Account Now - Netspend Review

In this day and age it's hard to find someone who hasn't experienced credit challenges of one sort or another--I'm no different.  In college, I allowed the words "charge it" to get me in more trouble than Wilma and Betty ever did. Now that I'm older and wiser, I've let go of my need to charge goods and services, but recognize the need and convenience that charging items provides.  The perfect solution kind of popped up on my computer.  An add for a Netspend account.  It's great.  It's a pre-paid service.  As with any pre-paid card there are fees attached, but if you counted up the fees associated with having a regular credit card, it comes out about the same.  There is $4 reload fee unless you direct deposit to the account--yes, the account has a routing number for direct deposits!  You have the option of paying a monthly service fee or a per use fee.  The monthly fee is $10.  The per use fee is $1 on credit transactions and $2 on debit transactions requiring the PIN.  I use te per use fee so that during months or times when I don't use the card that much, I'm not out of $10.  I usually don't use it more than 10 times in a month any way, so it works out to be the cheapest option.  Fees aside, it works just like any other credit card with an expiration date, signature required and a PIN for use at ATMS or for debit transactions and the account can be checked online.  The best feature is the text alert feature which sends a text message to my phone each time a transaction occurs on the account.  The message tells what kind of transaction it was (reload, purchase, etc.) the location of the transaction (which specific store), the amount of the transaction (including the fees) the date and time of the transaction, and the new balance after the transaction has been completed.  The text alerts are almost instantaneous.  Within 1-3 minutes of a purchase I recieve an alert.  Another great feature is that if the card is lost or stolen, the balance that is on my card as the date reported will be insured and returned to my account and a new card will be issued.  You can't ask for anymore than that.