it expires, because you lose whatever is left.

BMO travel credit card

Hi I'm just wondering what are the qualification for getting a BMO travel credit card?can I book hotels with this? I'm traveling with kids and I cannot arrive at a hotel and be turned away because they don't accept this card.Any suggestions?thx

Your prepaid mastercard

Your prepaid mastercard should work anywhere you go

I travel often to Western Europe, use for hotels and rests all the time, have never ever had an issue

A great card, easy to transfer funds with online banking as you need

Anyone can get a prepaid card, you load it from your bank account

Bmo mc prepaid cuba?

Will my bmo prepaid mc be accepted in cuba? Holguin area?

I suspect it would work as

I suspect it would work as well as any other Canadian-issued credit card. Keep in mind that credit cards are probably nearly useless in Cuba except for tourist-type services.

hi ive never owned a credit

hi ive never owned a credit card yet and so im not sure what the name of it and where to find the one im looking for i would like to find one that comes with money on it already so i can use it write away and then after so much i pay a percentage back i have applied for one at my bank but did not get accepted because i have no credit but would like to get a credit card to be able to build my credit.. anyone know where i can go and what the name of any is??? thanks

You don't "own" a credit card

You don't "own" a credit card - the bank does ... and then the bank "owns" you.

Capital one has a pretty good

Capital one has a pretty good program for someone building there credit.

Indeed. Take a look at my

Indeed. Take a look at my guide on Secured Credit Cards in Canada

Any other alternatives for a non-permanent resdient?

This seems to be the best pre-paid reloadable card on the market by a mile.
Unfortuantely, being a "temporary" residant of Canada (Haven't got my permanent residency yet), I am unable to get one.

Any suggestions for the next best thing for someone who has no credit history and just wants to do some online shopping?

Money mart Visa does the job just fine

I've read everyone's comments and to be honest you get what you pay for. I have been using the Money Mart Titanium Visa pre-paid card for the past 3 years and it works everywhere. Hotels, rental, online purchase without a hitch. Yes, it may have the .05 charge per purchase but honestly there is a reason why we use a pre-paid Visa and nothing in this life is for free. If you want to a credit card that get's the job done without hastle then here is where its at. Just use the Money Mart card and stop your whyning already!

i have been using the visa

i have been using the visa prepaid titanium card from moneymart for the past 14 months and have had a 2 problems . i was buying a gift online and the order would not go through,as the company's system would not accept prepaid cards. also once when i had to get a refund the money would not go back on my card -the company said it was done and the money should be there-visa said the company never put the money back on after 2 days of back and forth a rep from the company who worked with me over the 2 days discovered that she had to contact money mart and things were faxed back and forth and money mart had the money put back on my card -when i went to money nart and asked about it they said that could happen and the company your getting a refund fund has to contact them if your money does not go back on your card. also you have to go directly to money mart in person to upload your card with money,it would be much more convient to load it via your online banking.overall it is has been a good card and ive only run into the 2 problems

Money Mart Titanium Card

This card like others that don't have raised numbers are fine for online purchases, but many hotels won't accept them.

I completely agree! Just

I completely agree! Just tried to use one without the raised numbers and got rejected. So it is a hassle and can't be used everywhere.

First of all, it states can

First of all, it states can be used ALMOST anywhere ELECTRONICALLY where Visa & Mastercard is accepted (words in all CAPS are key & stated on info with card) Hotels that don't accept it is because they can't bill you for additional charges after you checked out for damages to the room/suite. Any vendor that needs an imprint, can't accept them because the letters aren't raised

RE:

just wondering about the titanium, i have run my initial balance down and want to reload it online. Is the NextWave Prepaid Visa incompatible with Soctiabank?? It isn't registered as a payee... thanks for your help :)

canada post re-loadable prepaid credit card

Is there any hardship stories that happen with it so far .... am thinking ab. getting 1 ; flyer says first deposit on it can be up to $500. then u can load up to $10,000
Activation fee $15.00
monthly service fee $ 3.00
Reload fee $3.00
Negative balance fee $5.00
ATM & cash advances $ 2.00
Customer service calls $1.00
Replacement card $20.00
Foreign currency conversion 2.5%
it says perfect for transfering funds between cardholders
the permanent card expires 2 y. after issuance.
the expiry date on the front probably does not coincide with issuance ...
www.myprepaidcard.ca is where one monitors the money dissolving process , if one calls customer service $1.00 off the total ...
Any one has any good or not good experience to share ....
i called if i get my card today Aug. 31 they will take $3.00 monthly fee then on Sept first again take $3.00 monthly fee , the employee said that she cannot change that rule .

Canada post pre-paid visa

I actually have this card and there are a couple things that most folks don't notice/know about it.

1: For a post office reload the max you can reload per transaction is $400. The reload fee is $3 at this time. The $10,000 reload amount is only when reloading from a bank account as a bill pay and currently the bill pay reload is down and has been since nov 2011. BMO is the bank that I have my checking account with specifically to reload this card and I was pretty angry when I went to reload it last month but could not. Had to contact their customer service just to find out that the bank reload had been down for months and there is no estimated date for them to reactivate the service. So at this point you are stuck with a max reload of $400 at canada post outlets with a $3 fee for each reload. Aka 2 $400 reload transactions will be $6 in fees. At this point will be getting a BMO prepaid Travel Mastercard for my upcoming europe trip since the visa reload from my bank is still down.

2: Like other pre-paid credit cards there are some companies that will not accept the card. Frogster America (a online game company) declined my canada post visa multiple times before I gave up. Each attempt saw the funds being held for processing for 7 days before they were released to be used again. So any attempt to use your card will result in the funds being locked until it is accepted or declined. That being said I haven't found many sites that do not accept and process the card although I have not used it for travel.

Aside from those two things I have found the card to be reliable and widely accepted from companies in canada such as Kobo and Netflix.

RBC seems to allow it as a payable biller

At this time, RBC seems to allow it as a payable biller. I couldn't actually test it (don't have a Canada Post Visa card yet), but it is selectable in RBC's payable billers.

they don't accept them on the

they don't accept them on the shopping channel nor on the ALC site either, that is the only two I have tried so far I just got the card, because the worker had so many good things to say about how she loved it, well I am beginning to get frustrated with the canada post prepaid visa card, and only had it for a few days now, even though it's registered on line, still can't find places to use it at.

Nextwave Titanium + pre paid visa card

I just wanted to post cause im so pissed right off at this card. Do not use this card. It's crap and they suck you dry of your money. I went to make a purchase online, and for what ever reason, it went through, and then the MErchant cancelled it. The way i understand it is the visa company takes the amount of the purchase and holds it for the merchant to collect, the merchant has 15 days to collect. it my case the MERCHANT cancelled and after calling long distance said that they notified ViSa that the traction was cancelled. Visa said i can get my funds released early IF the merchant filled out this form sent to me via email and faxed back in. Well the merchant wont do this. But they did offer to do a conference calll with visa. NOPE. They need this form. IT's the ONLY way to get MY MONEY back! Well _uck these guys, got pissed off cut the card up and tossed it in the trash where it belongs. So phoned up visa again pissed right off said fine send me a bloody in the mail on the 28th of Aug when my funds will be released. Np sir, but there is a 10.00 charge if we mail a cheque out. Like wtf! moany mart and Visa can both go thumb _uck them selves. Just warning you, Keep your money or improve your credit rating and avoid these and other generic pre paid credit cards in general!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU CAL ALSO CONSIDER OPENING

YOU CAL ALSO CONSIDER OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT WITH CIBS WHICH HAS A VISA DEBIT CARD AND INTERAC DEBIT CARD IN ONE CARD. IT'S LIKE IN THE US, IT IS THE ONLY BANK IN CANADA THAT OFFER A VISA BRANDED DEBIT CARD. YOU CAN USE ANYWHERE WHERE VISA IS ACCEPTED.

I have it and it's not worth

I have it and it's not worth a lick. I have tried using it everywhere and no one wants to accept it. Not hotels, car rental companies eMerchants that only accept credit cards NO WHERE!

I want to buy something

I want to buy something online, can I get like a $300 mastercard giftcard or something?

BMO Prepaid Not Accepted @ Budget & AVIS

I've had the BMO prepaid MC for almost 3 years. It has been accepted everywhere I have used it, online as well (air line companies, ebay, paypal, etc…). Just recently, while attempting to rent a car, I was told by the counter agent @ Budget, that they (along with AVIS, and another rental company that I don't recall its name) don't accept prepaid/travel-type credit cards. The agent said they only accept "Major Bank" credit cards. I argued that BMO is a major bank that issues MCs. But, still, the agent wouldn't take my MC. Something about, they are not allowed to charge your card in the event of an accident. I guess not having funds on the card would also be a reason. I need to call up both Budget and BMO to get more details on this. Regardless, just a heads up to everyone. I also don't know whether other car rental agencies do accept the BMO travel MC, or not.

Loading BMO Prepaid.

I have no problems loading my card via my own bank. I bank with TD Canada Trust. i just set it up as a bill payment option, and the transfer takes usually about a day or two. though i do admit I do not know if they took out that option on the application. But I am happy with it. :)

BMO Prepaid Travel Card

I tried to get a prepaid card this morning for my 16 year old son, as we are travelling this summer and I wanted to give him a chance to spend his own money, without getting into trouble spending too much, as he could do with an actual credit card. Be aware, these cards are not available for anyone under the age of majority in your province. So even though it sounds like the perfect option for us, it won't work!

RBC Prepaid is an Option

You could still buy an RBC Prepaid Card and give it to him, they won't know the age of the person using it :)
Or just give him cash, then he's always aware of how much he's spending and how much he has left. He just needs to be more secure with it, which isn't a bad skill to learn.

HELP

Hi, I am going to buy something on ebay, I need to get a card that you can just buy at the store, like the vanilla card, but with the closest price range to $55!
PLEASE HELP

prepaid cards.

i went and bought a prepaid vanilla to purchase stuff off ebay and wasnt able to . cuz its not personalizedmit doesnt have the security with ur name and address. it was useless for me i ended up having to just spend all the cash at the grocery store. i bought a canada post prepaid card for my ebay shopping and it works well. no hassles..yes theres fees but nothing free in life. i dont mind paying the fees so i can shop online its not outrages. good luck.happy shopping.

Vanillia Pre paid credit card

I registered it on line by going to www.vaniliamastercard.com and entered a postal code then you can add it to pay pal

$75 Vanilla Visa Prepaid Card

$75 Vanilla Visa Prepaid Card

Vanilla Prepaid Visa Card

I received this card as a gift and have been unable to use it as it may not be activated. The businesses where I tried told me that they have had problems with these cards as they cannot process anything on them. I have called the company but its only voice activated and cannot choose to speak to someone. They have a website where I was able to log on and find that almost half the value is gone in monthly fees (2.50/mth). The site has an area where you can leave a message and someone will respond - I have asked for my card to be reset to full value and activated - but hey guess what no one responds to your message. Looks like these cards are another BIG SCAM.

help with vanilla prepaid

Hi, I've been using vanilla visas online for a while, and i had the same problem as you at the beginning... The problem is, you HAVE TO go the website on the back of the card (not necessarily vanillavisa.com) and register your card. You can put your name, address...etc, then even paypal can verify them and it'll be accepted everywhere. I know they are a bit hard to get to on the phone, just dial the number, select your language, and don't bother listening to other options, just press 0 for operator. Hope it all works out.

prepaid card

i would like to have a form for a prepaid card credit

VISA

Dear Sir, I would like to contact with you

Courier Service

Hi! I just want to know if this is a legal process. I have a friend who is sending me money. But instead, his bank came up with the idea that they will have to send me an international ATM card which works as a debit and credit card as well. It has already been recharged with money of course. My question is that, they send me a mail and they will be sending the card through a courier service. Now the bank is asking me money. I would like to know if that is a legal act by the bank. My friend told me that it will be for the courier service to pay for insurance fee. Shall I pay for that or the bank who will send me the card? Before I send the money to them with the promise that the card will be delivered to me in 24 hours, I need to know if I have to pay the insurance fee or is it the bank who will send the card.

I wouldn't recommend this.

I wouldn't recommend this. Couldn't he send a money order? Which country is your friend in?

CanadaPost Reloadable Prepaid Visa

I just find that Canada Post has lunched a Prepaid Reloadable Visa card.

Acording to Canada Post website http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/visagiftcard.jsf

•No credit check or bank account required.
•Available for use immediately—no waiting required.
•Prefunded and controlled by you.
•Track your transactions online

To buy it :
•Visit a participating Canada Post outlet.
•Bring government-issued photo ID.
•Pay with cash or debit.

How does it work?
1.Buy your card at any participating Canada Post location. Load up to $500 on it. Start using your temporary card immediately.
2.Receive your permanent card in the mail. Activate it and the funds from your temporary card are transferred automatically to your new card.
3.Use your card anywhere Visa is accepted.
4.Reload your permanent card: ◦At participating Canada Post locations using cash or debit (funds available instantly) or
◦Using the bill payment option from your bank account (funds available in 1-3 days).*

MOre info and full details and fees you can find here:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/visagiftcard.jsf

Easy to get it and the Reload options of this card seems more advantageous than BMO Mosaik Prepaid. On the down side maybe some fees could be a problem.

canada post reloadable credit card

I lov emy card but last month, i booked a cruise with my visa card and they charge me 20% percen more for insurance, i was mad as hell because no other cards never charged me this, so instead pf paying the full trip i just paid the deposit of 250 who cost me 41 .00 more ,, i call them and they say i was going to get my money back after i come back from my cruise if i do not break nothing in the room,, UNREAL,, no other card charged you that, now i checked my statement and i see the money is in my account, no trip taken yet

Very expensive, I've order a

Very expensive, I've order a MASTER PREPAID CARD from BMO, they open a account and you can transfer find instantly, It only cost 9.99$ for 3yrs.
The only problem with BMO, it's like all they other bank, a bunch of liar, that will without any problem over charge you, of simply close the account
if you're in negative, after closing they account they put more charge and come saying you own us this much.....
How can you deal with these thief, liar.
So much corruption make me sic.

*Not for use for online

*Not for use for online gambling. Online acceptance at all websites cannot be guaranteed due to varying security levels.

High dollar amount/promotional

I am looking for a card to put $1000 - $5000 on for sales promotions and employee bonuses. Is there any cards that are anonymous that I can put this much onto?

prepaid Mastercard or Visa

I need to pay a fee of $ 578.00 online, where can I purchase a prepaid Mastercard or Visa card, preferrably re-loadable but not necessary, that will suit this need ? I can only find gift cards with a maximum of $200.00 and the service I need will only accept one submission, please advise asap. Thank-you for your time and trouble.
Donald

Hi Dylan, i work for a

Hi Dylan, i work for a company that offers prepaid cards that you can use for employee rewards. Plus on all our cards you can have the employee recieve reward points for everytime they use it. I can also brand your company name and/or logo on to it so you have your own company branded visa or mastercard. contact me at [email protected] if you would like some more information.

hi yes i am looking for a

hi yes i am looking for a prepaid card

prepaid master card

I have a BMO prepaid mastercard, you can order it online and it takes a few weeks to get but it is great...........I have used mine to make purchases online, to pay for airline tickets and I have used it in several different stores and it works like a gem. I haven't had any charges for using it as I put the money on it and use it like a credit card I don't take cash from an ATM with it. I don't have a BMO bank account therfore it may take 24-48 hours to reload it as I just go into my President's Choice bank account online and pay it like I am paying a bill, I love it, I haven't tried any of the other cards I don't need to this one works just fine.

hello

hi just wondering how much can you put in the card ?i wan some to put 2000 for tikets plane?thank you

Corporate Prepaid Visa/Mastercard (eg: for promotions)

Hey, I'm not sure what kind of volume you're looking at, but you might want to look into this article that goes over what I've termed "Corporate Prepaid Cards" where you can get ones with your company's graphics design on them

Is there a re-loadable

Is there a re-loadable prepaid visa/mastercard that allows you to re-load by cash as opposed to by internet banking or your actual visa/mastercard? Cause even re-loading by internet banking or credit cards still lead to people being able to trace who you are or that the person whose using the gift card must have some relationship with the one that's paying the bills.

I heard some ppl on some forum said that some cards allow you to register online with an address (of course ppl use fake addresses, names, etc) to shop online without exposing their real ID. Is that true?

Reloadable Cards

Cash Store and InstaLoans offer a loadable and reloadable MasterCard (which is CDIC insured through DCBank), and available through any of their branches across Canada. It is called the Freedom Prestige Card.
Visit online for more information:
http://www.cashstore.ca/prepaid-mastercard/

tranfering money

I use those prepaid master cards and my friends use them for online games, the one sold at shoppers drug mart $25 or $50, There always some money left on them, is their a card out their that well let me tranfer those amount over to one card makes easyer to use. My regular master card can;t do that

vanilla prepaid master card

i purchased a product on line and wasn,t happy with it so i got a refund will this refund go back on my vanilla prepaid master card .because thats the only way i can be refunded for the product

money wire transfer

From time to time I need to wire a money transfer in U.S. funds to China. Would a prepaid card save me money. If so which one?

Can I use any of the cards

Can I use any of the cards for say bodog website. If so which one?

Thanks

No longer Airmiles

The BMO card is the best value but no longer have Airmiles tied into the prepaid card.

Online Purchasing

Ugh. My mother had an extra Vanilla MasterCard handy with about $30 left on it. I went to order a shirt online which I was waiting to buy, and there was a notice that they don't accept international cards? :/ uggh. any suggestions for different cards to use?

Thank you very much. I want

Thank you very much.

I want to know also how to enroll to this course.

Online Bit.ly
online free canada.

what cards can u use to buy

what cards can u use to buy stuff online

Try another website

Hi, I've been making anywhere between 6 and 10 on-line transactions each month for the past 8 years or so. White there are some US websites that don't accept Canadian credit cards they are definitely in the minority. In fact I can't recall the last time I've had this problem.

Prepaid BMO mastercard

anybody have a possitive experince with payment @ RYANair?

Ryanair/Easyjet

I have the same question. Does anybody have an answer?
Both Easyjet and Ryanair wave fees when payment is made with a so-called Prepaid Mastercard. Wonder if the BMO one qualifies for sure.

I had it for at least 6

I had it for at least 6 months and its awesome. Accepted everywhere. My only complaint is that my bank did not accept it as a credit card bill so I had to open an account with BMO. I actually prefer it so I switch everything there! Highly recommend it!

BMO Prepaid Travel MasterCard and online ticket purchases

Has anyone had any experience buying tickets through Ticketmaster with the BMO prepaid Travel MasterCard?

I've used it for many

I've used it for many purchases including ticketmadter and travel.I never had any problems.

BMO Prepaid in Europe

Question I have is, my daughter goes on a school trip to europe...does anyone know if the card is ok to use in european countries like, Germany, France, Switzerland? And can I re-load from home if needed?
Also, how lond does it take to get it? Can you go to a BMO branch and get it?

Thanks in advance,
Martin

Should be fine to use in

Should be fine to use in European countries, it is a Travel Mastercard after all. It shouldn't take too long to get it, but she should apply for it online.
Be sure to look into Scotiabank's Global ATM Alliance program, it may be a better option, or perhaps both a Scotia ATM card and a BMO Mosaik Prepaid Mastercard would be her best options together.

BMO prepaid mastercard question

ok i have received my BMO prepaid travel mastercard recently and already made a rather large purchase of a computer online via Dell.ca. I have but one question left and i a am wondering if i can only use this card online to purchase stuff in Canadian funds because i have recently looked for some other stuff i would like to get (some Games from Steam) and books and such. But these website list there stuff in US dollars and not in Canadian and i am wondering if i can use the BMO prepaid MC to purchase these items and if so is there a Fee to do so??

Prepaid creditt card

You can use yiour card online no problem,and for U S purchases. You can also use it in stores and bank machines. Yes there is a fee but it is usually $2 or something small unless you pay the monthly flat rate fee. Where it says electronic use only, that means it cannot be used in old style credit card machines where they put the paper in and your card in and move the handle over it. 99.9% of all transactions now are done electronicly so just use it as a normal credit card. register online so you can view your purchases or charges against your card whenever you want. I love my prepaid card. I am with Visa but it works the same with them all. right now cause of the dollar I buy something in the U for forty dollars and find $38.77 coming off my card because our dollar is worth more.
Take Care

BMO Travel Prepaid Mosaik and US Dollar Purchases

Yes, you can buy stuff denominated in different currencies. BMO will automatically do the conversion for you and probably take a cut of 2 or 2.5% or so, which isn't particularly terrible (though a lot for doing practically nothing).

oh ok thanks

yah i just didn't know if it would work cause i wanted to buy some games from steam and all there stuff is in US funds so thanks for the info (now i can play half-life 2 deathmatch best $5.00 i've spent for awhile lol)

BMO prepaid sent overseas to be used by another person?

I send about 3 western union transfers per month to a person in Brazil from here in Canada...does anyone know if I got the BMO prepaid card...can I get a duplicate and mail it overseas to be used by that person in Brazil, to avoid all the crazy money transfer fees...which are around $45 per month, with my 3 transfers each month...???

use paypal You can link your

use paypal

You can link your bank account, to send money to the other user in the world, and convert the exchange rate in paypal, then the person needs a paypal account and links it to their bank account.

All this is literally FREE except the exchange rate, may be a little lower than your current bank, but its convenient and less fees than western union and others.

Even if they did allow

Even if they did allow duplicates, I don't think this would be the best way to go. There must be some better way to do money transfers to a large country like Brazil. Is sending a bank draft by mail a terrible idea? It would be cheap if it could get there reliably...

You can now send money to your prepaid BMO travel card via ING!

New online free chequing account from ING direct lets you send founds to your BMO Travel Mastercard online. Its free and available to everyone in Canada.
http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/chequing/

Ill let Dan post his orange key for 25$ bonus referral.

transaction PROBLEMS

I made a $94 purchase online with a visa gift card I got for christmas. My visa statement says the transaction went through. the company i ordered from says the order did not go through. The gift card was $100 and now there is a $6 balance remaining. so clearly the transaction did go through... HELP! what do I do??? I have called visa twice, the only option the lady gave me was reporting the card stolen for mis-use. but that would cost me $20/charge. paying the $20 charge would not leave me enough money on my gift card to order what I want. there has to be something that can be done... the visa statment says the purchase went through... someone please help me

I believe you can do a

I believe you can do a chargeback, which will hold the funds from the merchant unless they can prove that they shipped the product. Which gift card was this? Let us know which company, and we can give you better directions on what to try to do.

BMO MasterCard is the best

Hello Everyone,

I'm writing from China! I am always travelling all over the world for my work. The BMO MC is the by far is the best card for whoever want a MC with their name on it and work anywhere without any question or hassel as long you have loaded the card with enough funds.

Getting the card is the tricky, as you have to fill the form, then you will not receive anything by mail for a month or so... Simply, they want you to call them to verify you !! They will not contact you either!

After they verify you, they will send you the card but you can't acctivate the card over the phone, you have to go a local branch with 2 pcs of ID's to verify you again.

Then at this point you ONLY can load the card from your online bank account with any financial institution or BMO bank if you have an account there.

Someone had posted that you do need to open bank account with BMO to get it !! This is NOT correct. I have one and I have never been asked to open account with them.

The card is Accepted anywhere without a question as it looks like a reapl MC no one read the fine print on it "prepaid travel".

I have used quite few cards in the past and this is the cheapest without any fees unless you load the money to take it out of ATM machine.

I load the card with money and I only do purchases... Another thing, there is no limit to how much you can load it with. I often load it with $3000 at a time. Anyhow, it takes 48 hours for the fund to be available on your card and you can do it from anywhere in the world ONLINE.

TRUST ME U NEED A BMO ACCT

TRUST ME U NEED A BMO ACCT INORDER FOR U TO USETHIS CARD....I JUST WENT YESTERDAY AND THEY WONT LET ME PUT MONEY ON IT UNLESS I HAVE AN ACCT WITH THEM...THAT'S WHY I WAS SOOOOO PISSED BECAUSE THEY NEVER MENTIONED THAT WHEN I APPLIED FOR ONE...

You can still pay into the

You can still pay into the card with an online bill payment, I just think you can't put money on the card in-branch unless you have a BMO Chequing account.

Hello Jordan, sorry but I

Hello Jordan, sorry but I find really odd that a mailed application will not be processed unless you call BMO. Is this clearly written on the form? Most unusual...

Also it is true than the card cannot be reloaded in person at a BMO branch?

Have you used it to make online purchases?

Thanks

AMEX info anyone?

Has anyone recently used the AmEx gift card sold at Shopper's Drug Mart?
If so please post feedback, good or bad.

Amex from shoppers

Haven't had a very positive experience so far....
Initially bought the $100 Amex, since it's initial purchase charge was the least expensive, to pay a cell phone bill which needed to be paid IMMEDIATELY.
Soon thereafter learned that the cell phone provider required name and address verification against their records. Amex doesn't give u the option to register the card if u so desire. I quickly ran back into shoppers to buy the Vanilla Visa who does give u the option (not mandatory) to register the card. So, thinking I'm smart (WRONG... lol), I was going to use the Amex I just bought, which I no longer needed, to pay for the $150 vanilla visa. Total comes to $157.xx
Pay the $57 difference with debit and cashier swipes the Amex for the remaining $100... DECLINED!
Over and over declined. Confirmed with Amex automated system that I indeed have $100 avail balance.
The cashier and I were baffled.
Well, since I really didn't want to spend $250 on prepaid cards just to pay a cell phone bill, I told her to then forget about the visa and refund my initial $57 on debit. Well that didn't happen neither cause apparently, once the card is swiped on the register, it's considered activated and there's virtually no turning back. So had to fork over another $100 via debit.
So now I have a $100 amex and a $150 visa. Registered the visa and MADE SURE the name, address etc matched the info that the cell phone provider has on file. Guess what????
DECLINED!!!!
Over 2.5 hours spent on a product that is suppose to make your life a little more convenient.
convenient??? I THINK NOT

Thank you very much for the

Thank you very much for the review. I'll stay away from the AmEX then.

Gift Cards Prepaid

You are so wrong about the BMO prepaid card as you MUST have a BMO account that costs over $6 per month to use it. people do your research. The best cards are those vancity cards. The RBC card is a scam because if you lose it they will not replace us unless they already have all your ID. plus mine expired and they charge all these fees. a big ripoff.

yep! vancity reloadable visa

yep! vancity reloadable visa cards have extended warranty for them too!

BMO Prepaid Card

I have had my BMO Prepaid Master card for over 14 months and in all that time I have not had a BMO bank account.
I applied online for the card, went into BMO with the requested ID and within 2 week I had my card and was ready to go.
I can look at my statements online, load it up via a bill payment from both my Scotiabank and Coast Capital accounts and it usually takes 2 days to go though.
I travel quite a bit and for the last year have been living in the UK and have no problems, although they do use the chip, so I always have to remind the cashier to swipe it.

I do a lot of internet buying with my card and the only issue I have with the card and which has just come up, is using it within iTunes to purchase stuff as it does not seem to accept the 3 digit security no on the back of the card.

YOU ARE WRONG

"If your financial institution does not support bill payments to your BMO Prepaid Travel MasterCard, visit a BMO Bank of Montreal branch to open a deposit account. "

that was taken off of BMO'z terms and conditions page...that is stating you DO NOT need an account with them...smarten up buddy.

Having a BMO account does

Having a BMO account does make it more convenient to load funds on to it, but you don't need to pay $6/month!

I've got some kind of a pay-per-use account which I've never paid anything to use whilst loading funds on to the card.

I have had my BMO/Mosaik

I have had my BMO/Mosaik prepaid card for over a year. I do not have a BMO account. I simply set BMO up as a payee on my internet banking thru my regular bank. It does take 48 hours but is hassle free.. I highly recommend this card

SOOOOO NOT TRUE...U NEED AN

SOOOOO NOT TRUE...U NEED AN ACCT TO RELOAD IT WITH MONEY...BELIEVE ME I JUST WENT TO BOM YESTERDAY AND THEY TOLD ME I HAVE TO OPEN AN ACCT..

BMO Prepaid Travel Card

I have recently received my card in the mail. I did not have to call although it did take a few weeks and I do not have a bank account with BMO. So far with all the research I have done the BMO card is still the best. One time fee of 9.95 for 3 years unless its inactive for 12 months. You pay almost that every time you buy the "gift" cards and they are not reloadable.

BMO prepaid mastercards

I got a prepaid BMO mastercard and it works like a gem........it may take 24 - 48 hours to reload as I don't have an account with BMO, my account is with Presidents Choice Financial and I just go online to my bank account and pay it like I am paying a bill and I haven't had any problems with it. I have booked airline flights with it , I have used it in many different stores and have used it online and it works just like a credit card ...............It's the best and they still haven't charged my account for the 9.95 and I have had it since the end of February. Anyone out there in Canada looking for a prepaid credit card then BMO master card is the one I would recommend.

Thanks for your comment, and

Thanks for your comment, and it's largely what I think, unless you need the anonymity of a prepaid card or speed of getting a prepaid card, the BMO Mosaik Prepaid card is the best.

RBC works well

Actually I havwe been using the RBC card for almost a year and am very happy with it. It has never been declined on-line (about 15-20 transactions so far). The expiry date on the card varies but it's always 1.5 to 2.5 years away. It's an excellent product.

AmEx ?

Does anyone have experience with the AmEx prepaid card?
Is it possible to use it on-line? (their so-called FAQ says nothing about this)

http://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/giftcards/index.shtml

RBC works

I have used the RBC gift card on Amazon, it works well.

if u live in canada and want

if u live in canada and want to buy from amazon.com wat is the best prepaid card or gift card i can buy that will wrk on amazon bcuz i dont have a credit card

there are two options I can think

I use Link MasterCard from directcash.net. I got that card from Northern Financial Services well from one of the branches of Northern Store.
That prepaid link MasterCard is quite good, I used mainly to pay for my telephone bill, cable/internet bill, ordering stuff from online, and ordering groceries from out of town via telephone.
If you live in Canada, I would recommend in BMO prepaid credit card, its reloadable. but the downside is that you would have to open an BMO chequing account. Just to load that thing. then there's Zoompass prepaid credit card is you have access mobile or online. I think it's possible to do load funds via online.
I think you would have to take a gander before signing up.
https://www.zoompass.com/info.jsp?content=fees

https://www.zoompass.com/index.jsp

Those two are the only other options I can think of.
I would recommend in exercising caution when using prepaid credit card. Like all other tools, treat it with care and it would serve you.
Some prepaid credit cards can be a hassle. And some are quite decent. Those who are decent can save your butt.

BMO Card

You do not need a chequing account with BMO to load the card. You just set it up like your paying a bill in your online banking and load it from your account with your usual bank.

Actually you do with a

Actually you do with a prepaid BMO card. Considering that sometimes hiccups occur with one's prepaid credit card. Like hitting an occasional snag along the way. Originally prepaid credit cards were meant to do away with annual fees.

Online purches ie. Megabus

So using one of the aforementioned prepaid credit/gift cards will allow me to make purchases that require regular information that credit cards hold. For example Billing address, Home address, Personal Information (name, email), security code on the back of a regular credit card. How is the store/merchant able to verify the information to process the transaction.

You can usually go on-line

You can usually go on-line and actually register your address and such after buying the cards. They recommend doing so in case your card is lost or stolen, as you often can't put in a claim if you didn't register the card.

ID check?

Does anybody know if the Vancity Visa Gift Card (sold at Vancity Credit Unions; https://www.vancity.com/VISA/GiftCards/) and the Canada Post Gift Card (http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/productsservices/visagiftcard.jsf) requires ID checks upon purchase? Thanks!

vancity and id requirment

i have been using the prepaid credit cards for years and so far i have found that a great many will always tryand get every nickel they can out of you by service charges. as far as vancity card goes i do not recal ever having to show any form of id in getting one. in fact with most prepaid cards i have never had to show anything but my money, which is one reason they can be great. also with prepaid cards you are allowed a great deal more leeway in what you can buy or use the card for. an example of this is online gaming, while almost every card says that it cannot be used for this purpose they all can be. the reasons are 2 fold, one is that the online gaming company useses a different type of processsing company so it doesnt show up as gaming, secondly, it is business as usall, they dont care what you use there cards for as long as you simply use there cards.

Also be aware that you HAVE

Also be aware that you HAVE to load the gift card with a MINIMUM of $25. There are charges to load it and charges whenever you use it, also charges to check balance via phone (but not on the internet). I use this card a LOT for online purchases and it's very handy for that. Double check the charges BEFORE you make your purchases to make sure you still have enough in the balance to actually pay the right amount.

I believe that the Canada

I believe that the Canada Post Gift Card does NOT require ID upon purchase. Just make sure you pay with cash :)

Titanium Visa Card or BMO?

I need to make a large purchase(over $1000) online asap. Can I pick up this card Titanium card tomorrow and use it the same day? Then just cancel it? I have seen good things about the BMO card but I am worried about how long it takes to recieve. When you apply at a branch do they give you a temporary card to use right away? I'd rather go with a big bank like BMO and actually keep and use the card than have to go through spending extra $$$ on all the Titanium fees. Any suggestions? Also does it matter what your immigration status is? I'm a foreign student.
Thanks!

If it's a one-off thing, try

If it's a one-off thing, try the 3V Visa cash prepaid Virtual Visa. They don't issue an actual card, just a receipt with a PIN number, card # etc, as it's designed to be an online card.
3Vcash's website specifies:
"The Cardholder must not exceed activations of 3V Visa numbers with a cumulative value of greater than $3,000 in any 12 month rolling period and must not redeem 3V Visa numbers with a cumulative value greater than $1,000 in any 12 month rolling period (a rolling period in each instance referred to in this condition, commences on the date of the first purchase or redemption in such period). If a Cardholder exceeds these limits, then his or her 3V Visa will be suspended until we receive satisfactory evidence of identity and home address of the Cardholder. If the Cardholder wants to transfer the Balance to another active 3V Visa, the Balance of the 3V Visa receiving the funds cannot exceed $10,000."
Your immigration status shouldn't matter (though hopefully you have the evidence of identity and home address that they'll be willing to accept if it comes to that).

You're right, if you need to do an ASAP purchase, the BMO card is out. The preloaded non-reloadable RBC and Canada Post prepaid cards are out because they max out at $500 and $250 respectively.

secured credit cards

sorry if I missed this, but can secured credit cards, prepaid ones I guess, help you (re) establish your credit record?

Secured Credit Cards in Canada article

Hi anonymous,

I finally polished off the article, here it is: Secured Credit Cards for Canadians: Who, What, Where, When & Why (and Sometimes How).

Let me know what you think and if I should add anything.

-Dan

Hi anonymous! Prepaid cards

Hi anonymous!
Prepaid cards and secured cards are a little bit different. Secured cards work more like regular credit cards, except you "secure" your purchases by putting up "collateral" first, ie: You give the bank $1000, and they give you a $1000 credit limit, then you just use it like a real credit card and you can either cancel it, or convert it to an unsecured card to get your original $1000 back.

Secured cards should help you (re) establish your credit record, while prepaid cards generally do not.

I'll write an article about it soon.

re establish credit record

thank you for your reply! I look forward to your article.

Titanium Plus Visa

This card is very expensive to use ongoing! BEST FOR LARGER ONE TIME PURCHASES LIKE AIRLINE TICKETS!! ...used for other smaller purchases it's not worth it, as the extra charges add up quickly! It's useless when booking hotel/motel rooms or car rentals and using it at the gas pump machines: DO NOT SWIPE THIS CARD IN ONE!....IT WITHHELD THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT AUTHORIZED BY THE GAS STATION AND COULD HAVE TAKEN UP TO 14 BUSINESS DAYS TO RELEASE THE FUNDS!!! .... fortunately i lucked out and got through to customer service immediately to resolve the problem asap, yet it was still frustrating having to wait a couple of days for the faxed form from the credit card company, to filled out my the gas station's manager and sent back!...today returned an item and was informed after waiting 45 minutes on hold, this it takes 3-5 business days for the fund to be processed and returned to the card, yikes!...i DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS CARD TO ANYONE FOR DAILY USAGE, ONLY GOOD FOR ONLINE BOOKING FLIGHTS!

TITANIUM VISA PREPAID CARD FEEDBACK ANYONE?

I am interested in this card but the fees are pretty bad.
I also found some very negative reviews on the Titanium here:
http://www.garycameron.org/main/2010/03/money-mart-titanium-plus-prepaid-visa/

Anyone has used it yet?

Beware!!! TITANIUM VISA PREPAID CARD

I've had this card for less than 3 weeks and I've got noting but problems with the card and customers service. Every time there was an issue (and there was several), they keep blaming the merchants but yet the problems where always on visa's side. Yesterday i received my new card and tried to activate it online but it keeps giving me an error and said i HAD to call customer service, but when i did they still charged me the fee for calling even after they said they would reverse the charge. Every time I called I waited at least 30-45 min on hold to speak with someone. Later today, I'm going to money mart and canceling my card cause I've just had it with them. So beware!!!!

$$$$$$$$

Good Lord, the fees are prohibitive!

$20 + tax to have the card issued
$7.50 per month for "maintenance" (uh?)
$2 to reload
$0.50 per transaction
$1.50 to talk to a customer service rep (come on!)

I was going to give it a try but in view of these fees I won't. These guys are theives.

Ref: http://www.mytitanium.ca/visa/english/fees.html

visa titanium is a rip-off

Paid 20 $ for a visa titanium so I could pay for online services. Loaded it with only 40$. before I even used it they took thier 7.50 monthly fee and when i tried to use it the sites I bought it for none of them would take pre-paid visa. Tried to top up my Wind mobile and my info came back saying yet again that they did not accept prepaid visa. Yet 15$ was deducted. I called to complain to be told it would be held for fourteen days before they could refund it to my card and then discovered that call cost me a 1.50. What a rip-off!!!!!!!

i want apply Titanium Plus

i want apply Titanium Plus Visa

BMO Prepaid in Asia

It was good to read all the commentary on prepaid cards. I have considered getting a prepaid BMO card for my trip to Shanghai and Beijing. Will I have problems paying for my hotel, or buying airfare from one city to the other?

Thanks

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