Commerce Bank mySpending Card Review
The Commerce Bank is a small regional bank prepaid card. The price is right but you may have trouble funding the card.
mySpending Card At-a-Glance
Pros
- Free ATM withdrawals (only at Commerce Bank ATMs)
- No Monthly Fee
Cons
- Very limited service area
- Few load options
- No mobile app
- Customer service fee
If you’re already a Commerce Bank checking account customer looking to add a prepaid card to your wallet, the mySpending Card is probably among your lowest cost choices for prepaid cards. The mySpending Card charges no monthly fees or transaction fees. And ATM withdrawals are free at Commerce Bank ATMs. Really, other than its purchase fee of $5.95 you can probably get away with paying next to nothing to use the card.
If you don’t have a Commerce Bank account though, you’ll probably find the mySpending Card isn’t an option.
Unlike most prepaid cards, the mySpending Card can’t receive transfers from bank accounts, other than a Commerce Bank account. And you can’t load cash to the card except at a branch. Even Commerce Bank ATMs won’t work for cash or check deposits. That basically narrows load options to direct deposit and check deposits using the Ingo Money App. And Commerce Bank has branches in just 5 states–Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas–and not many branches at that.
Outside of its use as a spending card, the Commerce Bank card offers few features. While it has text alerts like most cards, it lacks a mobile app, budgeting or savings features, or really any extras that you can find with other cards.
Commerce Bank mySpending CardTM not what you are looking for? Check out other options in our Best Prepaid Debit Cards list.
The card’s maximum balance isn’t particularly generous either. You’re limited to $3,000 on the card. Compare that to the $10,000 median balance limit for all prepaid cards. Spending limits ($3,000) and ATM limits ($1,000) are more in-line with other cards.
Although the mySpending Card has few fees, there are a couple to note. The card doesn’t charge for the first 100 text alerts in a month, but it charges 15 cents a text after that. You’ll also incur a charge of $.50 per automated customer service call for things like balance checks, although these charges should be avoidable with online portal access. If you use an ATM other than Commerce Bank, it’ll cost $2.50 plus the ATM owner’s fees.
The bottom line–the mySpending Card can be low cost–potentially next to nothing. But its limited features, small balance limits, and severely restricted service area raise the question of who this prepaid card is meant for.