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Prepaid Visa cards

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warrencali
  7/22/2017 13:20 EST

Hello, I will be arriving in Cali on July 29th..excited about his new chapter in my life.
Another travelor told me to purchase prepaid visa cards to use rather than walking around with credit/debit cards or cash. Wanted to get the input from those on the site. Do most places of business accept visa?
Thanks all

WhoaNellie
  7/22/2017 14:04 EST

I've never used a prepaid card in Colombia so I can't help with that.

Most larger businesses do accept credit/debit cards of pretty much all types, certainly Mastercard and Visa. Many smaller businesses do not, and street vendors do not. Everyplace and everyone is happy to accept cash.

For me it's never been a problem to get cash once, twice a week sometimes more from an ATM/ATH, keep that cash at home and when going out just take the amount you think you'll need plus a cushion, and leave the rest at home. Make some small purchases and get a bunch of small bills in change to carry around because often no one likes to change large bills (even 20,000 COP).

The ATH withdrawal limit is 600,000 COP and up, which is $200 USD which is a lot and can easily last a week or at least several days unless you have some large purchases to make.

Jimbeam7
  7/22/2017 14:55 EST

Many of the prepaid cards will not work outside of US/Canada. So if you go that route make sure you get one that will. Also note that they tend to come with high usage fees.

bigjailerman
  7/22/2017 15:53 EST

Prepaid cards don't always work in all places

tubes
  7/22/2017 17:38 EST

Mastercard and Visa are not accepted everywhere and not at all ATMs.

You may have to try several different banks until you find one that accepts the card.
The daily ATM withdrawal limits for foreign cards have been reduced a lot in the last few years to as little as $300,000 pesos.

WhoaNellie
  7/22/2017 17:57 EST

Here is a link to Colombia bank ATM/ATH limits and fees. It purports to be as of 2017 by their copyright info, but I cannot vouch for its accuracy except for Servibanca.

I note that BBVA only allows a daily withdrawal of 300,000 COP as tubes said. Also as he said you may have to try several different machines, which is not that hard since in several places in Cali they occur in clusters together in malls as well as there are banks in malls with machines.

http://atmfees.net/south-america/colombia/

regnatarajan
  7/23/2017 04:21 EST

Everyone else has already told you it's not practical to count on a prepaid card. I'll just add that it's also not as safe. Unless your normal credit cards are much different from mine, they'll all protect you from use when lost or stolen as long as you report it promptly. If a prepaid card gets lost or stolen, you're out of luck.

morganstern
  7/23/2017 15:50 EST

Lots of dumb ideas....prepaid card ranks right up there.

Elexpatriado
  7/30/2017 20:19 EST

People giving this type of advice obviously have the wrong type of crédit card.
My TD bank debut has a $1500 CAD a,DAY límite and,$3000 a month.
I hardly ever use a crédit card for Money withdrawal from ATMs because of interest charges, but use my CC for almost eveeythingbin Col. And pay 0 interest because it is autonatically paid off each month.

Whats a prepaid Visa card? Never heard of that. Sounds Goofy.

bigjailerman
  7/30/2017 20:51 EST

It's lin4e a Gift Card, but you can reload it at will. They look like credit cards, but have drawbacks

LaPiranha
  7/30/2017 21:03 EST

Yup. Second biggest drawback in the world.

(of course, the biggest is an elephant's foreskin). But an elephant doesn't have to pay charges.

novato1953
  7/31/2017 12:46 EST

A basic question that crops up surprisingly often. For most purchases, the frugal thing to do is use a credit card that pays rewards, charges no annual fee and imposes no foreign exchange fees. There are a bazillion of them in the US, and a few have even migrated to Canada. Lose a US bank-issued credit card to theft or carelessness and your liability is zero. Sometimes warranties on your purchases are extended without charge. Pay off the bill by the end of the month and you'll pay nothing for any of this. But cash advance fees from a credit card are steep, so to get cash from an ATM use a checking account debit card that imposes no fee for use at outside banks and actually reimburses fees charged by the bank operating the ATM. Fidelity and Schwab both offer these products. You face a $50 liability if this type of card is used improperly, and since it is linked directly to your checking account, losing the card means your bank account can be sucked dry before you miss the card. You'll get reimbursed, eventually, but delays can cause bill-paying nightmares. While many ATM cards are linked to Visa or MasterCard networks for point of sale purchases, there's no point is using them that way. No added warranty coverage is offered and none that I know of pay rewards to customers.

ponymalta
  8/22/2017 09:36 EST

Prepaid cards of obvious benefit to those with poor credit, or who wish to keep their transactions more private and often may not appear on credit report. Some prepaid cards have better fees/exchange rates than standard credit cards.

On the other hand if issue is to protect against loss/theft seems most credit cards a better bet.

Some use prepaid cards as budget tool when they go on holiday, safer than cash, but limit usage by amount on card.

In Colombia not all ATMS will accept repaid cards, or even credit cards for that matter. In town I am in, we have figured out which ATM's take which foreign cards.

ElSamario29
  8/23/2017 10:24 EST

Hey Warren

You can use prepaid card here in Colombia is easy.

The most part of all msgs of the others members are wrong

Check this out, www.payoneer.com

This is a Argentina company that send u free the card once u submit a request. The delivery could be slowy (2 month in arrive) or u can paid express delivery

The anual fee is only 30USD and per each movement a cost of 3.5 USD

Is important that u know that THIS PREPAID CARD ONLY ACCEPT MONEY FROM COMPANY ACCOUNTS.

I am freelancer and always work great for me in all the ATM that i used, you must be sure that the ATM read CHIP CARDS

If u need more information feel free of contact me; [email protected]

Mauro B
Rural Real estate
Farm in Sell near of Tayrona Park

warrencali
  8/24/2017 15:23 EST

As always, thanks for all the advise and input from everyone. This site has really made my transition to Cali much easier than going in blind
Gracias

jooks
  6/19/2019 07:10 EST

Bringing this topic back to life.

I'm having trouble charging with my US credit cards in several places, most notably, Mercado Libre. What are my alternatives to a US card?

I have a Bancolombia ATM card, but that is not a debit card similar to US banking debit cards. It cannot be used for online purchases. At least, that is what I was told by the bank - also, there is no CVC associated with the card.

1. When will I be eligible for a Colombian credit card? Does having a sizable amount of money in Bancolombia help?

2. How would I go about getting a prepaid credit card in CO?

cafetero
  6/19/2019 07:28 EST

Jocks, the card I have from USAA bank will run either as a credit or debit card, so I have used it successfully with Mercadolibre.

The other way I have purchased from mercadolibre online is to place the order online and get the transaction number from them, take the transaction number to Servientrega Efecty office and pay the invoice, then get a code from Efecty which I then add to the order form on mercadolibre, they mark it paid, and send the merchandise.

morganstern
  6/19/2019 07:30 EST

Do you use Mastercard or Visa?

jooks
  6/19/2019 07:37 EST

Morganstern - amex

Cafetero - I was trying to avoid the hassle of paying cash somewhere but yes, that is an alternative for Mercado Libre. [Unrelated to credit cards, I don't understand why it's necessary to contact the seller to arrange delivery in some circumstances. I have not yet mastered the Mercado site and haven't been successful doing this.]

morganstern
  6/19/2019 07:55 EST

That is your problem. Amex cards don't clear here. And sometimes Mastercards don't either. You must have a normal a Visa card. I use Mercadolibre easily with a Visa card.

cafetero
  6/19/2019 08:00 EST

Yes, definitely the Visa card, good point.

I have to keep reminding myself that the web pages in Colombia are very unsophisticated, so we have to take manual steps to place an order sometimes. For example, I am surprised they will even accept an order with a credit card they won't honor such as AMEX.

Their web page design and function is old school, like we used to have in the States back in the 90´s.

morganstern
  6/19/2019 08:02 EST

And about Mercadolibre....I go through the steps on the site....and never contact anyone. I just pay, get a confirmation from them immediately and wait a few days for delivery. The other day I purchased something from Faramatado ...the drug store...for delivery. My Mastercard charge was rejected. I should have used Visa. I think Viva Air only accepts Visa.

jooks
  6/19/2019 08:25 EST

Mercadolibre - I'm giving it another shot. I changed my payment method to visa. However, I wasn't asked my billing address. I also realized that I previously checked the wrong option for identification - I checked off the regular cedula or CC, not cedula extranjero or CE. I had no idea what that meant until now.

I clicked to buy something. I got 2 emails immediately after. I think they're simply confirmations, but I'm concerned about not giving my billing address which is different than the delivery address.

This site drives me bonkers :)

morganstern
  6/19/2019 08:36 EST

Jooks....on the confirmation is the delivery address. That's all you care about. If I remember, they don't care about you BILLING address, just delivery. You should have it set up with your U.S. bank that when a transaction takes place you get immediate confirmation via email. The ML charge may not be immediate...but it will show up.

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