We are frequently asked if any prepaid cards on the market allow users to transfer money from their paypal account onto a prepaid card.

The general answer has always been an unfortunate “no”, as paypal require a bank account to be registered to enable this transfer.

But as an US paypal user alternative i could recommend Netspend.

Whilst the majority of prepaid card issuers will provide you with a bank account number and sort code to enable you to transfer money into your prepaid account, these bank details are not unique to the cardholder, and are simply the prepaid card issuers corporate bank details to which BACS transfers may be made.

Funds are then received in this bank account, and transferred to your prepaid card (using a card number as a reference.)

Whilst you may think that you could simply register these bank details with paypal, you would be incorrect, as when you register bank details, paypal check to see if these details are registered against any other users on paypal. And of course, someone (if not the prepaid issuer themselves) will have beaten you to it!

So, we are back to square one, where a prepaid card is great for registering on a paypal account to make purchase, but not for withdrawing funds.

If you have any suggestions or alternatives for UK and Internationale ebayers as Netspend for US ebayers please comment and share.