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A Cash Card is a pre-paid
debit card that enables the holder to make
purchases and have them deducted from the card's
available balance.
A cash card may be branded with a major
credit card issuer's logo, such as
American Express,
VISA, or
MasterCard, which enables the holder to make
purchases wherever those cards are accepted. Other
types of
cash cards, such as department store gift
cards, can only be used to make purchases at the
business that issued the card.
The cellular phone industry was able to open the
market to potential cell phone users who did not
meet the carrier's credit requirements by offering
pre-paid cellular cash cards.
While cash cards may be convenient for the card
holder, the real benefit belongs to the card
issuer. Because the cards are pre-paid, the issuer
gets immediate use of all the money that was used
to fund the card, even if the cardholder takes
months to spend it all.
Most cash card issuers also charge an activation
fee, and some charge a monthly fee while others
may charge a "non-usage" fee if the card goes
unused for a specific period of time after it was
issued. |
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