Gift Card or. A Prepaid Credit Card Which is the best gift? Advertiser disclosure You’re our first priority. Everytime. We believe that everyone should be able make financial decisions without hesitation. While our website does not include every company or financial product available on the market however, we’re confident that the guidance we offer as well as the advice we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent simple, and cost-free. So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This could influence the types of products we write about (and the way they appear on our website) however it does not affect our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of study. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. . Gift Card vs. prepaid debit card: Which is the best gift? Presenting gift cards is the clear winner for a straightforward gift of cash. Prepaid debit cards are more than banks accounts. Written by Spencer Tierney Senior Writer | Certificates of deposit, ethical banking, banking deposits Spencer Tierney is a consumer banking writer at NerdWallet. He has written about finances for individuals since the year 2013 with a focus on certificates of deposit, as well as other banking topics. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He is based in Berkeley, California. Dec 22nd, 2022 Edited by Sara Clarke Assistant Assigning Editor | Banking Sara Clarke is an editor who joined NerdWallet with more than two decades of experience working in newsrooms. She was most recently with U.S. News & World Report. She began her career in journalism with The Washington Post and later was employed by Roll Call, McClatchy-Tribune and The Seattle Times. Sara has been featured on SiriusXM Business Radio and iHeartMedia’s WHO Newsradio and has been quoted on The Salt Lake Tribune, The St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press and other media outlets. She graduated from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Email:
. Many or all of the products we feature are made by our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we review and the location and manner in which the product appears on a page. However, this doesn’t affect our assessments. Our opinions are entirely our own. Here’s a list of and . Cash is a simple option for a gift, but what form it should take is a different matter. The idea of putting bills in an envelope may work however, it’s not the most ideal: There’s no way to get cash back if it is stolen or lost. Plus, it’s easy to forget that cash was given as a gift after it’s placed in a purse. The storage of cash on plastic cards is better, provided you choose wisely among gift cards or prepaid debit cards. Here’s what to know. Gift cards vs. Prepaid debit cards Let’s start with the similarities between them: Both are debit cards that are prepaid, which means you put money on the card prior to spending at stores both in person and online. They also offer protections against loss if you register them under your name. It is possible to find both kinds of cards within the same aisle of a retailer, like Walgreens, so be sure you know which one you’re buying. The primary distinction between a giftcard and a prepaid debit card is that the gift card is only a single-use credit card and a prepaid card is a rechargeable payment option that has most features and fees associated with a checking account as well as linked debit cards do. They are used for one purpose: to buy goods at the brand of a specific store or at any store that accepts payment networks such as Visa, Mastercard or American Express. They aren’t able to withdraw cash, and most aren’t rechargeable. The debit cards that are prepaid have a range of tasks: purchase items; cash out at ATMs, banks, or retail stores; and utilize internet-based features, such as bill pay. They’re also reloadable. Because of their flexibility the prepaid debit cards could be used as budgeting tools, or even as replacements for checking accounts. They’ve historically been used to limit spending too much, but in recent years there have been increased amounts (a typical cost associated with excessive spending) and also to aid in tracking spending. More • Winner Gift cards. Gift cards live up to their name as presents. Their simple nature is the reason they are a better choice to present. But there’s another reason: Prepaid debit cards generally are subject to monthly fees, similar to checking accounts and the fees, often between $5 and $10, could be as high as $120 annually. There may be as well fees for transactions or inactivity charges. The gift card is the best alternative, but they’re all equally great deals. General-use gift cards, such as those from Visa and Mastercard, tend to have one upfront fee, often known as a purchase or activation fee, that the gift giver would be required to pay. The cost could range from $2.95 to $5.95 depending on the amount that is added on the card as determined by an assortment of gift card websites. However, there aren’t many fees following purchase. There are some exceptions. A bank may offer general-use gift cards that have charges for replacement cards or inactivity charges, which could be charged on a monthly basis after one year of card use. You can avoid the majority, if not all, fees by buying a specific brand-name gift card. It is important to know the terms and conditions of a gift card before you buy it so that your holiday gift brings joy with no fees attached. Author bio Spencer Tierney is an expert in certificates of deposit at NerdWallet. His work has been featured in USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. In a similar vein… Find an account that is more suitable for checking View NerdWallet’s top picks for the best checking accounts. Dive even deeper in Banking Make smarter money decisions delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up and we’ll send you Nerdy posts about the money topics that matter most to you along with other ways to help you make the most out of your money.
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