Vanilla Visa Gift Card – Review
What is the Vanilla Visa Gift Card?
The Vanilla Visa Gift Card is a prepaid Visa card that comes in denominations of $25, $50, and $100. It works the same way any debit card would and is accepted anywhere Visa Debit is located. It can be purchased at most department and convenience stores in the United States.
Is there any fee?
To activate your card, you must pay the value of the card plus an activation fee between $4.95 and $6.95. The activation fee varies depending on the total balance you want to put on the card. So if you just activate it with $25, you’ll only have to pay $4.95 for a total of $29.95.
There are also service fees associated with the card. After the seventh month after activation, you will be charged $2.50 each month until the card balance reaches zero. So if you don’t use it or forget it somewhere instead of discovering a gem with a $100 balance, your Vanilla Visa may be left with nothing.
How do I check the balance of my Vanilla Visa?
This is a relatively simple process. You can visit your home page or call customer service at 1-800-571-1376 for the most accurate and up-to-date statement about your card balance.
positives
The Vanilla Visa Gift Card is accepted anywhere Visa Debit is located. This is pretty much everywhere in the United States, so the card has a very high value simply because of this. One of the main substitute goods for this product is the American Express gift card. The downside to American Express is that it is not as widely accepted as Visa.
I recently tried to pay for my pizza at a smaller size mom and pop style store. I was very disappointed not to be able to use my American Express card there. That is why I recommend using this product as a gift for a child or adolescent who does not carry additional credit or debit cards.
The replacement policy with this company is excellent. You can call their customer service line at any time, and as long as you have the proper proof of purchase and serial number, you can reissue the card. They will charge you a $5.95 reissue fee, but this is much better than losing the card balance forever.
negatives
You can’t register the card, which means you absolutely can’t use the Vanilla Visa Gift Card to shop online. I don’t care what you read on the web or yahoo answers, it’s just not possible.
Here’s why: When you buy something online, the supplying merchant will verify the name, billing address, and phone number associated with the credit card. Because you can’t sign up with Vanilla Visa, you won’t be able to shop online anywhere.
The inability to register the card really makes things you can do with it online difficult. If you’re a fan of eBay or PayPal, you might want to look into other options, like the Greendot MoneyPak, which will allow you to add funds to your account.
Final revision
The Vanilla Visa Gift Card does not come with the same flexibility that is seen with its competitors offered by other banks, as well as American Express and MasterCard. The best advantages of the card would be the replacement feature and that it does not require any kind of activation. However, the advantages do not outweigh the negative aspects caused by the inability to register the card.
With that being said, I recommend you don’t buy Vanilla Visa except for a gift for younger adults. Young adults and teens typically don’t carry extra debit or credit cards and will spend cash or gift cards quickly while hanging out at malls and other venues with their peers. Visa’s freedom is self-evident as it’s accepted pretty much everywhere, making it a great gift.
