Review on the Vanilla Prepaid Card (And an Alternative You Should Consider Instead)

Prepaid cards have a lot going for them. While they offer many of the features of a traditional credit card, they are a convenient way to manage your money and avoid interest charges. With this in mind, we try to share essential information on various personal financing products to help you make the most informed decision when making your next purchase.

Let’s take a look at the Vanilla Visa and Mastercard prepaid cards. You may find that this card is exactly what you need, or you may want to consider other options.

The Vanilla prepaid card is available in Visa and Mastercard versions. The only notable difference between the two is that the cards have different denominations.

For example, the Vanilla Visa prepaid card starts at $50, with other denominations at $75, $100, $150 and $250. The Vanilla Mastercard prepaid card option starts at $25, with denominations between $25 and $500.

Apart from that, they both serve the same purpose and are reliable sources to choose from. So you can choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

Cards may not be accepted in the same stores. While one retailer may accept Mastercard, another may not (like Costco!). Other notable Vanilla products include:

• MyVanilla rechargeable (by Mastercard)
• OneVanilla (by Visa)
• Vanilla Reload (by Mastercard)
• For you, Pour Vous by Visa
• Thank you and Congratulations by Mastercard

There are also similar prepaid cards, such as :

• The Perfect Gift Visa or Mastercard
• PayPower Mastercard
• Joker Mastercard

The main advantages of the Vanilla prepaid card are as follows:

• No expiration: The funds on your Vanilla prepaid card never expire. If your card expires, you’ll have the option of requesting a replacement card and keeping your balance.
• Online availability: You can use the Vanilla prepaid card to make online shopping as easy as with a traditional credit card. Once you’ve entered your details, including adding a postal code as a security feature, you can access multiple items online.
• No PIN code: the Vanilla prepaid card requires no PIN code. This makes it an excellent gift for people under 18 who want a product that works like a credit or debit card, without the hassle.

Vanilla prepaid cards are readily available at a variety of stores, including Walmart, 7-Eleven, Couche-Tard and many other participating retailers. Unlike other prepaid cards, you don’t need to provide a personal background check or credit score to purchase one.

This means you can also buy as many cards as you like. The card is simple and intuitive to use. Once you’ve purchased the prepaid card, signed the back of the card for verification purposes, you’re ready to use it. It’s easy!

When buying, check the barcode on the packaging. If it looks altered, scratched or has another sticker over it, don’t buy it and inform the merchant. Fraud is unfortunately common with this type of prepaid card.

Although the Vanilla prepaid card is presented as “free after purchase”, the situation is more nuanced than that.

You’ll have to pay a purchase fee, including an initial activation fee when you buy the card. For Mastercard, fees can range from $3.95 to $8.95. Conversely, Visa card fees range from $3.95 to $7.95.

If you buy a lower denomination, these activation fees can represent between 10 and 15% of your purchase!

You should also be aware that a 2.5% exchange fee is charged when you make purchases in a currency other than the Canadian dollar. Avoid using such a card when travelling abroad.

However, the purchase of many prepaid or gift cards, particularly $500 cards, is a red flag for some credit card issuers. We’ve had many cases of our readers having their credit cards closed due to frequent purchases of these prepaid cards.

In fact, it is clearly stated in the terms and conditions of the American Express credit or charge card that the purchase of these prepaid cards is prohibited.

Beware of repeated purchases from a prepaid card, as your credit card issuer may find this suspicious and bring in a financial review.

The Vanilla prepaid card has several disadvantages that may be important to you:

The Vanilla prepaid card is not re-loadable. When you have used up the balance on your Vanilla prepaid card, you must purchase a new card. If you wish to keep the Visa or Mastercard prepaid options, you may wish to consider other Vanilla products, such as MyVanilla, which offers reloading options.

Another disadvantage of this prepaid card is that you can’t use it at an ATM to withdraw cash or get cash back at the point of sale.

If you thought you might be able to use this card to cash in great reward points on your purchases, think again. The Vanilla prepaid card is very basic, and doesn’t offer the benefits you’d expect from a Visa or Mastercard.

Has the money on your prepaid card disappeared immediately after activation? Call the customer service phone number behind the prepaid card right away. They’ll help you, but it may take several weeks before you get your money back.

If you want to obtain your prepaid card balance, go directly to the prepaid card website and not via Google. Many fake websites look like the real thing and take advantage of this to get your precious prepaid card numbers. Then your dollars can fly away.

After making a purchase, you may have a few dollars or pennies left over. For example, how do you use that last annoying $0.76 left on a $500 prepaid card?

At the checkout, ask to pay with 2 methods of payment. Bear in mind that the merchant may refuse to do so. You may need to keep your prepaid card in your wallet for a while.

In our opinion, the best prepaid card according to Milesopedia since 2022 is the KOHO Extra Mastercard prepaid card.

It’s a rechargeable card with many benefits, including cash back with eligible retailers, direct deposit, and no foreign conversion fees (Extra version only).

You can even use it at Costco!

Or the EQ Bank Card is another excellent choice:

• Free withdrawals at any ATM;
• 0.5% cash back on every purchase;
• No foreign conversion fees for travel;
• No monthly fees.

A full review of this card will tell you that, while very practical, a prepaid card isn’t all that exceptional and comes with many red flags.

However, if you’re using it for practical purposes, the Vanilla prepaid card can come in handy.

Keep in mind that the perfect prepaid card doesn’t exist… yet.