Prepaid cards are like credit cards, but technically they work like debit cards. With prepaid cards, you spend own money loaded in advance instead of a bank’s money. There is a large number of prepaid cards available in the market; however, it can be quite confusing to find the most popular ones that perhaps regularly feature among top 10 free prepaid cards. Prepaid cards carry various hidden charges; however, there are cards that charge no fees or charge very small fees.

The following cards can be considered as top 10 free prepaid cards based on the fees charged by them. All of these do not have hidden fees, require no credit check, and do not have any activation fee.

American Express Serve
American Express Serve prepaid cards are available in three different types. The basic American Express Serve card has the following features: free online bill pay, free early direct deposit, ATM withdrawals are free, over 24,000 ATMs nationwide, and $2.50 out-of-network fee. American Express Serve Plus card offers an additional feature of free reloads over 45,000 locations along with the basic Serve card features. American Express Serve Cashback, along with all the facilities of Serve Plus, offers unlimited 1% cashback on the purchase (while spending in a store). Other features include the following:

• No minimum balance required.
• This card is free when you get it online; it is chargeable up to $3.95 when obtained from a retailer.
• The monthly fee for the card is $1, and this can be waived by making a direct deposit of $500 or more.

KAIKU Prepaid VISA card
KAIKU VISA cards are alternative to bank accounts and credit cards. With unlimited transaction facility, this card is useful for small purchases. The card has the following features:

• Money can be reloaded by direct deposit or by mobile check deposit, which is free of cost.
• Monthly fee is $3.00 and this can be waived by a direct deposit of minimum $750 per month.
• ATM withdrawals are free over 55,000 in-network ATMs, and out-of-network ATM charge is $1.45.
• Free money transfer to another account.
• No fees for inactivation.

Navy Federal Go Prepaid card
Navy Federal Go Prepaid Card is a VISA card and can be used wherever VISA is accepted. Money can be easily reloaded from Navy Federal Debit Card or Credit Card. This card has the following features:

• No purchase fees.
• No monthly fees.
• ATM cash withdrawal fee is $1.00 per transaction and balance inquiry fee is $1.
• The card replacement fee is $5.00.
• No fees for national transactions but it charges $1.00 for transactions made in foreign/international countries.
• Lastly, the card is protected by zero liability policy.

NetSpend Prepaid Card
NetSpend prepaid cards are available as both VISA card, and MasterCard; hence can be used wherever VISA and MasterCard are accepted. The card has three plans as follows:

• The first one is No Fee plan; it charges $1 for signature purchases and $2 for PIN purchase transactions.
• The second one is Fee Advantage plan which charges a monthly fee of $9.95 with unlimited transaction facility.
• The third one is NetSpend Premier Fee Advantage Plan that charges a monthly fee of $5.00 with unlimited transaction facility.

Some other useful features of the card are as follows:

• Free for monthly plan cardholders.
• No fee for purchasing.
• No minimum balance is required.
• Money can be added to direct deposit from a bank account, mobile check deposit, at reloading locations, and from NetSpend cardholders.
• ATM withdrawal fee is $2.50 and balance inquiry fee is $0.50.

PayPal Prepaid MasterCard
With this popular reloadable debit card, money can be loaded instantly from a PayPal account or by direct deposit; both are free. Another option for adding money to the card is PayPal reload network, which is available in more than 130,000 locations. But reload fees will be applicable here. This card has the following features:

• The card is free online and it requires no late fees or overdraft charges.
• ATM withdrawal fee is $1.95 and per day withdrawal limit is $940.
• A monthly fee of $4.95 is applicable.

Walmart MoneyCard
The Walmart MoneyCard has both VISA card and MasterCard with the following types: Basic, Plus, Speciality, and Preferred. Cards offer free reload facility with direct deposit, but there is a check cashing fee. The Rapid Reload facility is free for Preferred cardholders and charges $3 for other cardholders. Rapid Reload is the easy way to add money to the card with a single swipe at any Walmart register. These cards can be used everywhere in the USA, where VISA debit cards and MasterCard debit cards are excepted. Following are some useful features of this card:

• Issuance fee is $3 when it is purchased directly from the store, and it can be avoided by applying for the card online.
• No fees for online bill pay.
• Monthly maintenance fee for the card is $3.
• Reloading fee is $3 for other than direct deposit.
• ATM withdrawal is free on in-network, but the fee for out-of-network is $2. Withdrawal limit is $400 per transaction and per day.
• Card replacement fee is $4.

Mango VISA Prepaid Cards
This card provides the best savings account (currently pays 6.00% APY) along with reasonable fees. Money can be loaded easily from a Mango account, and online transfer of money from one Mango card to other is free. Mango Visa Prepaid cards have following charges:

• The monthly fee is $3.
• ATM balance inquiry fee is $1 and ATM withdrawal fee is $2.

Chase Liquid Card
Chase Liquid’s reloadable prepaid cards are easily available at any Chase bank branch. By adding $25 as initial deposit, one can start using the card. Methods of adding money to the card are as follows: direct deposit, mobile check deposit, Chase ATMs, and any Chase branch. This card can be used wherever VISA is accepted. A monthly fee is $4.95, that’s only waived when the card is linked to a qualifying Chase checking account. Cash withdrawing is free at Chase ATMs (up to $500 per day), and it charges $2.50 on out-of-network ATMs.

Bluebird Prepaid Card by American Express
This card can be considered as one of the cheapest cards with the following considerable features:

• No monthly fee and no inactivity charge.
• No fee is required for purchases.
• Money can be loaded free by direct deposit, card transfer, or mobile check deposit.
• Cash withdrawals at MoneyPass ATMs are free, but out-of-network ATM withdrawal charges a fee of $2.50.
• Intracard money transfer facility is available.

The biggest disadvantage of the card is that it is not accepted anywhere; it can be only used where American Express is accepted.

Akimbo Prepaid MasterCard
This card is one of the best choices for budgeting; it has the following features:

• Money can be loaded free by direct deposit or by using a linked bank account.
• Other ways of loading money, which are not free are as follows: Load Cash by using MasterCard rePower or Green Dot Reload at the Register network (retailer charges between $4 and $5), Mobile Check deposit, or by Akimbo card to card transfer.
• No monthly fee; if card remains inactive after a year, $5.95 is applicable.
• In-network and out-of-network ATM withdrawal charges are $1.98 each; ATM balance inquiry fee is $0.33.