Turbo Prepaid Card–Reasonable Fees but Just for TurboTax Users
The Turbo Prepaid Card seeks to capitalize on the popularity of TurboTax by offering tax refunds on its own branded prepaid card. Oddly though, this general-use prepaid card isn’t available online or in stores. It’s exclusively available to TurboTax users.
Turbo Prepaid At-a-Glance
Pros
- Waivable monthly fee
- Free ATM withdrawals
Cons
- Only available through TurboTax software
Turbo Prepaid Card Overview
So, right out of the gate, let’s clear one thing up. Whether or not you use TurboTax to prepare your taxes, you can receive your tax refund on just about any prepaid card. That said, the Turbo card has some good features and reasonable fees. So it’s worth considering if you’re already using TurboTax to prepare your taxes. However, if you’re not using TurboTax, you can’t get the card.
Turbo Prepaid Visa® Card not what you are looking for? Check out other options in our Best Prepaid Debit Cards list.
The standard monthly fee is $4.95, about average among prepaid cards. But that fee is waivable when you load $1,000 or more in the prior month, making it comparable to other prepaid cards that you can use for free.
The Turbo prepaid card also comes with a free ATM network with over 20,000 ATM locations, making it convenient to withdraw cash without charge.
Here are the details.
Features of the Turbo Prepaid Card
The Turbo Prepaid Card is a Visa-branded card, so it’s accepted anywhere Visa debit cards are. That means it can be used at over 10 million retail and online locations.
The card offers some standard features like text alerts for transactions and balances. It also has the following:
- Free ATM Network: You can get cash for free at over 20,000 in-network ATM locations. You’ll find in-network ATMs at stores like Walgreens and CVS. You can search for locations in your area here.
- Bill Pay: The Turbo prepaid card offers free bill pay. You can pay just about any vendor. The Turbo prepaid card will send a check for those vendors not registered to receive electronic payment.
- Mobile App: As a cardholder, you can use Turbo’s mobile app to check balances, pay bills, or deposit checks. The mobile app is available on Android or iPhone platforms.
- Free Card-to-Card Transfers: You can send and receive money with the Turbo Prepaid Card without charge to any person having a card issued by Green Dot Bank. Those cards include the Walmart MoneyCard® Visa®, the Green Dot Prepaid Visa®, and others.
Card Limits
The Turbo Prepaid Card’s limits are generally at or higher than the average among prepaid cards.
The total card balance can be as high as $10,000. Transactions, which includes all purchases and cash withdrawals, are limited to $5,000 daily–higher than most.
Unlike most prepaid cards, the Turbo Prepaid Card doesn’t include a daily ATM limit in its cardholder agreement. But the card issuer reserves the right to set that limit. That means the ATM limit is undisclosed–not something we’re fond of at PrepaidCards123.
The card does disclose a monthly limit on cash withdrawals, however. It’s $3,000 and includes cash from ATMs or at a bank teller.
Turbo Prepaid Card Fees
The Turbo card charges a monthly fee of $4.95, not bad in its own right when comparing other cards. But it also offers to waive the monthly fee if you add more than $1,000 to the card each month. Like most monthly fee cards, there’s no fee for purchases.
The Turbo card offers a free ATM network, so withdrawals and balance checks are free if using one of the in-network ATMs. Out-of-network ATM withdrawals cost $2.50 plus any surcharge from the ATM owner.
How to Add Money to the Turbo Prepaid Card
The Turbo Prepaid Card has all the typical ways of adding money, but the cash load options are limited. Here’s a rundown:
Direct Deposit: You can set up direct deposit for paychecks or many government benefits checks without a fee.
Mobile Check Deposit: You can deposit checks to the card using the Turbo app. No fee deposits take 8-10 days for the money to be available. For faster availability, there’s a fee–2% to 5% of the check’s value, depending on the type of check.
Online Bank Transfer: You can transfer funds to the Univision card online from a checking or savings account. Like most prepaid cards, this option is free.
Cash Reloads: Turbo has only two cash load options–Green Dot Reload @ the Register and the Green Dot MoneyPak. Those services cost $4.95 and $5.95, respectively per cash load. Those fees are charged by the cash load service. The card doesn’t charge a separate fee.
Where to Get the Turbo Card
The Turbo Prepaid Card is available only to TurboTax users and only within the software. So, you essentially have to elect to receive your tax refund on the card to get it. While unusual, it’s somewhat like prepaid cards offered by tax preparers. The H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard®, for instance, is available only at H&R Block locations.
The card isn’t available online or in stores.
Summary
The Turbo Prepaid Card is a competitive card. It offers a reasonable (and waivable) monthly fee and a free ATM network. And it has some good features, like free bill pay. Unfortunately, it’s available only to TurboTax users through the software. Even for those that use TurboTax, that makes the brief application process cumbersome and inconvenient.
That said, if you’re already a TurboTax user, it’s worth considering the card based on its relatively low fees.
Best For: Those that use TurboTax and intend to receive their tax refund on a prepaid card.
Not So Good For: Those that use any other tax preparation software.