By A whole horde of users received emails today being informed that Google would be ending its prepaid card program soon. Since Google Wallet is now compatible with all major credit card vendors they feel it’s no longer beneficial to keep it going. Unfortunately, some of you do still have a balance on that prepaid card.
Google’s giving you ample time to use that balance up as they’ve set the cut-off date to use it by October 17th. Even if you can’t find yourself using it up by that time, Google will give you the ability to request a refund for any unused funds. Beyond that, you will no longer be able to add funds to your prepaid card after September 17th.
It should come as no surprise to anyone as the Wallet program is now virtually accessible to anyone with a compatible Android phone and a credit or debit card from a major vendor.
The only reason to use the prepaid card was to get around the fact that Google couldn’t support anyone other than Mastercard, so since that is no longer an issue the prepaid card is no longer a necessity.
Google’s also changed their terms on fees. You will now be asked to pay $2.00 after 30 days of inactivity instead of the usual 180 days. In order to avoid the fee for this last time, Google will ask you to make at least one purchase before October 17th.
Go ahead and take care of all that well ahead of time, and be sure to set your Google Wallet account up with your cards if you haven’t done so already. Farewell, prepaid. Head to the source link for more details. [Google]
Well, this makes me sad face.
Is it going to charge a $2 fee for any money I have on there? Because I have money on my card that i can’t use because there are no PayPass terminals where I live.
Buy apps?
You can request a refund of any funds in still have left in your googlecard. So no worries. http://www.google.com/wallet/prepaid-refund/
That is only after October 17th though, right? I followed the link and I did not see anything that let me do it and it said i had to wait until then. I do not liek this because it makes me wait and I don’t even want to here the words “Sorry there is nothing we can do.”
Yikes. I’m making sure I’m out of there today. I could easily go a month without using this marginal service. Non-usage fees == goodbye Wallet!
The way I understand it is the $2 fee is only for the prepaid card, not for any other payment method you have set up in Wallet.
Pay $2 a month or use my free debit card from my bank. I don’t see any advantages to Google Wallet.
$2.00 is for 30 days of inactivity. The advantage of Google wallet is fast payment with NFC, and security (No worrying about carrying cards around and losing them.)
My cards don’t charge me anything whether I use them or not. The $2 penalty is a complete deal breaker for me (and I’m sure many others).
If you find the features that Wallet offers unimportant then I understand. For people who use NFC and like the security of Wallet it doesn’t matter.
What if i wanna be off the grid. Big Brother gonna be all up in my biz yo
Oh man, I can’t wait to get my credit cards linked… wait… I’m in the UK. Google hates me.
Hey, at least you guys over there get better iterations of handsets.
Google is loosing this war Me Thinks
Did you even read the article? The reason they are doing away with the pre-paid card, is because you can now add any VISA or MasterCard of your choice, eliminating the purpose of having the pre-paid card.
Signed up back then and received the free cash. But so hard to use at 7/11. Turn on phone, unlock, tap, enter pin, tap again, hit confirm on phone.
Credit card: pull out wallet, pull out card, swipe, and you are done.
i never needed to unlock my phone after turning it on…and tapping is so much easier than pulling out my wallet and pulling out a stuck credit card in between other credit cards. i can’t seem to understand your reasoning…sorry.
And I can’t seem to understand how your credit cards stuck while mines aren’t. Sorry.
I can’t wait to not be able to use it anyway because of a dead secure element. Thanks for the warning, factory reset. :(
This does not make me happy. Every payday i add some money onto my prepaid card as a backup if i need some money for gas or something before my next paycheck. It’s a nice way to make sure the money doesn’t get spend as only so many places take it. Plus, from what i understand, when you make a transaction with your credit card on Google Wallet, it doesn’t post on your card where you made the transaction and instead as a payment to Google Wallet? Haven’t done it in a while so not sure if it’s the same way. Either way, i feel like i’ll be using Google Wallet a lot less now with out the prepaid card.