Bank gift cards

I am thinking of giving a bank gift card as a birthday gift. However, my bank only offer business gift cards. Does anyone know where I can purchase one? I've looked at giftcard.com and was hoping I could find something perhaps better than that site.

Thanks in advance!

One issue with the Visa/MasterCard type gift (debit) cards is the owner has keep track or call the CC company first to find out the exact balance--Otherwise, if they try to charge one penny more than is on the card, it will be declined.

Depending on the reason you wish to give the card (use in a grocery store, a home improvement store, or for generic use)--it might be easier to just give a gift card for some store/company that the recipient would be interested in using (since it is their card, they can look up the balance themselves at the store).

-Bill

Doh, check your local grocery stores; the come in different amounts, and their setup fees are a fraction of what on-line companies charge. We did this last Christmas for some people we know.

Be very careful of some of those cards. I have received one as a gift that charged you every time you used it. It was 1 dollar if used as a credit card transaction, and two dollars if you used it as a Debit card. You had to set it all up online, get a pin number. It was rather annoying.

As said, many grocery stores sell them now, for lots of different places.

-C

I am not sure why people like gift cards so much? I find them very restrictive as you can only use them where they are purchased from, or in the case of Amex/Visa where credit cards are accepted. I have always thought of cash as the universal gift card. It can be spent anywhere, deposited in a bank if you want and there are no charges or questions about a remaining balance.

You can buy a Visa gift card at USBANK. The service charge is $4.99 (or so I recall). The card is used like a debit card, and is good everywhere they take visa. I sometimes use them for internet purchases where I want to limit the posibility of fraud.

The card is usable immediately. No hassles. You can check the balance online. I usually finish the card off with a local purchase, where the last bit of value makes a partial payment on the purchase.

USbank imposes a monthly charge $2.50 a month???) after 7 months or so.

BTW, my 13 year old niece loved them.

Daniel

Greendot mastercards at Radioshack are all I've dealt with..

Can't send cash through the mail.

Thanks, Gadget-lover.