Moving Money on a Card
How does a prepaid card behave in real life?
Here's a collection of the frequently asked questions from customers who are familiar with deposit accounts and credit cards, and who want to offer a prepaid or debit card.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can a prepaid or debit card have overdraft fees? | No. You can only spend the money available on the card. |
| What happens when the tip exceeds the balance? For instance, if I had $5 on the card, and purchased a cup of coffee for $5 and it was approved. Then I left a tip of 50c on the POS terminal. | If the merchant ran the two transactions as a single one it would decline. The merchant could run the transactions as two separate ones, the $5 would approve, and 50c would decline. Finally, the merchant could treat the first $5 transaction as the auth, and then try to clear at $5.50, and in this case, since the auth was already approved, it will put the card into a negative balance. To avoid this, we configure the card program's authorization rules such that the balance much be 20% higher than the auth amount for transactions at specific MCCs such as restaurants. |
| In the previous tip scenario if the merchant ran the first transaction for a $5 auth, and clears the transaction at $10 without authorization of the cardholder, what happens? | There are fraud systems in the payment chain from the acquirer to the network which should not allow such a transaction to process. In the rare circumstance, this does happen and puts the card into a negative balance, the cardholder can treat this as a fraud event and file a dispute. |
| Can a prepaid card be used at a gas station? | Yes, it can be used at a gas station. |
| Where can a prepaid card not be used? | There are certain restricted MCCs. They vary depending on the sponsor bank but generally include gambling, jewels, gems and precious metals. |
Can a card be used at an ATM?
Debit and prepaid cards can be used at an ATM to withdraw funds. Through Bond's platform, these cards have access to 32,000 MoneyPass ATMs surcharge-free as well as ATMs on the STAR network.
Credit Cards and Cash Advances
In order to withdraw cash at an ATM from a credit card, the program needs to be appropriately configured. Contact your Bond brand representative to set this up. Please note that fees at the cash advance APR will be assessed and added to the cardholder's statement
What are the ways to fund a card?
Below is some basic information about how the Bond prepaid and debit cards can be funded.
| Funding Method | Customer Experience | Cost and Speed |
|---|---|---|
| ACH | 1. Customer connects an external bank account and verifies the account with micro-deposits. 2. Once verified, customer can initiate an ACH transfer. | Cheapest. It can take a few days to verify and 3-5 days for the ACH transaction to clear and have funds available for spending. |
| Instant ACH | 1. Customer instantly verifies and connects a bank account. 2. Once verified, customer can initiate an ACH transfer. | Cheap. While verification is instant, it still takes 3-5 days for the ACH transaction to clear and have funds available for spending. |
| Wire | Customer initiates a wire from the sending institution to land into the Bond card's account. | Moderate pricing. Very fast domestically. |
| Peer to Peer | Within your brand program you can instantly move money between cards. | Practically free. Instant. |
| Check | You can deposit a check at a supported ATM in the network or through mobile check deposit on your app. | Moderate pricing. It takes a few days for the check to clear and have funds available for spending. |
What are ways to push money out of a card?
When considering paying for things or sending money to family, friends or vendors, your customers have access to the below methods (in addition to using your card at a store or online).
| Method | Example |
|---|---|
| ACH Debit - Known | A customer may own a bank account at another financial institution, and can transfer money to that account by connecting and verifying the account. |
| ACH Debit - Unknown | A customer may want to pay for a service or a bill by moving money into an account they don't own by requesting the account and routing number. |
| Push to Card | A customer may want to push funds to a separate card or card account by providing the card information such as PAN, CVV and expiry date. |
| Bill Payment | A customer may want to pay an electricity or phone service bill and the service provider requires specific information like a bill number and account number to reconcile the payment. By searching from a list of payees, the customer can securely import and pay a bill. |
Updated over 2 years ago