Splash

Pay using your mobile.

Overall:

A fairly standard prepay card - very similar to all basic MasterCard^® prepay cards, but a Maestro. Some people experience limitations when travelling with a Maestro, so probably not ideal if you want to travel to the States, but fine in Europe.

Good bits:

> Easy to get one.

You can get a card by applying online and paying using your mobile phone, which hopefully means you should get your card relatively quickly.

> Topping up.

Topping up seems quite easy as they not only offer you all the standard ways (such as wages payment, bank transfer, Post Office branches and PayPoint etc), but you can use your debit or credit card (after you have registered it), and get top up vouchers.

Bad bits:

> Surcharge on ATM withdrawals over £50.

You are charged an additional fee of 2%, on top of the standard ATM withdrawal fee (which is £1.50), when you withdraw over £50.

> Surcharge on gambling and betting.

Many people like to use there prepay cards for online gambling.  You can control your spending, plus winnings can be paid back in to your account, giving you a separate account specifically for this purpose.  However, this is probably not the card for you if you wish to do this as you will be charged a surcharge of 1% on any gambling transaction.

> Top up charges for Post Office and Credit/Debit cards.

More additional fees being added on for simply topping up, including 30p for every £10 you load at a Post Office^® branch and 2.5% for topping up with your debit or credit card.

> Charges for ID check.

They charge you £5 when you need to send in documentation to verify who you are.  Many others don't charge anything.  For more details see our Card Verification page.

Standard bits:

> It’s pretty standard.

This card is a very standard prepay card.  There isn’t anything in particular that makes it stand out from the crowd apart from the fact that it is a Maestro rather than a MasterCard.

Best card for you if:

• You really don’t want a MasterCard but a Maestro instead.