This week’s spotlight focuses on a prepaid card touting exceptionally low fees – the Western Union MoneyWise MasterCard. Western Union has been a leader in the transfer of funds for decades. As a prepaid player, they up the ante by offering a product that is not only competitive in it’s fee structure, but also includes a ton of great features to boot. The convenience of worldwide acceptance of MasterCard, the ability to load funds at over 46,000 retail agent locations nationwide, excellent online account management and mobile text alerts are a few of the reasons MoneyWise is a great way to pay for your everyday expenses.

Enrolling for the MoneyWise card is simple. Their website is very uncluttered and easy to read in predominantly black text over lots of white space. Just click one of the obviously displayed yellow buttons titled, “GET YOUR CARD NOW” to signup. You will then be asked to fill in the typical name, address, social security, phone, date of birth and email address fields. It’s pretty simple, and if you sign up for Direct Deposit, you can get a $10 bonus as well.

We can’t stress enough the competitiveness of the simple fee structure. There is no Activation Fee, no Monthly Maintenance Fee and no Customer Service Fee. These fees are typically where most card providers make their money. Western Union really only has five fees to be aware of – ATM Withdrawal Fee, Paper Statement Fee, Card Reissue Fee, Card Inactivity Fee (after 12 months) and Agent Location Cash Load Fee. It is always a good idea to check out the card’s terms and conditions before purchasing to be sure. Western Union scored high marks with the Better Business Bureau regarding customer services issues as well.

There are other cards available with competitive fees, but not many. Western Union’s product has ample features, but definitely not the leader in that category. We think that for many customers, the low fees will more than make up for that. Some other functions of the MoneyWise MasterCard we should mention are online bill pay, mobile text notifications, MasterCard’s Zero Liability protection, no credit check and no overdraft or interest charges.

Here’s a list of the features Western Union is most proud of:

• No monthly maintenance fees.
• No purchase transaction fees.
• No overdraft or late payment fees.
• No bank account or credit check required.
• Free to activate your card online.
• Free payroll direct deposit.
• Receive a Western Union Money Transfer transaction onto your card.
• Use anywhere Debit MasterCard is accepted, including online and at ATMs.Apply Now!