Get $20 free from NetSpend Pre-paid Visa

[disneysteve]

For the record, I got Jeffrey's permission before posting this.

I have a NetSpend pre-paid Visa card that I use occasionally for online purchases when I don't want to give out my regular credit card info. I don't have it linked to my bank account in any way and only keep a max of about $100 on the card at any time so that if anything fraudulent happens, I can't lose much money.

The reason for this post is that I got an e-mail today advertising a bonus for referring new users to NetSpend http://www.netspend.com. For each user I refer who signs up for a card and loads it with at least $40, both I and the new person will each get a bonus of $20. I thought some of you might be interested in doing this. There is a fee when you add money to the card - usually $3 to $5 depending on where you go. Even with the fee, though, you would make at least a $15 profit on the deal.

If anybody is interested, send me a PM with your full name and e-mail address and I'll submit it to them. You will then get an e-mail invitation directly from NetSpend.

Since signing up with them, I have not had any issues with spam or any other problems so I believe that they do keep their user info secure.

[ken1706]

I see they're offering a 5% APY on the NetSpend Savings Plan. Any experience with this? I guess this also has some fees.

[disneysteve]

I saw that, Ken, but I haven't looked into the details.

I just read through the Savings info. Basically, it is an account at MetaBank that is FDIC insured, no minimum, no fees. The one catch is that you can only fund it by transferring money from your NetSpend Visa. That isn't really a big deal, though, because despite what I said above about there being a fee to load the card, if you load it by transferring funds from your bank account or PayPal account, there is no fee. So I could transfer money from my checking account to the Visa card and then from there to the savings account and start earning 5% interest. To withdraw the money, you need to transfer it back to the Visa card. Then you can use it anywhere Visa is accepted or make a withdraw at an ATM (which would have a fee).

[ken1706]

Thanks Steve for the info. It sounds like it may be a decent deal for small balances, but it may not be too liquid for large balances.

[ken1706]

There was an interesting article in the Austin Statesman this weekend on NetSpend and its history:

Here's an excerpt from the article:

It began in 1999 in an Austin apartment, the brainchild of two Mexican immigrants who started with an idea and a few hundred dollars.

Today, NetSpend Corp. is growing fast, with more than 470 employees - most of them in Austin - and annual revenue estimated at more than $200 million.

[Andrew Jackson]

I'm interested in this Steve but I don't see any PM links on your posts, or anyones posts.

[disneysteve]

I'm interested in this Steve but I don't see any PM links on your posts, or anyones posts.

Click on my name and a menu appears. "Send a private message to disneysteve" is one of the options. I'm not sure if you need to have a certain number of posts before you can send PMs.

[Andrew Jackson]

I'm not sure if you need to have a certain number of posts before you can send PMs.

That must be the problem.

But anyhow, I was really only interested in the potential 5% savings account. But after reading that it is only an introductory rate I think I'll just stick with my reward checking account at 4%.