How to Activate a Prepaid Visa

With a Visa prepaid card, you can load money onto the card and use it at any merchant that accepts Visa. Visa is not a credit, debit or gift card provide and does not sell prepaid cards directly to the consumer. Like Mastercard, Visa is a financial transaction processing company and partners with different financial institutions that offer the cards.

You can sign up for a prepaid Visa online through each provider’s website, listed on the Visa prepaid card website, which lists eight different cards. Some of the cards offer more features than just letting you load money and spend it, so read the benefits each card company offers before you make your choice of which card to buy.

​Read More:​ How to Load a Prepaid Card With a Check

When you purchase your prepaid card, either online or in person, you load it with money using another bank account, credit card or cash. If your card runs lows on funds, you can reload it again and again, either online or at the store or bank where you purchased it. Some cards also let you set up direct deposit so that a paycheck or other monthly income goes directly to your card.

Depending on the provider, your prepaid Visa card may come with fees. The Walmart MoneyCard Basic prepaid Visa, for example, has a ​$5.94​ ​monthly fee​, which is waived if you direct deposit $500 or more to your card account in the previous month. You can load most cards when you purchase them, but a few require you to activate the card first before loading money.

​Read More:​ How to Register Prepaid Visa Cards

When you purchase a prepaid Visa, you’ll receive materials that explain how the card works and the website to visit to activate the card. You can also find the provider’s website on the back of the card.

From the provider’s website, enter the card number. You might also have to provide an email address, date of birth or other information, such as the card number, three-digit security code, last four digits of your Social Security number, mailing address and zip code.

​Read More:​ How to Register a Prepaid Card

If you do not have internet access or would rather activate over the phone, call the customer service number listed on the back of the card or the Visa gift card activation number, which might come with a letter you receive or on a sticker on your card.

You can also find the customer service number in the materials you receive when you purchased the prepaid Visa gift card, or on the provider’s website. If you're calling after regular business hours, you might be able to activate your card using automated prompts, without having to speak with a customer service representative.

Visa gift cards are another form of a prepaid card. They have a certain amount of money already loaded onto them, and you can use them wherever Visa is accepted. Unlike prepaid cards, Visa gift cards typically cannot be reloaded with more money. Visa does not offer the gift cards directly, but uses third-party banks to provide them to consumers.

To activate a gift card, check the back of the card for that provider’s customer service number or website. For most cards, you’ll need the card number and the three-digit code on the back to activate it.