Many pharmacies and big box stores carry these pre-paid Visa/Mastercard debit cards distributed by GreenDot and underwritten by Columbus Bank& Trust.
Greendotonline.com/contents/login. Aspx
Be VERY CAREFUL if you purchase one of these to make sure that the back of the card sold by the store has not been torn off. There should be an activation number on a strip on the back. If not, someone has taken it and already activated the card. Once you purchase it, they have access to your money and will spend it before you can do anything and the seller of the card (like a CVS) will tell you it's not their problem once you buy it. If you try to call GreenDot (they have no online customer service email on their web site), there is NO FUNCTION on their phone system for speaking to a human being. For those still using a rotary phone, you won't be able to get service at all because their automated phone system requires that you enter an activation number for your card or your social security if you already have an active card. It's impossible to reach anyone by phone. I had to write to the underwriting bank to get to a person, and even then it has been three weeks now since my money was stolen because I purchased a card with no activation number on the back and so far, I have not been able to speak to anyone. They gave me a phone number to call but all I get when I call it is voicemail. I have faxed them my sales receipt and all pertinent info related to the sale but they have resolved nothing. I'm out $400 and can't get action from anybody at GreenDot or the underwriting bank. They got my money, why should they care who actually spent it) the thief)
DO NOT BUY THESE CARDS. The risk of theft is too large and customer service is non-existent if it's stolen or lost. YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK (and frankly it's my opinion this is by design. It's a great money maker for them. They don't care who spent the money as long as they make theirs. If they cared, it wouldn't take three weeks to talk to a person, and they would design these cards so they can't be sold as already activated by the thief who stole the activation number off the back).
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