Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard® review: Convenient (but costly) card for money transfers

The Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard®* can help you manage your money if you don’t have access to (or don’t want) a checking account and you regularly send and receive money through Western Union transfers. You’ll be able to use your Netspend card to receive your paycheck, pay your bills, make online purchases and send money to friends and family.

This could make it more convenient than other prepaid cards for some users, but the hassle and staggering fees involved could make it more trouble than it’s worth. In fact, although it offers a few sprinkles of cash back occasionally, the money required for these opportunities and involved fees could make a secured credit card or a rewards prepaid card a better option.

The Western Union Netspend Prepaid card's main focus is on Western Union  money transfers and, therefore, works with that in mind. Once you activate your card, you can receive direct deposits, government benefits--such as Social Security--and other payments. You can also receive Western Union transfers directly into your account as well as transfer money directly from a qualifying bank.

This does all come with a cost, specifically through three types of plans:

• Pay-As-You-Go Plan:  You don't pay a monthly fee, but you do pay for every signature purchase and PIN purchase transaction.

• Monthly Plan: You pay a monthly fee of $5.95 and are able to make signature purchase and PIN purchase transactions without an additional fee.

• Reduced Monthly Plan: This is the same as the monthly plan but it is only $5 per month and you must receive $500 in payroll or government benefit direct deposits in 1 calendar month to qualify. It also only covers purchase transaction fees.

All three plans don't charge for balance inquires through emails, text, customer service calls or when using your online account; there is a $0.50 fee each inquiry at a Domestic ATM. Foreign transaction and inactivity fees also apply to all accounts.

The Western Union Netspend could be more convenient than other prepaid cards if you typically rely on receiving and sending money through Western Union. Although it has the usual disadvantages of a prepaid card, it offers a few upsides, including some overdraft protection and small (but scattered) cash back opportunities.

Rewards: Small, occasional sources of cash back

Prepaid cards typically don’t offer a traditional rewards program like cash back credit cards, but the Western Union Netspend card provides a few ways to scrounge up cash back every now and then.

The Payback Rewards program occasionally provides personalized opportunities to earn cash back from some of your favorite retailers, similar to card-linked programs like Chase Offers and Amex Offers. Don’t expect to earn much in the way of rewards, though, since programs like these typically don’t earn much cash back. Plus, there’s no guarantee what the offers will be, which retailers will offer them and when they will be offered.

The more consistent way to earn cash is via the free, optional Netspend savings account. It earns an up to 5 percent APY on the first $1,000 in the account, but the rate drops to 0.50 percent if you have more deposited. This still isn’t very lucrative since you have to keep the balance so small — Bankrate’s savings calculator shows this only earns about $4 per month in interest — but it’s better than nothing. But to make things easier, you can make transfers from your card account to the savings account or you can set up automatic transfers instead.

Welcome offer: Welcome friends with a referral bonus

While this card doesn’t technically have a welcome offer or sign-up bonus — like many prepaid cards — this card sprinkles a little bit of value on top if you introduce friends via its Refer-a-Friend bonus. When you refer someone who activates a Netspend prepaid card and adds a minimum of $40 to their account, both you and your referral will get a $20 credit. You can refer as many people as you want and will get $20 for each, which could be an easy source of rewards if you’re using this card specifically to transfer money to and from friends and family via Western Union.

Perks: Convenient money access for regular Western Union users

The Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard® has almost all of the features of a regular bank account. It offers direct deposit, online bill pay, overdraft protection, money management tools and more. 

• Overdraft protection: Netspend has optional overdraft protection for cardholders who receive at least one direct deposit of $200 or more every 30 days. You’ll have a 24-hour grace period to avoid fees for going over. After that, you’ll be charged $15 unless you lower the negative amount in your account by less than $10. If you only overspend a little, Netspend may waive your overdraft fee as a courtesy.

• Free direct deposits: You can receive government benefits, tax refunds, paychecks and more via direct deposit for free. This can make loading your card more convenient so you can avoid finding a cash loading location and the associated fee.

• Money management tools: Netspend offers a variety of tools that can help you manage your money better, including a mobile app and automatic savings transfers. You can even get email and text message updates about your account balance, transactions and budget.

These aren’t particularly impressive, but they’re par for the course considering prepaid cards usually offer minimal perks. The main draw to this particular prepaid card is the convenient balance integration with receiving and sending money via Western Union. This can make the Western Union Netspend a decent option if you’re avoiding getting a checking account or secured card. However, it’s worth noting that there aren’t any other Western Union-specific perks like reduced money transfer fees.

The Western Union Netspend card’s fees are more extensive and costly than the laundry list that prepaid cards usually come with. Considering perks like the optional savings account and fee-free direct deposits involve sums of money on par with secured card deposits, a credit-building option could be worth considering as well.

Rates and fees: A minefield of potential card costs

Prepaid cards are infamous for their jaw-dropping lists of potential fees. The Western Union Netspend Prepaid card charges over a dozen possible fees, which is more than many prepaid cards.

First, you have the monthly plan fee, which can vary based on the plan you choose and where you live. The monthly plan is usually $9.95 per month, but it can go as low as $5 per month if you’ve made direct deposit(s) of payroll or benefits of at least $500 in one calendar month. The monthly plan could be cheaper if you make more than five to 10 purchases each month since it waives the purchase fee in exchange for the flat monthly cost. The Pay-As-You-Go plan doesn’t have a monthly fee, but you’ll pay $1.50 per transaction in most cases, which could be extraordinarily costly if this is your primary payment method.

Some of the other notable fees include the cash reload fees, ATM-related fees, foreign transaction surcharge and inactivity fee. You could also pay up to $3.95 for the Netspend reload fee at in-network locations and a $5.95 monthly inactivity fee if you don’t use your card for 90 consecutive days. There are also notable fees for balance inquiries, card replacements, upcharges for expedited mobile checks, getting mailed statements to you and more. Unless you have ACH direct deposits set up, check your balance online and have the reduced monthly plan fee, it’s possible to rack up fees for almost any action related to this card.

All information about the Western Union® Netspend® Prepaid Mastercard®, Brinks Money Prepaid Mastercard® and Unlimited Cash Back Bank Account by Green Dot has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.