Frequently Asked Questions

No, it's not a credit card. The READY debit® Visa® Prepaid Card is a better way for you to manage your spending. Unlike a credit card, you load money on your card before you make purchases, so you can choose just how much to spend. Since you're not borrowing money, there are no credit checks, interest charges or late fees!

Many people use the READYdebit Visa Prepaid Card as an alternative to a traditional checking account because there are no overdraft or negative balance fees. With online bill pay you can send paper checks to anyone you'd like instead of using traditional paper checks. That way, you can be assured you will not spend money you don't have, avoiding costly overdraft fees.

Anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, worldwide: at millions of stores, on the internet, at the gas pump, and more.

The best way is to sign up for direct deposit. It's free, easy, and saves you money—you'll avoid check cashing fees.  More information on other ways to load money.

Absolutely—at any ATM that displays a Visa, Interlink, or NYCE acceptance marks. You'll need to enter your personal identification number (PIN) and choose "Checking" for the account type.

       

Yes, our online bill pay service allows you to pay anyone online. If the recipient can't take electronic payments, we'll even print a check and mail it to them.  More information on online bill pay.

Unfortunately, we cannot send a card directly to a PO Box. We have to send the card to the physical address on the application form. Your best bet is to put in a forward with the post office from your physical address to your PO Box.

In compliance with the US Patriot Act, we need to have a valid Social Security number for all cardholders.

The differences are the features offered and fees charged. The Basic Plan is $4.95 per month and the Select Plan is $8.95 per month.

The Basic Plan has a lower monthly fee, but you pay .95 for "debit" purchases (those transactions you make when you enter in your PIN). You are not charged this fee if you do signature or credit transactions (those purchases where you don't use your PIN). With the Basic Plan, you can use your card as a credit where you provide a signature and you are not charged a fee. When you run it as Debit and use your PIN, then you are charged .95 per PIN transaction. With the Select Plan you pay a higher monthly fee, but there is no fee for using your card for "debit" or "credit" purchases.

With the Basic Plan, you can check your balance at an ATM for .50. With the Select Plan, this service is FREE.

With the Select Plan, you can also have a Secondary Cardholder for a one time fee of $10. This is not available with the Basic Plan.

With the Select Plan, when you have your paycheck direct deposited to your account, you can use the Online Bill Pay for FREE. Without Direct Deposit, this service is $4/month for each month you use it.

When you use Online Bill Pay to pay your bills, at the end of the month we will report your payment history to PRBC. This will start to show a steady history of paying bills on time, which in turn can help the process of building credit. If you do not use Online Bill Pay, then there will not be anything reported to PRBC.

Second cardholders can only be added to our Select Plan accounts. We need the secondary cardholder's legal name, date of birth and social security number. You can enter this information on page two of the order form when you sign up. If you already have a Select Plan account, simply call 866.465.1645 M-F 8am-5pm Pacific time. There is a one time fee of $10 to add the second cardholder and you will both receive new cards (both cards will be the same color). The monthly fee of $8.95 for the Select Plan, will cover both cardholders and both cardholders will have complete access to all of the funds in the account.

In most cases, yes. When you pay at the pump a temporary $75 hold will be placed on the funds in your account until the transaction has cleared your account.  To avoid this $75 hold, just pay inside. If the card is declined at the pump, pay the cashier inside.

Your READYdebit Card is designed to help you avoid overspending—if you don’t have the funds to make a purchase, we will decline the transaction. In the rare event that a store does let a transaction go through, even if you don't have sufficient funds, you are, of course, still responsible for the full amount of the purchase.

Yes, just list your routing number and account number in the Refund section of your tax form. Please note that tax refunds must be payable to the cardholder's name. Please visit our Tax Refund Information page for more details.

You can withdraw up to $500 per day using an ATM and $2,500 per day from a bank teller.

ChexSystems is a service used by financial institutions to help avoid potential risk by identifying customers who have had accounts closed for cause or bounced checks.

Our aim is to keep fees low for our customers. See our complete list of fees and compare.

You don't need to pay anything now to get your READYdebit card. We charge the $9.95 set-up fee to your card the first time you load funds to your account.

If you recently signed up for direct deposit, your employer may have initiated the process by creating a $0.00 transaction to your account. This transaction is considered your first load and the $9.95 set-up fee was assessed. You will not be charged a second $9.95 set-up fee.

Your monthly fee is charged one month from the day you order your READYdebit card. Each month the fee will be charged on that same date.

None of our fees are "hidden." They are all listed under the Fees and Features tab as well as in our Terms and Conditions. Before applying for ANY Credit or Debit card, you should read and understand all of this information. That will eliminate any surprises or "hidden fees" as some customers like to call them.

The best way is to sign up for direct deposit. It's free, easy, and saves you money—you'll avoid check cashing fees.  More information on other ways to load money.

Yes, you can deposit your tax refund, SSI and other benefit payments to your READYdebit Card. Please keep in mind your balance cannot exceed $10,000 at any time and we can only accept tax refunds in the name of the cardholder.

No, you cannot transfer money between a credit card and the READYdebit Card.

A card-to-card transfer is between two READYdebit cards.

We DO NOT ACCEPT Wire Transfers, Western Union, or Money Gram transactions.

We DO ACCEPT PayPal transfers and ACH transfers. These are free loading transactions. You should plan on 1-3 business days for us to receive and post the funds. The funds will come out of the transferring account immediately and then travel through the Federal Reserve. Once we receive the funds we will post them to your account. There are two posting windows each day, 3am Eastern and 1pm Eastern Time.

Yes. Learn more about loading with Green Dot.

Green Dot is a separate company from Ready Financial Group. We have a partnership with them where we use their Moneypak's as a way to reload your READYdebit card. Green Dot MoneyPaks are available at stores such as Walmart, Walgreens, Radio Shack, CVS, RiteAid and many more. Learn moreabout loading your READYdebit card using a Green Dot MoneyPak.

The MoneyPak is used for reloading prepaid cards and costs around $4.95. The Green Dot Money Card will cost around $9.95. If you purchase and activate the Money Card, you will receive Green Dot's Prepaid Plastic Card.

Many short term loan companies, sometimes referred to as payday loans, do not deposit funds to prepaid cards. Their system blocks out the routing number and tells the customer that they have entered an invalid routing number. The customer will have to verify with each loan company prior to completing the application (if possible) to make sure that they will deposit funds to a prepaid card.

The total balance of your READYdebit card account cannot exceed $10,000 at any given time. Any attempted loads that would pur your account over $10,000 will be rejected.

Call 866.295.2460 immediately.

Login to our online service center or call us toll free at 866.295.2460. You can also request your balance via text message. To learn more and to sign up today visit readydebit.com/text.

To speak with a live representative regarding transactions on your account dial 866.295.2460 and to quickly navigate through the automated phone directory select "1" for English or "2" for Spanish, then press "*" "#" and enter your 16 digit card number. You will then be able to speak with a customer care representative.

It's important that you keep your PIN a secret. Never write it down or share it with anyone. To have a new PIN issued, please call us at 866.295.2460.

When you make a purchase, you’ll either need to enter your PIN (merchants call this a "debit" transaction) or sign a receipt (merchants call this a "credit" transaction—even if you use a prepaid card). If you choose “debit,” and enter your PIN, some merchants will offer you the chance to get cash back. If you choose “credit,” and sign a receipt, your transaction is guaranteed to be covered by Visa’s Zero Liability policy.

Yes, the monthly fee of $8.95 does cover both cardholders and both cardholders will have complete access to all of the funds in the account.

Currently we do not have a simple way to change plans. You will need to reapply for a new account under the correct plan. We will keep your current card active until you receive the new card. Once you receive the new card, simply call us at 866.465.1645 M-F 8am-5pm Pacific time and we will transfer all funds to the new account. If you need to change plans, give us a call at 866.465.1645 after you receive your new card and we will also waive the set-up fee or "First Time Load Fee" for the new account. Note: if you open a new account, you will need to update your direct deposit to the new account, it doesn't change automatically.

Yes, you can. You need to provide the routing and account number to the merchant you are paying There is a $2.25 fee each time a company debits your account using the routing and account number.

There are two posting windows each day for ACH deposits. The first is at 3am Eastern Time and the second is around at 1pm Eastern Time.
Direct Deposits are received by the ACH department with a Release Date which is the paydate of the employee designated by your payroll department. The funds are released on your actual paydate or the release date and are not released to the account early. If you have a missing deposit, please verify your account number and routing number with your employer or benefits provider.

Did you pay at the pump? When you insert your card to the pay at the pump outside the gas station, there is a temporary hold of $75 put on to your card. If you do not have $75 available, then the hold is put on all of the remaining funds. Once the station settles your transaction for the actual amount pumped, the remaining funds are released back to your account. This typically takes a few days. The reason for the hold is that there is no way of knowing how much fuel you will pump. Since this a prepaid card, this feature prevents you from overdrawing your account.

To avoid this hold, you can pay inside.

If you've already signed up text BAL to 42265. To sign up visit readydebit.com/text for instructions.