Pre Paid Credit Cards to Improve Your Credit? Do Your Research
Contributed by Michelleg
Pre Paid Credit Cards to Improve Your Credit? Do Your Research
Pre paid credit cards or secured credit cards are offered by many of the major credit card companies and can be a great solution for someone who has past credit problems, but before applying be sure to consider if it's worth the amount of money it will cost you. With initial fees (setup and application fees), annual fees and high annual percentage rates (APR) these credit cards come at a price. Here are a few tips to help you recognize fees which are often hidden behind jargon:
Initial Fees for Pre Paid Credit Cards
The initial fees you are charged to open a secured account, are easily overlooked if you don't read the fine print. It's important to recognize that although with some pre paid credit cards there may be only one setup fee, with others you may be charged two separate fees generally called setup fees and application fees. It is also important to notice that there are many different names associated with these fees to try to throw you off.
Setup fees, also called "processing fees" or "activation fees", can range anywhere from $50 00 to $100 00 on average. All the pre paid credit card companies charge some sort of setup up fee. Many companies also charge an application fee, also called a "program fee" or "acceptance fee", on top of the setup fee. These fees on average are about $5.00 a month or $60 00 a year but can cost up to $150 00.
