READYdebit® Card

From the CompareCards.com Editorial Team:

The Ready Debit card is a prepaid Visa card with the ability to load the card at more than 50,000 retail locations, and the funds in the account are fully FDIC-insured. The card is honored anywhere that Visa cards are accepted. Since this is a prepaid card there is no credit check and there is also a free online bill paying feature. Virtually anyone can get one of these cards regardless of their credit history.

There are three versions of the card, and each offers slightly different features and fees. Features include free direct deposit, mobile banking, online bill paying, and also a free credit score tracker to help you monitor your credit profile. There are miscellaneous fees and charges as is the case with any prepaid card. Those include a $9.95 activation fee and monthly service fee on some of the versions of the Ready Debit card. The monthly fee varies from free to $9.95 per month depending upon what kind of account you select.

You also pay $2 or more for ATM withdrawals – on top of any fees charged by the ATM company – and customer service on two out of three of the cards costs $2 per call, although with one of those cards you get one customer service call free per month.

The Bottom-Line
This is a standard prepaid card that requires no credit check includes an online bill pay feature that makes it convenient to pay bills each month. Other features include mobile banking and credit score tracking. But there are also fees associated with the card, depending upon which card you sign up for – so it is important to study the fee schedule before choosing your card to get the features you want with the corresponding fees you can afford.

The Good
There is no credit check and the card offers some features to help pay bills, manage finances, and track your credit score.

The Not So Good
There are three versions of this card but they all charge at least $2 per ATM withdrawal and no matter which card you choose you will pay various amounts per month. In addition to having recurring fees the card is prepaid so your credit is limited to how much money you deposit in the account ahead of time.