Best online payment cards?

Does anyone happen to know which banks in Canada actually include a CVV code on their cards?

Hi there.
Is it possible here in the States to pick up a prepaid credit card for online shopping without having to deal with all the usual bank headaches? I’m talking about avoiding those annoying credit checks or having them tie everything directly to my main checking account...
Since I barely ever buy anything online, it doesn't really make sense for me to pay annual fees for an American Express, Visa, or Mastercard.
Thanks in advance.

I've got this thing at Bank of America, kind of like a Mastercard, but it’s just a prepaid card.

Visa Webprepaid

https://www.citigroup.com/personal/cards-and-banking/prepaid-cards/webprepaid/

I am looking to make various online purchases from retailers such as Amazon, and for that purpose, I find myself in need of a credit card. Where might one go to obtain a Student credit card that would facilitate these kinds of transactions?

You’d probably have better luck asking over in the "Economy" subforum or maybe the Student Corner

But if you want my take... 😁

Take Diners Club, for example—they have specific options for students 😉

Diners Club Lions Club Student Card

Diners Club Standard Student Card

Diners Club HAK Student Card

Diners Club Billa Student Card

Just try to be smart with your cash 🧐

Diners Club only works on the US version of Amazon. You can't use it on the UK site, for instance. Even PayPal won't take it. So, it's pretty much useless for actual online shopping.
The Student American Express is only valid within the States, making it just as pointless for anything else.

Why does it have to be a credit card anyway? You could just open a checking account at Bank of America and get a Visa Electron. That’ll work on any website, including Amazon.

I’m wondering if an unemployed individual can actually get a card from a bank that works for online shopping. As far as I know, a standard debit card doesn't support 🤷
. It doesn't even have to be a credit card. Can I just walk into a bank, deposit a specific amount of cash into an account, and then spend it online? 😕

I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it has anything to do with employment status. I use a Mastercard and pay an annual fee, which I believe is about $83. Any charges I run on the card just get pulled directly from my checking account.

Edward Moore said:I’m wondering if an unemployed individual can actually get a card from a bank that works for online shopping. As far as I know, a standard debit card doesn't support 🤷
. It doesn't even have to be a credit card. Can I just walk into a bank, deposit a specific amount of cash into an account, and then spend it online? 😕

Besides those webprepaid options, you can sometimes find Visa Electron cards linked to a foreign currency account that work fine online.

If you're unemployed, you could also grab a legitimate credit card, though you'd likely need to provide a deposit as collateral.

James Cox4 said:Visa Webprepaid

https://www.citigroup.com/personal/cards-and-banking/prepaid-cards/webprepaid/

This sounds interesting. Has anyone actually used this yet?

Ethan Chase2 said:I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it has anything to do with employment status. I use a Mastercard and pay an annual fee, which I believe is about $83. Any charges I run on the card just get pulled directly from my checking account.

Could you provide some more details? 🙂
(Where and how do you set one up, what are the total fees, and how's the usability?)

Does anyone have any advice? I'm currently in the middle of building a website to sell some e-books—it's coming along, but I've hit a bit of a snag with the payment setup. I need to get some payment banners live on the site, but apparently, I can't use PayPal because it only lets you send money, not actually receive it here (which... yeah, super smart, right?). I heard somewhere that Moneybookers works pretty well with Bank of America, so I gave them a call, but they had absolutely no clue what Moneybookers even was—honestly, for a major bank, they seemed a little out of the loop there. If anyone has a clever suggestion on how I should handle this, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Hey,

So, I'm looking to buy some stuff online from overseas using PayPal, and I need to know which credit card I should actually get? I don't have any cards yet—just a basic US dollar checking account. Does anyone know if there's a massive fee when you're paying in dollars during the transaction? I see options like Visa, Mastercard, and Diners Club everywhere, but which one is actually the cheapest for shopping on international websites?

Thanks in advance!

P.S.: I'm a Student, so maybe there are some perks I'm missing out on?

Well, I might be able to shed some light on this topic...
For online shopping, you aren't tied down to a standard checking account; you can use various cards like Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, or American Express. You just register them through PayPal and then you're good to go on pretty much any website. Just remember, the CVV code is that three-digit number sitting on the back of the card.
Generally speaking, most major banks, like Bank of America, allow you to get credit cards—the kind that work perfectly for internet purchases—as long as you have steady income or can set up an automatic transfer.

Now, over at Citigroup, they offer this WEBprepaid card which, as I mentioned earlier, is a fantastic option for Students because they don't have to deal with that annual membership fee that usually runs about $17. It’s 100% secure for online shopping (though you can also use it in physical stores or hit up an ATM for cash), mainly because if any fraudulent activity happens, State Farm has the stolen funds covered. The way it works is actually quite simple: you open a standard US dollar checking account—which doesn't cost anything—then apply for the WEBprepaid card and move whatever money you need from your checking account onto it. You can even move money back to your main account whenever you want. There’s no overdraft limit and you absolutely cannot go into the negative; you can only spend exactly what you've transferred from your main account for that specific purchase.
The best part is that anyone can grab one of these cards regardless of whether they're employed or not; there's no requirement to show proof of a paycheck.

Just keep in mind that for any international orders, you'll see a bit of a difference in the exchange rate, since you can't deposit foreign currency directly onto it.

Adam Ross8 said:Well, I might be able to shed some light on this topic...
For online shopping, you aren't tied down to a standard checking account; you can use various cards like Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, or American Express. You just register them through PayPal and then you're good to go on pretty much any website. Just remember, the CVV code is that three-digit number sitting on the back of the card.
Generally speaking, most major banks, like Bank of America, allow you to get credit cards—the kind that work perfectly for internet purchases—as long as you have steady income or can set up an automatic transfer.

Now, over at Citigroup, they offer this WEBprepaid card which, as I mentioned earlier, is a fantastic option for Students because they don't have to deal with that annual membership fee that usually runs about $17. It’s 100% secure for online shopping (though you can also use it in physical stores or hit up an ATM for cash), mainly because if any fraudulent activity happens, State Farm has the stolen funds covered. The way it works is actually quite simple: you open a standard US dollar checking account—which doesn't cost anything—then apply for the WEBprepaid card and move whatever money you need from your checking account onto it. You can even move money back to your main account whenever you want. There’s no overdraft limit and you absolutely cannot go into the negative; you can only spend exactly what you've transferred from your main account for that specific purchase.
The best part is that anyone can grab one of these cards regardless of whether they're employed or not; there's no requirement to show proof of a paycheck.

Just keep in mind that for any international orders, you'll see a bit of a difference in the exchange rate, since you can't deposit foreign currency directly onto it.

That's exactly right. I actually use an OTP PREPAID card myself, and I've been really happy with how it works. I just load onto the card exactly what I'm planning to spend, so there's never any risk of dipping into the red.👍

Raymond Brown10 said:Does anyone have any advice? I'm currently in the middle of building a website to sell some e-books—it's coming along, but I've hit a bit of a snag with the payment setup. I need to get some payment banners live on the site, but apparently, I can't use PayPal because it only lets you send money, not actually receive it here (which... yeah, super smart, right?). I heard somewhere that Moneybookers works pretty well with Bank of America, so I gave them a call, but they had absolutely no clue what Moneybookers even was—honestly, for a major bank, they seemed a little out of the loop there. If anyone has a clever suggestion on how I should handle this, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

I'm not entirely sure if this is the specific answer you're hunting for, but I also offer my services online and I handle all my payments through Moneybookers. It was a fairly straightforward process—I just opened an account with Moneybookers, provided my credit card details, and waited for the verification to clear. Once that was settled, every single payment lands perfectly into my foreign currency account at Bank of America.

Adam Ross8 said:Well, I might be able to shed some light on this topic...
For online shopping, you aren't tied down to a standard checking account; you can use various cards like Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, or American Express. You just register them through PayPal and then you're good to go on pretty much any website. Just remember, the CVV code is that three-digit number sitting on the back of the card.
Generally speaking, most major banks, like Bank of America, allow you to get credit cards—the kind that work perfectly for internet purchases—as long as you have steady income or can set up an automatic transfer.

Now, over at Citigroup, they offer this WEBprepaid card which, as I mentioned earlier, is a fantastic option for Students because they don't have to deal with that annual membership fee that usually runs about $17. It’s 100% secure for online shopping (though you can also use it in physical stores or hit up an ATM for cash), mainly because if any fraudulent activity happens, State Farm has the stolen funds covered. The way it works is actually quite simple: you open a standard US dollar checking account—which doesn't cost anything—then apply for the WEBprepaid card and move whatever money you need from your checking account onto it. You can even move money back to your main account whenever you want. There’s no overdraft limit and you absolutely cannot go into the negative; you can only spend exactly what you've transferred from your main account for that specific purchase.
The best part is that anyone can grab one of these cards regardless of whether they're employed or not; there's no requirement to show proof of a paycheck.

Just keep in mind that for any international orders, you'll see a bit of a difference in the exchange rate, since you can't deposit foreign currency directly onto it.

I am a student and I paid

Just wanted to share a quick cautionary tale...
I have a Visa card issued in Austria. According to the fee schedule, there’s a 1.5% surcharge for any transaction made in a foreign currency (basically anything that isn't the Euro). I used the card here in the States—spending maybe $700 total—assuming the only extra cost would be that 1.5% margin. Then I checked my statement and realized the card issuer can essentially set whatever exchange rate they feel like. Between their markup and the 1.5% fee, instead of using the mid-market rate, they billed me at a much lower conversion. For instance, look at the current exchange rate; if the Dollar shifted slightly, you'd end up paying way more than expected. After doing some digging and calling the issuer, it turns out everything is perfectly legal. They aren't obligated to disclose that they manipulate the rate, provided the receipt shows both the foreign amount and the local currency—if anyone actually bothers to check.
Just a heads-up to double-check your statements so you don't get fleeced, though perhaps the banks here in the US are more honest about it...

Hey everyone!

I'm planning to close out my current account at JP Morgan Chase soon and open up a Student account over at either Bank of America or Wells Fargo... so, does anyone happen to know what kind of monthly interest or other random fees I'd be looking at if I go with a student account?
The reason I'm closing the old one is because my balance is pretty much sitting at zero right now, yet they're still hitting me with interest and fees just for using eBay... basically, is there a specific type of account out there that's actually budget-friendly, where I won't get charged anything while I'm waiting for some funds to land?

Plus, one more thing... between Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or maybe somewhere else entirely—which one is the best bet for shopping through PayPal (like on eBay, Amazon, and so on)? I'm really just looking for one solid card that handles online payments smoothly and keeps those monthly fees to an absolute minimum.

Thanks so much! 🙂

You open a checking account at JPMorgan Chase. It comes with a Visa Electron card for all your online shopping, there are zero monthly maintenance fees, and you can't go into overdraft...