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May 27, 2020
Who is the EastWest UnionPay Prepaid Card for?
If you’re a frequent flyer between the U.S. and Asia that’s had enough with foreign transaction fees, look no further than this card. Whether it be business or fun, the East West UnionPay Prepaid card has everything a frequent flyer could be looking for. With no foreign transaction fees, no ATM withdrawal fees at East West Bank ATMs, and tons of flexibility, this card has a lot to offer cardholders.
When using this card, you get out what you put in, literally. This is a rare prepaid card, so whenever using this card, you will have a select amount of money in your account. That select amount of money can be withdrawn or deposited at any EastWest bank ATM. If the ATM withdrawal is outside an EastWest bank, then it would be charged an additional fee of $2 or 2%, whichever one was higher.
If you have always been a bit cautious about banks and others handling your money, this card should be a perfect fit for you. Due to this card being prepaid, you will be responsible for all the funds in your account. This card requires no credit score either, it is whatever you put into it.
Benefits and Credits
If for whatever reason the EastWest bank ever went under and in turn went bankrupt, you would have a great way to secure your funds using this card. By registering your card for FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - the body that underwrites private bank deposits), you will have protected money up to $250,000. Meaning, simply by registering for this insurance, you can get back up to $250,000 put into this card.
This card also offers ease of access to your bank account, whether it be through a banker at an EastWest bank or through your mobile app, it is easy to track your funds and make sure they are where you want them to be.
While it is easy to charge your UnionPay card in almost all of Asia, cardholders may also use their card to make purchases in the U.S. Wherever Discover or NYCE cards are accepted. For those who wish to operate on only one card, this could be the perfect card for your international travel and US expenditures.
Security
Like most cards, you will need a four-digit PIN or a code in order to get access to your account. Without this, it would be impossible for anyone to get access to your account, purchases or withdrawals included. In addition, you could manually withdraw money from your EastWest UnionPay account into another bank account you have linked if your card was ever lost or stolen. Just another quick and neat feature for extra security on this card.
Like most cards, this card comes with standard fraud protection. While the unparalleled convenience in payments is to be commended, some may question how the bank would be able to track purchases that weren’t made by the cardholder. Simply by calling the EastWest bank hotline and reporting your card missing, they will cancel it and send you a new one within 7-10 business days.
Fees
Another great benefit this card offers is no annual fees. No matter if you are just opening the account or coming up on another year of being a cardholder, there will be no annual fees charged to your account.
There are quite a few transaction fees that are small, but frequent. It should be noted calling customer service for the fifth time in a month will charge $6 to your account, deposits or withdrawals at ATMs outside EastWest bank will be $2, loading and reloading (deposits) will be anywhere from $1-$5 due to the .5% fee. Before opening an account, it would be wise to determine how many fees you would be using on a day to day basis.
Conclusion
This card has a lot of fees and negatives that far outweigh the positives. Having an initial deposit fee of $2,500 is also a lot of money for a minimum required deposit. I would say that there are plenty of other cards out there that don’t have nearly as many fees or are solely condensed to China and the U.S. but instead have tons of travel options in foreign countries. The prepaid card is definitely for a select group of people that have problems trusting banks, but if you or someone you know wants to manage their money a bit more properly on a prepaid card, this card could work.
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