Good prepaid card, may help repair credit history (cashplus MasterCard)

Member Name: edinburgher

Product:	cashplus MasterCard
Date:	04/01/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, website adequate for most account management

Disadvantages: Top ups not massively fast, some costs

Unlike some of the other posters on here, I'm not going to tear into my Cashplus card. Since I first got it 5-6 months ago I've found it to be a very useful tool in managing my finances that little bit better. As someone who has a couple of defaults on their credit history from my time as a student and has moved house *a lot*, this was pretty much my only choice for online shopping.

My card arrived quickly enough (with a week) and the costs (£9.95 setup/£4.95 monthly) while not great are at least competitive with the market. Costs are clearly stated upfront and the terms and conditions on the back of the contract make more than clear your obligations as regards topping up/cleared funds etc.

I maintain it so that I can purchase items through my favourite websites and for the odd shop/foreign purchase where cash isn't an option.

Their website is reasonably good for providing details of your balance etc. and the FAQ sections aren't bad either. I have had to call them once and although it was a charged call, the member of staff I spoke to was pretty helpful and sent out duplicate documents without much convincing.

One final point of interest as regards the Cashplus card that I should probably mention is the 'Credit builder' facility that is offered as a 'free' extra once you have a card up and running. In essence, the issuer lends you the fees for a year (£4.95*12) as a one-off payment that shows up on your transaction history as a credit followed immediately by a debit. Then all you need to do is to keep the card for a year and continue to pay the fees each month.

In exchange for this, the issuer reports the fee payments as positive payments towards the loan with the credit reference agencies. In time, this should improve your credit score and help those who've been less than great at managing their finances in the past to start building up some positive credit history again.

**The loan can be paid off interest free at any time if you decide to cancel the card, but *never* miss a payment. The loan is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act and doing so can worsen your credit history.**

Summary: Useful product, ideal for those who need to make electronic purchases sans a real credit card