The Mango prepaid card consistently proves itself to be a cut above the rest through an attractive combination of reasonable fees and nice benefits. It’s accepted anywhere that MasterCard is accepted, and it has a rather nice design (if that sort of thing matters to you). It’s consumer appeal lies in the fact that Mango is designed to be straightforward and simple; no complicated fee structure and ease of use combined into one nice package.
To begin, let’s take a closer look at the fees. While many prepaid cards have an activation fee, the Mango card does not. It also avoids the more unexpected fees of activation or shipping and handling. There is a monthly fee, but that only comes to $5.00 per month. Compare that to the $10.00 per month or more that many traditional banks charge on a checking account and it’s clear why this is a deal. And, if the consumer loads $500.00 or more onto the card during the previous month, that fee is waived altogether.
There is no fee to have your payroll directly deposited onto your Mango card account, and you can also have money transfered from your existing bank account with no fee. Other free ways to add value to your card include having another Mango user transfer the funds to you online from their account and transferring it from a mobile phone through their YAP feature.
The one fee-based way to add value to the card is to visit any retailer with Green Dot MoneyPaks. The cost to add funds manually is $4.95, and so if this is the only way you will be adding value to the card you will want to look at how often you will be adding value and if it’s more than a couple times a month, be careful that the fees do not add up too quickly.
As for any other fees that you may be charged, be sure to review fees for withdrawing your funds at an ATM or traveling outside of the United States. While the rates are very competitive ($2.00 to withdraw at an ATM, 2% international purchase fee) they still could add up. Also, there is a $10.00 fee to close the account and have a check sent.
A knowledgeable consumer with electronic ways of adding value to this card will get the most benefit for the buck with the Mango card, but even consumers who may pay a little bit more gain many benefits from using this card. Of course the primary benefit is having the flexibility and the peace of mind that comes with not carrying all of your cash around. If your Mango card is ever lost or stolen, just call the company right away and they will get a new one to you.
Another benefit is that there is no credit check when you apply for the card, meaning that if you have made mistakes in the past then you don’t have to worry that you will get declined for this card. And because it’s a prepaid card (versus traditional debit card) it is impossible to overdraw and therefore accrue unmanageable overdraft fees.
With a slick iPhone app available to track your spending and one on the way for Android, this is truly a very competitive and accessible card. For more information, visit Mango on the web at mangomoney.com.
| The Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card | |
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