There is enough confusion out there about how the prepaid debit card industry works, that it warrants a brief explanation. Now, keep in mind this is a very simplistic explanation of the industry’s structure, but for all intents and purposes, it should provide some insight.
At the top of the food chain, are the banks that issue the cards. Now, the term “banks” is used for simplicity. There are a few layers involved in the industry, and the banks who issue the cards are entities that you probably haven’t heard of as they more than likely don’t have brick and mortar branches where people go to deposit money. Deposited funds (online or through a retail merchant such as Western Union) will run through these companies much like a checking account. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are networks through which the cards are used. The networks provide a transaction service to the banks when your card is swiped. They typically charge the merchant and/or the bank a fee for each swipe. There are also program managers (also known as ISO’s – Independent Sales Organizations) in between all of this that create and run the marketing, advertising and sometimes, processing of the prepaid cards. If you have a question regarding your account, typically the program manager’s company fields the call.
In a nutshell, that is how the prepaid industry is structured. Sometimes, lines between banks and program managers become blurry or even non-existent. Nevertheless, it is a system that continues to work well for many and continues to improve as it evolves.
Your PayPower card will have the Visa ReadyLink symbol on the back. You can add between $20 and $500 to your PayPower card at thousands of Visa ReadyLink locations throughout the U.S. You can get a complete list of locations near you by clicking on “How It Works” and then on the “click here” link underneath the Visa ReadyLink section on the page. Then, just take your card, the cash you want to add, and a small service fee to the reload location cashier. The casher will swipe your card and accept your cash. At a kiosk (participating locations), you will swipe the card yourself and insert the cash. Typically, the load fees are less than $5.00, but they might vary by retail location. Now the funds will be available on your PayPower Visa Card, you can get your receipt and go!
You can purchase a Reloadit Pack at thousands of participating merchants to load cash onto your PayPower Visa card. Just find the display with the Reloadit Pack and take one of the packs to the person at the cash register and load from $20 to $500 on your Reloadit card.
Most of us are unfortunate to have credit card debt. It is just so easy to pay for just about everything with your credit card, and not think about the penalties of high interest rates or having a enough funds to pay the money back. If you are like many Americans and have found it easy to whip out your credit card for purchases then you need to find ways to 
Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us: you reach into your wallet or purse to pull out your debit Visa Card, and find out that it’s not there. Or worse, you realize your whole wallet or purse is gone, along with all of your payment cards and other personal information. If it happens to you, here’s what to do to minimize your losses and disruption to your life. 
