Still looking for a prepaid debit card? The Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® is yet another choice available to you. As with most prepaid debit cards the Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® does not require a credit check in order to qualify for one. It also does not have overdraft or penalty fees. That comes with being prepaid. You can only spend what you have deposited in the account.

They want to encourage you to use direct deposit to fund your prepaid MasterCard, so they are offering a $10 incentive that will be deposited into your account within 5 days of the first direct deposit being made to your account by your employer or the government. The direct deposit has to amount to at least $250 though. Still, a 4% bonus is not bad in this economy.

One feature I really like about the Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® is that they have a network of 15,000 ATM machines where you can withdraw money without a fee. This is a rare feature among prepaid debit cards. Not as rare is the free direct deposit and online bill pay. In fact, I haven’t seen any of the banks offering prepaid debit cards charge for direct deposit. Being charged for the use of an ATM machine to withdraw money is very common though. You are quite lucky if you live near an ATM that belongs to their network. With most prepaid debit cards you have to pay a $2.50 ATM withdrawal fee plus whatever charges the bank whose ATM machine you are using charges.

The Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® has an easy online application form. You will find that it does not take long to fill it out. For the privilege of using this prepaid debit card, you will be charged a monthly fee of $5.95 unless you have $1000 deposited onto your card that month or make 30 transactions. This card is offered through Synovus Bank, one of the largest community banks in the Southeastern part of the United States.

Currently you can take advantage of the cancellation of the $4.95 activation fee, that is normally charged by Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard®. This prepaid MasterCard will not expire for at least a year from the date you set up the debit agreement. So it makes a reasonable emergency debit card for when you need to travel to a remote location. You do have to be at least 18 years old to obtain one of these, so it will not work for your child’s first trip without your supervision. It will, however, do a reasonable job at providing what you haven’t been able to do without a checking account.

Since the laws have been tightened for applying for any type of financial account, you will need to hand out your social security number, name and address, to even be considered. This is to prevent these types of accounts from being used by illegal aliens. This is the type of card any legal citizen of the United States can carry.

You may make purchases at any store that accepts MasterCard debit cards. Unfortunately, the Green Dot® Prepaid MasterCard® does not come with the warranty extensions you would find on most regular credit cards. You are limited to the manufacturer’s warranty for the products purchased. If you don’t feel comfortable carrying large sums of cash around and you have some financial circumstance in your past which does not allow you to qualify for a regular credit card, this may be the card for you. The prepaid MasterCard gives you a chance to prove that you can be fiscally responsible and perhaps allow you to be approved for a standard credit card in the future.