Pre-paid cards 'are likely to catch on'
Pre-paid cards are likely to catch on with other providers following the lead of O2 and offering them to teenagers, according to a personal finance writer.
Szu Ping Chan, personal finance writer at Lovemoney.com, suggested that the pre-paid cards can provide a useful alternative to the traditional bank account because there are less forms to be filled in and fewer trips to the bank required.
Her comments follow the launch of a Visa card by mobile phone provider O2 which will give teenagers the freedom to shop on the high street and online without worrying that they could become overdrawn.
This is because card holders will only be able to spend what they have put on the card.
Parents will also be able to load money on to their children's pre-paid card online and be safe in the knowledge that the cards will not work at certain retail outlets and websites such as online gambling sites.
Ms Ping Chan commented on pre-paid cards: "It is an alternative; I don't think it will take over [from] the bank account because that goes through with [in] life but it is a convenient alternative."
Written by Sarah Wilkins ©
