A “secured credit card” is a credit card used to build a good credit record for people with a damaged or poor credit score or for people with little or no credit history. A secured credit card requires a security deposit in order to be able to establish a
A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded computer chip that looks like a credit card. Smart cards may be used as stored value cards. Depending on the capacity of the integrated circuit, the smart card may hold limited information, or may have the
When you read the cardholder terms and conditions for different prepaid debit card products (you do read them, don’t you?), you’ll see that there are two kinds of point of sale transactions you can use a prepaid debit card for: “signature debit” transactions, and “PIN debit” transactions.
Here’s what a “PIN
A term that frequently is used when reviewing the terms of a prepaid debit card is: “Posted Transactions”. Here’s what a “posted transaction” is (and why you should understand the term).
A posted transaction is a transaction that has not yet been processed or posted, and include credits, debits,
An “open loop” prepaid card is a type of prepaid debit card that can be used at multiple merchant locations (as opposed to “closed loop prepaid cards” that can only be used at certain merchants). An open loop debit card typically has a network brand on it,
If your prepaid debit card is a MasterCard prepaid debit card, you may enjoy some protections against unauthorized purchases made using your debit card (which is a good thing!).
Visa offers a similar Zero Liability Policy for Visa prepaid debit cards.
Not all transactions are protected, however.
Under MasterCard’s Zero Liability policy, you
Network branded prepaid debit cards are one type of prepaid debit card. Network branded cards carry the logo of a payment card network such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
These payment cards allow you to spend up to the total amount of money you
The U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act is a Federal Law that seeks to achieve fair, timely and accurate reporting of credit information by regulating the activities of credit bureaus, limiting access to credit bureau information, and requiring that creditors disclose certain information regarding their use of credit bureau or third
A “closed loop” prepaid card is a type of prepaid debit card that can only be used at certain merchant locations. Closed loop debit cards are also referred to as “store cards”, and are different than “open loop” prepaid cards which can be used at many different merchant
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act is a U.S. law that requires that U.S. financial institutions and other creditors make credit equally available to all creditworthy customers without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status or age. For example, a creditor cannot ask you to reapply, close your