Money Guide Ireland

We previously wrote about how Ryanair customers could avoid the Ryanair credit card fees by using a virtual Visa Electron card from Entropay.  Sometimes – when buying very cheap flights – the credit card fee can be as much as 10 times the fare.
This week Ryanair announced that they are changing their  free purchase option to Prepaid Mastercards instead of the Visa Electron.
From December 1st 2009 – Ryanair customers will not be charged the credit card fee when using a prepaid Mastercard. Visa Electron cards will start to incur a charge on Ryanair from January 2010.

For the frequent flyer on Ryanair – these €5 per flight credit card charges can soon mount up. For a family of six booking  return flights for €300 on Ryanair – the credit card booking fee would come to €60. Using the “free” option could cost them as little as €9 Euro.

Where can you get a Prepaid Mastercard in Ireland?
There are a few ways  for Irish residents to obtain a Prepaid Mastercard .

1. People who already used Entropay to avail of the Visa Electron – will be happy to hear that they can still use their Entropay account to apply for a prepaid Mastercard. See here.  Entropay charge 4.95% when you load the card and there is no charge when you use it to purchase something. It is free to join. Buying 6 tickets on Ryanair worth €300 would cost you €14.85 in loading fees.

2.Wirecard have a virtual prepaid Mastercard and Irish residents can apply. No initial fee or usage fees. Loading fees are 3% from another credit card. So a €300 load to buy 6 tickets on Ryanair would cost €9.

3.Payzone also offer prepaid Mastercard with loading fee of €3.50 on amounts up to €350 . It costs €6 to apply for one online. Using the card for online purchases will cost you 2.95% of the spend. Buying 6 return tickets with a value of €300 will cost you €12.35 including the loading fee.  NB- Payzone will charge you €3.50 a month if you don’t use the account for 3 months !

4.Rubycard is another suplier of Prepaid Mastercards  in Ireland. They have a Pay as you Go option which has a 2.95% fee on purchases (MAX €2) . It costs €12.95 to buy one online or €15 to buy via text.
With Rubycard the loading fees are 3% with a €5 cap. (At Paypoint) There is a free loading option available if you use bank transfer. Assuming top up at aPaypoint – the purchase of 6 tickets costing €300 Euro would cost you €7 in fees at Rubycard. (There is also  Stamp Duty of €5 a year.)
The  Ruby MasterCard Prepaid Card has a €1,650 cumulative annual limit -  which means that you can’t spend or load more than that sum in any 12 month period. You can can upgrade to a €3,000 limit card for €3.95.

5.  You could buy yourself a giftcard at Dundrum shopping centre   – see more at  http://www.perfectcard.ie . These cards are prepaid  Mastercards too. There is a €1 fee but no reloads.  It lasts 12 months and if there is a balance remaining after 12 months you have to pay €7.50 to get the balance back.  Probably only useful if you live in Dublin because you have to buy them from the shopping cenre.

6. Members of Bishoptown Credit Union in Cork can apply for a Prepaid Mastercard Debit Card from TruCash-   see . (You may well have to live in the area to open an account with them.

Here are some  places  for UK residents who want to get a Prepaid Mastercard. (Not available to Irish Residents)

Ice
Canton FX
Fair FX
Western Union
Tuxedo
Bread