Sponsored Post: Exploring the American Express Prepaid Card

Last week I cheerfully announced that I was participating in a trial for the American Express Prepaid Card.   In case you missed my earlier post, the prepaid American Express Card program allows you to transfer money from your checking or bank account to a card you order from the American Express Card site at americanexpress.com/prepaid.  I haven’t done much shopping on the card yet because I’ve been slowed down a bit this week by chronic arthritis pain in the wake of strong California rains and chilly temperatures. I really want to have the in-store shopping experience with the card, rather than do online shopping.  Two weeks ago, I loaded my card with the $2,000 American Express gave me to do the evaluation and this week I did a trial charge on the card.  I did a small trial run. I charged some delicious coffee on the card to warm up during the California storms and floods.  I was delighted to see the charges go through on the card.  The prepaid card charges just like a credit card, except there are no finance fees on my purchased. I signed for the purchase as I normally do when I use my regular American Express Card. I felt a touch of glee knowing that I would only be paying the purchase price of the coffee and not any additional charges.

In the wake of “Bank Transfer” Saturday, budgeting purchases and not paying credit card or bank charges via an American Express Prepaid Card seems like the perfect alternative to fending out the high bank fees going into force.  Some of you may remember that not so long ago Bank of America proposed a $5.00 debit card fee.  Although, consumer outrage stopped that rate hike, I have received plenty of notices from credit card companies saying that if I am late with a payment, I will be a charged a $35.00 fee, in addition to finance fees.  This past weekend, many Americans transferred their banking accounts from traditional banks to credit union accounts.  I think it’s great if people have the option to transfer their money to credit unions, if they can save on fees and still earn decent interest rates.  The proposed bank rate hikes were outrageous, as are some of the credit card fees charged by these same banks.  A few weeks ago Money Magazine reported that a rise in credit card delinquencies, resulted in some of the country’s major credit card issuers posting increases in the number of credit card payments that were at least 30 days late.  That means delinquent consumers end up paying much more than they originally owed via finance charges and late fees.  It’s a no win situation for consumers, especially at holiday time.

It may be a good time to check out a prepaid card like American Express that you load with a budgeted amount which doesn’t carry finance charges. Stay tuned as I continue to explore the card and dream of Chanel or maybe just some holiday shopping.  Or maybe the next thing I will buy will just be a toasty warm electric blanket for these California winter nights! 🙂