Around one in five people in the UK spends most of their monthly wage packets within just a week of getting paid†, and apparently over 25% of Britons run out of cash by the middle of the month, or need to use their overdraft until their next payday.
So presumably it's beans on toast and a lot of quiet nights in for a large percentage of the population, for most of the month. But there is a simple solution that will work for almost any adult in the UK! The answer for many is a prepaid credit card. These can be a great help with budgeting, and there are no unexpected penalties to catch the unwary out.
All the consumer has to do to help make their wage stretch out across the month is to top up their prepaid card account (on payday if possible) with their weekly or monthly budget. Cardholders will then find it easier to keep track of their spending and remaining balance as they can access this vital information 24/7 online, by text and over the phone.
What's more, prepaid cards such as the Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard® are quick and easy to acquire, as acceptance is guaranteed if the applicant is over 18 and lives in this country. There are no credit checks involved, and the customer does not need to already have a bank account.
When the prepaid card's balance starts to run low, it can be topped up again for free at any UK Post Office branch and at over 1,000 retail stores across the UK, or via bank transfer from an existing bank account.
Alternatively, a Cashplus customer can have their wage paid straight to their card's account – a useful option if the employee doesn't happen to have all the documents needed to open a traditional account. As well as being convenient, this could save on expensive cheque cashing fees – which could help to eek out the wage that little bit further.
Using a prepaid card is simplicity itself. The customer can pay bills or make purchases with their card wherever they see the distinctive MasterCard logo, at millions of outlets around the world, over the phone and online, where there are often exclusive money-saving deals to be had.
It's online that the Cashplus prepaid card is particularly helpful in helping money go further. For starters, Cashplus offer their customers access to their Cashplus Cashback site, where they can enjoy all sorts of money saving offers. They also provide a valuable free Purchase Protection benefit, designed to help the cardholder get their money back if a company goes bust, the goods don't turn up or if the website they bought from turns out to be fraudulent.
No matter how hard consumers try to stick to a budget, from time to time there are bound to be those must-pay emergencies that could make managing money pretty tricky, for example, urgent repairs to a boiler, or expensive parts for a car that's needed to get to work. Again, a prepaid card that offers a loan product such as iAdvance from Cashplus, can be a huge help.
So, for people looking to make their money last from one pay day to another, a feature-packed prepaid card could be a big step in the right direction to better budgeting.
† http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2011/04/19/14.html
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About Advanced Payment Solutions Ltd (APS)
APS is the leading European prepaid card provider, with more than 500,000 cards issued and £500,000,000 in payment turnover. Its flagship product, the award winning Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard® is the UK's first general purpose prepaid card for consumers and in the last couple years APS has developed a growing interest among small businesses which now exceeds 2,500 who are utilising the benefits of the Cashplus prepaid Gold MasterCard to manage and control their business expenditures.