Tuxedo 'Pay Monthly' Prepaid Card Review

Tuxedo Prepaid Card

Card Cost    £9.95

Monthly Fee    £4.99

Purchase Fee    Free

Load Options    Online Post Office PayPoint

You should only apply if you are:

• Aged 13 or over

• UK resident

More about Tuxedo 'Pay Monthly' prepaid card...

If you're on a tight budget, or have no bank account, or maybe you've got a poor credit history, then the Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card is a good card to have. Because Tuxedo isn't lending you money, there are no credit checks and no requirement to have a bank account.

With the Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card you get charged a monthly fee rather than a fee for each purchase you make. This makes it a good choice if you're going to be spending more than around £300 per month, because the charges will work out less than on a 'pay as you go' prepaid card.

There is a £9.95 application fee to take the card out - though this is fairly standard for any prepaid card on the market at present.

MasterCard or Maestro
The Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card can be issued with either a MasterCard or Maestro payment facility. Either of these is widely accepted and MasterCard in particular is accepted worldwide, making this a handy card for going on holiday with. Unlike some other payment cards, there's no extra purchase fee when using the card abroad.

You can also use it for withdrawing your cash at ATM's wherever you see the MasterCard or Maestro symbol, though you will pay a small charge to Tuxedo for doing so, in addition to any charge the ATM provider may impose.

Cash back
Now, not many prepaid cards offer a cash back scheme - being paid for spending your own money just sounds like it's too good to be true. But you can with the Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card, if you shop via the Tuxedo web portal.

The cash back web portal carries links to most categories of stuff that you might want to buy online, and the advantage of buying through the Tuxedo web portal is that you'll be given cash back on your account between 2% and 12% depending upon what you buy.

Additional cards
Now here's an interesting idea; although the lead cardholder has to be aged over 18, any additional cardholders only have to be over 13. This means that you could get your teenagers an additional card to use in emergencies, or to help teach them how to use money wisely.

Loading fees and alerts
The Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card customer service line is charged at local rates only, so you know that if you’re kept hanging on, it won't be at premium rate charges. There's also some limited fraud protection on the card and a sensible limit for the maximum amount you can have on the card.

Load alerts by email or text are also available optionally for 20p each.

Watch out when you're loading the card - in common with all prepaid cards, the Tuxedo Pay Monthly prepaid card has a marked difference in the time it takes top-up funds to reach your card depending on which top up method you use.

Generally, the slower methods are free, whilst the fast method is expensive. For example, top-ups from a bank account via BACS (online through your Internet banking) take 3 days, but are free. PayPoint top-ups take just ten minutes, but you will be charged 3% of your top up.

The key to this is to load the bulk of your money onto the card by the slower, cheaper methods, and know that you can top up in a hurry for emergencies if you need to. Watch out for fees when you're transferring via a credit or debit card over the Internet via the Tuxedo online account - you'll get charged 3%.

Newcastle Building Society issues the Tuxedo prepaid cards. It is important to realise that no prepaid cards are covered by financial services regulations - if the Newcastle went bust, you would lose all the money on your card at that time. It's very unlikely to happen, but obviously it's something to be aware of with the recent problems faced by Northern Rock.

Although you don't need to have a bank account or undergo a credit check, you will still need to send in a copy of your ID - something like a passport or driving licence to comply with money laundering regulations when you first activate your card.

Summary
The Tuxedo Pay Monthly card is great if you want access to the convenience of plastic, but don't have a bank account or are worried about getting into debt. If you are going to be spending regularly on a prepaid card, then it makes sense to go for the monthly fee option. If you're spending more than £300 per month, you'll pay fewer charges than if you go for a 'pay as you go' prepaid card, which waive any monthly fees but charge for each transaction made instead.

In particular, the Tuxedo Pay Monthly card is really good for taking on holiday, because it levies no foreign transaction fees. It will also help you budget whilst abroad, because you will only be able to load a set amount onto the card, rather than blow a huge credit limit.

Buy Tuxedo prepaid card

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