Prepaid cards are a relatively new type of plastic card aimed at young adults and people with no access to a bank account or credit facilities.

The companies behind the cards say they are particularly appealing to individuals who are unable to open traditional back accounts or use credit cards due to poor credit ratings. With a prepaid card these people are empowered to shop online, book a hotel, hire a car online or even download a digital track from the likes of iTunes, things which they might currently be excluded from doing.

Prepay cards act like a mix between a pay-as-you-go mobile phone and a debit or credit card. Cardholders load money on to the card at outlets such as the Post Office, petrol station or newsagent and top it up when it runs out - meaning that it is impossible to go overdrawn or into debt, because users can only spend as much as has been put on the card.

Click on the card for full details / apply online.

Card Click card for more details or to apply		Card issue fee	Monthly Fee	Transaction Fees	Top Up Fees
	Virgin Money Monthly Prepaid MasterCard	£9.95	£4.75	UK card transaction: Free UK cash withdrawal: £1.50 Overseas card transaction: 2.95% Overseas cash withdrawal: £1.50	Top-up at a Post Office: Free Top-up by debit card: Free (maximum top-up £2,000) Top-up by direct transfer: Free Top-up by PayPoint: 2.75% Top-up by credit card: 2.5% (min fee of £2, maximum top-up £500)
	Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard	£9.95	£4.95	Free	The account can be topped-up with any amount from £10 up to a maximum balance of £5,000. There are four easy ways to top-up: via a bank account using a standing order or direct internet payment, by wages directly into the account, at any Post Office branch in the UK or at over 750 retail outlets and 5,000 e-pay outlets. Top-ups at the UK Post Office are limited to £500 per transaction.
	BREAD Prepaid MasterCard	£7.50	Free	UK card transaction: 2% of transaction value UK cash withdrawal: £1.50 Overseas cash withdrawal: £1.99 Card to Card Transfer Fee: £1.50 Foreign Exchange Fee: 2.75% of transaction value	Post Office (maximum of £500.00 per transaction): Free PayPoint (maximum of £500.00 per transaction): 3% of load total Standing Order (maximum of £3,500.00 per transaction): Free Payroll (maximum of £3,500.00 per transaction): Free BACS (maximum of £3,500.00 per transaction): Free
	Sun Prepaid MasterCard	£6.49 - refunded when you first top-up with £20	No monthly free	UK purchases: 2.95% (min 50p, max £1.50 per purchase) Overseas purchases: 2.95% (min 50p, max £1.50 per purchase) UK cash withdrawal: 1.5% (min 99p, max £1.50) Overseas cash withdrawal: £2.25 (some ATMs may charge an additional fee)	Free at High Street Bank Branch; maximum load of £1,500 Free by bank transfer; maximum load of £1,500 99p at Post Office branches; maximum load of £249 3% at PayPoint locations; maximum load of £249 Free BACS/salary/wage payments online; maximum load of £2,000

Being part of the cashless society does come at a price. There are fees associated with using a pre-paid card and they can be more expensive to use than other forms of credit and debit cards, but users cannot go into the red.

More than two million households in Britain do not have a current or savings account, according to Datamonitor, the market analysts, and many adults do not have a credit card. 

Prepaid cards could also be attractive to people who have recently arrived in the country and have not yet been able to open a bank account. They had also proved popular with older and disabled people who find it hard to get about, but who do not qualify for credit cards because they are on benefits.