No Fee $10 Purchase Cushion | Best Prepaid Debit Card Features
No Fee $10 Purchase Cushion | Best Prepaid Debit Card Features
The No-Fee $10 purchase cushion is a feature offered by Ace Cash Express and NetSpend on the prepaid debit cards that they issue.
It works exactly as its name suggests. We all know how prepaid debit cards work: you load the card, and then you get all the convenience associated with a debit card, until your balance reaches zero. Typically, a prepaid debit card will not authorize any transaction for an amount greater than what is on your balance, even if it’s a couple dollars. So let’s say you have $52 dollars left on your account but need to pay for a $55 purchase. Most prepaid cards would decline the transaction. With a no-fee $10 purchase protection, your transaction will be approved as long as your shortfall is $10 or less.
Now that doesn’t mean that you were extended $10 worth of credit; on the Ace Cash Express website, they call it a non-contractual courtesy, and you are expected to pay that money back as soon as possible. It doesn’t look like it’s much, but when you consider that you don’t have to pay any overdraft fees for that feature, those debit cards certainly differentiate themselves from the competition.