Anonymous Prepaid Credit Cards: What's All The Fuss?

Looking for anonymous prepaid credit cards? It might seem impossible to find them, but there are ways around the rules

|

A lot of people like the idea of anonymous prepaid credit cards. They work much like a debit card or gift card: you load them in advance and use them for spending online or anywhere else you might use a credit card.

The nice thing about anonymous prepaid credit cards? Identity protection, of course. With an anonymous card, no one can track your personal information. Some people also dislike the fact that traditional credit cards lay their financial history open to government perusal. After all, why should your purchases be a matter of public record?

Anonymous Prepaid Credit Cards: A Thing of the Past?

In recent years, however, there have been many changes to American laws aimed at preventing terrorists and other criminals from exploiting the system. Many of these changes make anonymous prepaid credit cards far more difficult to come by. For obvious reasons, the government prefers to be able to track certain purchases, especially those made online (a naturally anonymous environment to begin with).

That doesn't mean there aren't ways around the system, however. If you're really determined to get an anonymous card, you'll want to look for one that doesn't require your social security number. A good starting place is gift cards. Gift credit cards are prepaid, and therefore sometimes don't require as much information as traditional cards.

These days many gift credit cards also require your SSN, however, so if you're really looking for anonymous prepaid credit cards, it might take a little patience. A popular option is the American Express gift card, which is very privacy friendly. Of course, many of these cards don't have a reload option, so you can't reuse them. If you're serious in your quest, you want a gift card with a reload option and no SSN requirement.

Finding anonymous prepaid credit cards isn't quite as easy as it once was, but never fear, they're still out there for those prepared to look!

« High School Student Credit Cards: An Impossible Dream? | Home | Get your Company Up and Running with Small Business Credit Cards »