Are these the same as prepaid credit cards?
Presumably when you get a new card you've actually opened an account with the bank that provides the card. And when you 'top it up' you're really just paying money into the account rather than storing it on the card. So in that sense it opperates like a debit card where the transaction is validated against the balance in your account before it's authorised. Or not??
If the money is stored on the card (as in some cashless vending systems I've come across) how does the card company get it's transaction fee and how does it deal with transactions made on paper vouchers which could take you over the limit of the stored value?
Thanks.