Hi There !

All the big banks have instituted stored value or prepaid cards.
These are not credit cards;  you "pre-load" them with cash money.
When that money is gone, the card is "dead."

This would be useful---one could give this card to a relative without
worrying that the end-of-month bill could be excessive.  When the 
allotted money is gone, the card shuts down.

But here is the catch:  most of these banks charge a $50 annual fee.
Some even charge to load the money onto the card !

In other words, they are charging you to hold your money.  :-)


A 5-star answer would be one of these cards that does not charge
an annual fee.


All comments greatly appreciated !
ron

Gift Cards - Mastercard
1. Go to http://www.mastercard.com 
2. Click Find a Card
3. Click Gift and Prepaid Cards
4. Click Sort List By and select purchase fee. Also try monthly fee
(the first one for example you pay $6 for and there are no annual
fees, the third one has a $3 purchase fee and is reloadable.

Gift Cards - Visa
1. Select English - USA (assuming you are from US)
2. Click Cards
3. Have a look at under Prepaid Cards / Visa Gift Card. Click Apply
now and look for a location in your area that would get you the best
deal.

tisme-ga

tisme,

Tis a great answer !   Please post so I can pay you.

Thx.
ron