Applications of Prepaid Cash Cards

Pre-paid cash cards are getting more and more popular nowadays in aligned with the development of e-commerce. With the use of prepaid cash cards, we do not need to bring along too much cash with us, which is an extra security factor that lowers our risks for being robbed in a certain extent. The prepaid cards are quite convenient for use and it is acceptable worldwide. Even students in UTAR now use the debit card to pay for their fees. There are a few prepaid cash cards which are applicable in our daily life, such as debit cards, prepaid mobile phone cards, kiosk cash cards and many others.

‘Prepaid’ means pay in advance, which can be further explained as paying a certain amount of money earlier and the money can be deducted from the card when it is in use.

The most widely used prepaid cash card is the debit cards. These debit cards are normally issued by banks or the debit card companies. Debit cards have money preloaded in the cards and the consumers can use these cards to purchase goods or services either in shopping malls or through online transactions. For example, when consumers are buying goods in shopping malls, they just need to swipe their cards using the card scanner and the money will be transferred straight away to the seller. As for online business or Internet Banking, consumers will need to key in their debit card number and other details in order for the transaction to take place. However, some of the consumers are still concerned with the security of the confidential details when the online transactions take place. This is because the confidential information has the potential to be hacked by hackers.

Another type of common cash card is the mobile prepaid cards. This type of card is to enable consumers to contact with their family and friends when they use the mobile phone services. All we need to do is to purchase the mobile phone cards from the communications services centers and reload it with our mobile ‘SIM’ card. Then, we can use it straight away.

To increase the efficiency of public transport service, Malaysia has introduced the ‘Touch n Go’ prepaid cash card. This card also works the similar way as other prepaid cash cards mentioned above. With this card, consumers will not need to queue for tolls or buying tickets for public transport. It is quicker and more convenient for transport users. This is also applicable in many other countries like Singapore where they use the similar ‘EzLink’ card.

Besides, certain kiosk companies in the United States also use the prepaid kiosk cards to pay for kiosks or fuel. With the use of the kiosk card, consumers can have their self-service on loading fuel. For cyber gamers, the prepaid cards are used to purchase cyber game equipments online. This is also the main attraction for the cyber gamers now. When they need to play games online, they will need to purchase the prepaid game card in order to play the online games with their friends.

Prepaid cash cards are indeed a very convenient and useful item for our daily transactions. With this prepaid card, we can have an immediate transaction and we do not need to worry when we have insufficient cash. Prepaid cash cards also help to plan our finances and avoid us to over-spend. However, one must be much disciplined because some of the consumers may tend to over-spend by swiping their cards uncontrollably. In terms of security, most of the consumers today still prefer the credit cards, which are the cards that are used by charging the consumers with a certain amount of interest after transactions are taken place. This is because debit cards will directly transfer the consumers’ money from the bank to the sellers and this could be risky when the card is lost or fallen into the hands of the robbers. The robbers can use the cards for transactions if the transfer of money is not terminated immediately.

Links:

http://coloradoindependent.com/25154/prepaid-%E2%80%98cash-cards%E2%80%99-a-pricey-way-to-swipe

http://kioskmarketplace.com/article.php?id=16002

http://prepaidcreditcardapplication.info/

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/07/prepaid-card-allows-consumers-to.html