Stay On Top Of Your Financial Health With Prepaid Cards

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With no end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, many Australians are adjusting to a new reality of social distancing, working from home or going into self-isolation. While physical health should remain our top priority, we can all benefit from tips to ensure that our financial health is intact during this unprecedented global event.

  1. Set up good online shopping habits

You’ve probably experienced the frenzy of fighting our way through the supermarket to buy grocery essentials, but there is another type of shopping that we need to watch out for – online shopping. As we spend more time socially distancing ourselves, we may increasingly turn our attention to online forms of entertainment, such as shopping, games and subscriptions.

It’s a great time to set yourself a budget and take advantage of tools that can help you stay within your budget. Prepaid cards are designed for this very purpose. You can set aside a set amount on your prepaid card, which you can then use exclusively for online shopping or as emergency funds. You can also use the prepaid card for in-store shopping to control yourself from stockpiling on items that you know you don’t actually need.

2. Contactless experience all the way

While contactless payments have been increasingly popular with Australians in recent years, cash payments, cash still accounts for around 30% of payments, according to to Australian Bureau of Statistics data in 2019.

The World Health Organisation warns that banknotes and coins may be contributing to the spread of COVID-19. Contactless cards provide a safeguard for people who want to protect themselves from the potential presence of COVID-19. If this is a concern for you, use a prepaid, debit or credit card that has a PayWave feature to minimise handling cash with a cashier at an ATM. If you don’t have a contactless card, consider ordering a prepaid card, such as Vasco Pay, which can be done 100% online instead of going into a bank in-person.

3. Safeguard against online scams

According to Consumer Reports, there has been a rise in cybercriminals exploiting the current climate of fear to launch fraudulent scams and gain access to corporate computer systems.

There has been an increase in phishing emails claiming to be from the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to trick people into clicks or even gleaning their personal details. There are also fraudulent companies posing as charities, claiming that they have developed a vaccine and need donations to make it accessible.

It is important to remain vigilant, especially when it comes to opening websites and emails which ask for your personal information. To minimise the risks of fraud, consider only using prepaid cards which is separate from your bank account and protect you against fraudulent charges, or lost and stolen cards.

Interested in a prepaid card solution?

Our Visa Prepaid Cards are perfect for business expense management, gig worker payments and secure online shopping.

Visit our SME Prepaid Card page to learn more and get started today!

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