Bank charges back with a vengeance
Despite the hardship, for whatever reason, people are reluctant to switch banks. It could be because of their life-long affinity to the brand, convenience or other practical/ intangible reasons. The banks know this and are depending on people’s inertia to stop them slipping the noose.
In the interests of saving money, perhaps it would be easier to persuade people to adopt a new plastic card rather than divorce their banks.
Done well and cost-efficiently, utilising the Mastercard prepaid debit card is one convenient, safe and versatile way to slash banking fees.
The basic idea is that you load the card with cash and it is accepted anywhere the Mastercard credit card is accepted – most shops, card terminals and even on the internet. It is secured by chip and PIN.
It is very important when selecting a Mastercard debit-card provider not to fall into the bear pit of top-up fees, surcharges and penalties for inactivity. These caveats have the ability to destroy your spending power.
Thankfully, there is one company in the market that has a straightforward annual fee structure of €10 with no sneaky pitfalls.
“Moneybookers is the best in my opinion because it has the lowest fees,” says Brennan. In his final analysis, one could run a prepaid Mastercard debit card provided by Moneybookers for €10 a year, far less than rival providers.
A card such as this could be the key to slashing your bank transaction charges, even if you’re sticking with your same old bank.
Take the scenario where you use your Laser card to load it up just four times a month with the readies.
You could pay with plastic any time you like and end up with just 12 billable transactions on your bank statement in each quarter.
ATM transactions with this card are relatively expensive (€1.80), but you could use the cashback facility to get cash out.
Theoretically, there is almost no limit to how much you can save by cascading your cards in this manner.
If you migrate from just nine to 13 basic transactions a quarter over on to the Mastercard prepaid debit card from Moneybookers, it will pay for itself for most people.
Prepaid Mastercard – cutting annual bank fees in half; saving: €85.60; getting one up on the bank trying to squeeze you dry – priceless.
