International Payment Cards For Sale at Newsagents and Gas Stations
- Visa and MasterCard are expanding their distribution network through newsagents and gas stations and propose anonymous reloadable prepaid payment cards unrelated to the customer’s bank account.
- These cards costs between seven and fifteen euros and can be reloaded with cash, cheques, through online credit transfers or using a bank card.
- For MasterCard PCS prepaid cards, the credited reloading amount cannot exceed 1,000 euros, and 6,000 for “premium” cards, depending on whether the customer provides his ID, or not. A commission ranging from 2 to 7% of the credited amount is also debited and varies according to the reload amount and the means of payment used to top-up the card (card, transfer, coupon, etc.).
- These cards let us ponder over the question of transaction security. On the one hand, the consumer can activate his card simply by sending the corresponding reference by SMS. On the other hand, no ID control is performed below 1,000 euros reload.
- This payment solution mostly targets less wealthy customers (students, people with low income, etc.) trying to better manage their budget (no overdrawn allowed). Nevertheless, despite all possible advantages provided by this solution (anonymity, security for distant purchases, easiness of use, etc.), this consumer segment might not be interested in these rather expensive cards and we must keep in mind that additional fees are charged when reloading.