We found a prepaid debit card we hadn’t previously heard of, and upon examination it’s got some features worth mentioning. It’s called the Kaiku Visa Prepaid, and the first interesting thing is that it’s issued by First California Bank. A lot of the prepaid debit cards are issued by Metabank, so it’s good to see a new player on the scene.
The second interesting thing about it is that you can fund it with a credit card. The limits are $100 per transaction, $1,000 per month, but if any issuer is ever dumb enough to offer 5% cashback on a credit card again, this would be an easy $20 per month. It’s also a possible way to meet a minimum spend if you’re desperate enough to pay $30 for the privilege of doing so.
Another interesting thing: you can transfer money directly from the card to a bank account, up to $14,000 per month, making the $20 profit and/or minimum spend mentioned above that much easier.
It’s unusual to see a product with all of these features. Given the potential for fraud that churnable prepaid cards pose, we’re curious to see how long this one lasts.
Website FAQs indicate 3% fee to load via CC, so what possible use is the card? I guess if you’re using a stolen card, it makes no difference, but to churners, it’s worthless
Depends… if you’re desperate to meet a minimum spend or top off a frequent flyer account to buy a ticket, it might be worthwhile. But yes, the 3% is steep, you’d have to come up with something pretty good to offset that.