Cheap Alternative To Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard Debit Card

If you don’t live in the US, can’t receive checks reliably in your country and you work for online companies such as Elance, Odesk and 2CheckOut, you’d most probably be aware of Payoneer’s Prepaid MasterCard Debit Card which is how these companies pay folks like you.

With ties to Choice Bank Limited in the US, Payoneer debit cards are designed as an online payment solution offered to organizations  to enable them send funds to remote employees without a fuss.

Recently I’ve noticed a trend where people go out of their way to own a Payoneer MasterCard simply for transacting online not paying much attention to the somewhat astronomical fees they are about to incur.

If you’re in the market for a regular debit card for offline and online transactions only, there exists a few cheap alternatives to Payoneer that you’re probably yet to discover.

Forget the notion that a debit card generated by a US bank is more widely accepted online. It’s just a fallacy ’cause personally I’ve made online purchases using two debit cards issued by a Nigerian bank ( Zenith Bank’s Visa Prepaid Buxz Debit Card and MasterCard WebSurfer ) and 98 percent of these transactions went through without a hitch at all.

In the next few paragraphs, I’ll be showing how you can save a fortune by simply acquiring a regular debit MasterCard or Visa Prepaid card from your local bank.

NOTE: The cheap MasterCard alternative in this article is none other than the non-personalized Visa Prepaid Buxz offered by Zenith Bank Nigeria PLC.

Let’s begin:

1. Card to card fund transfers: With both cards you have the amazing option of receiving money from anywhere in the world from another Visa or MasterCard owner. This kind of transaction carries a minimum fee. The fund transfer initiator or you the receiver is subject to 3.75% charge if using Payoneer’s MasterCard while with Zenith Visa Prepaid a flat fee of $5 applies only irrespective of amount transferred.
2. Online Payments charges: a minimum of $2 is charged by Zenith Bank per online or POS terminal transaction with a maximum of 1.5%. Payoneer ain’t so clear on this but giving this clause on their site that states thus ** When a Purchase Transaction or ATM Withdrawal is requested, up to 3% above market rate will be assessed based on current foreign exchange rates.*, I’m guessing a 3% fee applies.
3. ATM Withdrawals: just like online payment charges above, Payoneer ain’t so clear on this either and my deductions say they charge $2.15 + maximum of 3% per withdrawal. Visa Prepaid by Zenith charges 2%, 2.5% or 3.5% depending on if it’s a US, Local or International ATM withdrawal.
4. Monthly Maintenance Fee: I don’t make purchases frequently online. Aside from the occasional purchase off BlackBerry Appworld, Singing Success, etc my main online purchases at the moment are my Netfirms  and Hostgator bills which come around once a year. I don’t pay maintenance fees on my Buxz card but with Payoneer you could end up paying as much as $3 a month if you make less than 5 transactions a month and still maintain funds in your account. Imagine being charged for not making a purchase. Ouch!

Transacting with Zenith Bank’s Visa Prepaid only costs you more when you want to load funds to your card over the counter or renew your card as they charge $3 and $7 more respectively compared to Payoneer.

The info above is provided to educate you a little on what charges you are subject to should you become a proud owner of a Nigerian Visa Prepaid card or Payoneer Debit MasterCard.

Be sure to use it wisely and share the info with your facebook and twitter pals .

1. A Quick Look At Zenith Bank’s Visa Prepaid Buxz Debit Card
2. How To Get A Free Payoneer Prepaid MasterCard
3. How To Order A US MasterCard et Nigerian MasterCard
4. How To Fund Your LimeExchange Payoneer MasterCard
5. How To Fund Your Paypal and Payoner Prepaid Mastercard

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