Hacker News Reader

Unbanked use prepaid visa cards to purchase things online. This just gets rid of the "tax" incurred when buying prepaid visa cards. Stat that would be interesting to see is smart phone penetration into this group of people.

Also unbanked can purchase amazon gift cards with cash.

View on HN

I don't know about the US but here in the U.K. prepaid credit cards have all but disappeared.

They are growing really fast in the USA, mostly because the banking system here takes advantage of people much more than the banking system in the UK. Prepaid cards give people control over their financial lives, they are expensive but cheaper than overdraft fees and expensive credit lines. Growth is coming from younger demographics, so I'd say likely to keep coming: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-reloadable-prepai...

There is a current growth due to fintech startups like monzo, who are using prepaid cards to test the market

Reply on news.ycombinator.com