For a college kid, I need a pre-loaded debit card that's able to give
the user cash at an ATM *and* allow them to make purchases. When the
card is empty, it gets tossed. The plan is to send the college kid a
card every couple of weeks. This keeps them on a budget without having
to worry about them writing too many checks on a checking account.

Hi holstein!

I was recently out shopping with my sister, and noticed a display of
"pre-paid" Mastercards at the checkout.  I thought that was a very
clever idea.  Then today I found your question, and just knew I had to
investigate a little more.

My first stop was MasterCard's website, particularly the "Prepaid
Card" section:

MasterCard Prepaid Cards
http://www.mastercard.com/cgi-bin/afac/searchresults.cgi?prdctid=3

MasterCard offers 3 kinds of prepaid cards, and while you *could* just
get them, then toss them, they *are* designed to be re-loadable via
transfer from your credit card, checking or savings account, depending
on which card you choose.

All of the MasterCard prepaid cards are accepted wherever MasterCard
is accepted.  For maximum accessibility, though, you'll probably want
the eCount:

"ECount is a pre-paid debit card that lets you shop anywhere online
that accepts MasterCard. With ecount, you can also receive and send
payments via email. Sign up for the plastic ecount Card to withdraw
cash at ATMs and to shop anywhere offline where MasterCard is
accepted."

Initial card activation is $6.95.  Subsequent re-loads incur a fee of
$2.  Gift cards can be purchased at many retailers nationwide, and all
three are available directly from MasterCard.

Visa also offers several prepaid options - Visa Gift cards through
Bank of America and VisaBuxx prepaid, reloadable debit cards.

The Visa Gift card, while accepted anywhere you see the Visa logo, is
quite restrictive - ATM withdrawals are limited to a total of $50 in
any 7-day period.  Purchases at merchants are unlimited, however.

Visa Gift Card
http://www.bankofamerica.com/creditcards/index.cfm?template=cc_giftcard.cfm

The VisaBuxx card is a re-loadable prepaid debit card available from a
number of financial institutions.  You can add as much or as little
money to the account as you'd like, and can even schedule automatic
re-loads to give your student a regular allowance.

VisaBuxx
http://www.visabuxx.com/learnmore/index.cfm

Both options offer online account information so your student can keep
track of his/her balance and purchases.

Similar prepaid debit cards bearing the MasterCard or Visa logos are
available from a number of online brokers.  These brokers charge an
"application fee" ranging anywhere from $9.95 to $47.00, over and
above the amount you wish to put on the card, and re-load fees are
similarly pricey.

I hope this is the information you needed!  If any part of my answer
has been unclear, please don't hesitate to ask for clarification, and
I will be glad to assist you further.

--Missy

Why does the card have to expire?  You sound like the phone companies
that want to expire your wireless minutes each month, instead of
allowing you to carry them forward.

Why can't you just add X amount monthly to the SAME card?

IGEN offers a prepaid- rechargable Mastercard
http://mymccard.com
can be purchased & refilled at any Rite-Aid pharmacy in the US
and a few other chains - can refill by mail too
Card # may be used on web right after purchase, they send plastic
one in a couple of weeks