Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card Review - Get 6% APR on Your Deposit
The idea of a prepaid card being used as financial tools can be a cringe-worthy concept, particularly to savvy financial experts. For most Americans, prepaid cards aren’t really part of the toolset. The benefits of a credit card are much stronger than prepaid cards, and with most people qualifying for credit cards, even though the recession, prepaid cards don’t get a lot of respect. The drawback of prepaid cards are the varieties of fees. For consumers without choices due to bad credit or no credit, prepaid card issuers really have an advantage. These fees can be exorbitant like those for the RushCards.
There is a much better deal available. One such card with reasonable fees — keeping in mind it is still more expensive to own a prepaid card than most credit cards – is the Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card. In addition to the low fees, this card provides a 6% APY on money deposit. In today’s interest rate environment, where banks are offering 1% APY or much less on savings, this is a compelling option. The money you deposit with the prepaid card is FDIC insured, too, so your money is never at risk.
With an interest rate offer this good, as you’d imagine, there is a catch. The six percent interest rate provided to all Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card members has the following stipulations:
- Customers must open a Mango Money bank account, which can easily be done online.
- Cardholders must initiate a direct deposit, also easily completed online. Without direct deposit, the interest rate would be 2%.
- The 6% only applies to the first $5,000 deposited, with anything above $5,000 receiving a 0.10% APY.
>>Learn More About This Prepaid Card Offer And How to Apply<<
Consumers expecting to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to their new Mango online savings account will be disappointed to see that only the first $5,000 will qualify for the six percent interest rate, but this prepaid card is designed for people in need of a payment method, struggling to make ends meet. The Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card is able to provide such a high-interest rate because it does a very little marketing and print advertisements, passing the money on to the consumer with this offer.
While the above deal sounds quite good, particularly for people who don’t have other options available, but there are drawbacks. The Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card charges just a few general fees, the largest of which can be easily avoided. Cardholders can expect to pay these fees:
- $5 monthly fee. This fee can be waived if the cardholder loads at least $500 onto the card during the month.
- $2 ATM withdrawal fee. Keep in mind that this fee would be in addition to any fee the ATM charges.
- $0.50 ATM balance inquiry fee. There is no fee to check your balance online, however.
- $4.95 cash load fee using Green Dot. Direct deposit and the first six electronic transfers each month are free of charge.
- $10 account closing fee.
There are no application fees, sign-up fees, one-time account opening fees, or any other tactics prepaid cards often take advantage of consumers. For a limited time, when a new account holder makes two direct deposits, the issuer will add a $20 credit to the Mango Money savings account.
The Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card does not report to the major credit bureaus and is not designed to be used by anyone who has good to excellent credit. Prepaid credit cards help consumers with poor credit in need of a safe and secure way to pay for everyday purchases as an alternative to using cash. This one just happens to have a head-turning interest rate, and it’s quite possible for cardholders to avoid paying fees. Prepaid cards prevent holders from spending money they don’t have, but so does a cash-only approach. If it weren’t for the 6% APY interest rate, I might not even mention this card.
Saving money has become quite depressing these days. Almost every day, I need to update the best online savings account page by reducing the interest rates. After another flurry of rate decreases this week, the best rate available today is a sad 1%. Just three years ago, banks were attracting customers with rates of 3% or 4%. With current Federal Reserve policy, there’s no telling just how low deposit interest rates will go.
If you find yourself in need of a prepaid card or are looking to maximize the return of $5,000 in a safe and secure way, consider applying for the Mango™ MasterCard® Prepaid Card and earn a return of up to $300 a year on your money.
>>Learn More About This Prepaid Card Offer And How to Apply<<
Article comments
That’s a promotional rate only for customers with direct deposit. Without direct deposit the promo rate is 2%. The standard rate with direct deposit is 3% and without 0.5%.
If you don’t have $5k to store in a savings account promo gimmick the best cards are
MoneyManager, US Banks Acellapay through CFR OR if you are in a Regions Bank area and are NOT in EWS the Regions Bank Now account they accept people in Chex but not in EWS. This isn’t that bad either the Key Bank Access Account.
I think its a great card for those of us that cant get credit cards. All of my direct deposits go on this card,it has forced me to live within my means,I use the savings account. I have 5 kids and I am a full time nursing student so I dont have a lot to save. I dont add money to the card. My dad will wire money onto the card every once and a while,I do bill pay online,and I always run it as a credit. Just because its a prepaid card if it has a Mastercard logo,they follow mastercard rules as far as liability and loss. they send disclosure with the card. One time I forget the card in an ATM, yes I was responsible for the first 50,after that I was reimbursed what I was lost(stolen) from me.
Yes I saw that. So make two direct deposits to qualify for the 5% (now 6%) savings, make up the difference to equal $5k (unless your two direct deposits cover it), and you have a 5 or 6% cd equivalent.
You guys aren’t looking at this properly. Think of it as a 5% CD for $5k and the fees become irrelevant.
Look again. Unless you setup direct deposit then it is just 2%. As long as i have a pin to use at POS then this card might make a good temporary storage for my Discover Card spending. Here is the setup i’m thinking of.
I make an initial deposit of $5000 to the card.
I setup direct deposit to deposit $500 a month to the card.
I use my Discover Card for $500+ in purchases a month.
I take my Mango Card to Sears to make a $500 Discover Card payment each month.
I get the 5% through Mango and the up to 25% through Discover (using their online portal).
Not worth it: this is just another twist on all those savings banks setting slightly higher rates on savings deposits, and then once they’re reeled in serious money, dropping those rates to the average ho-hum rates. This company is playing the averages as follows: 1) reel them in, 2) drop the rates, 3) rely on the percentage of those reeled in – proven by research – that will not manage the card properly and surely end up losing money. For those who actually do make the $25 a month theoretically possible until they start lowering rates, don’t forget that $10 goodbye kiss. Can’t avoid that. Plus, you have to keep adding to it — meaning you either have to spend that amount ($500) or forego interest on it.
No thanks — not worth the hassle.
FYI, when I looked around on the site it says that the promo rate is 4.99% (5.10%APY) on the first $5k, not 6%.
They also do not allow wires or ACH transfers from the savings account, so it’d be hard to use as an e-fund for example.
I followed the link and it lists “up to 6%” on the application page. Also on this “What is Mango” page, halfway down. link
I was reading the account agreements during the signup process. Those are the only contractual obligations they’ll have to abide by.
There’s also a safety factor to consider; ATM phishing, etc. I wonder how much the card holder would be responsible for if his card were lost or stolen or phished (i.e. many credit card companies hold the cardholder responsible for the first $50 if their card is lost or stolen). Not sure if I’m saying that right, but it’s something to consider.
“Saving money has become quite depressing these days” – you’re absolutely right, Flexo.
It sounded pretty good until you got to all those fees. That would eat up a lot of interest. I think the bank knows that.
Prepaid cards truly for those who can’t get a traditional credit card. When you load a prepaid card, you are tying up capital which could be used other places. This is essentially the whole value of a cc (to me anyway), using other people’s money for 30 days, paying it back within the grace period, and paying no interest.