Quick highlights
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Rewards rate: Varies
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Welcome offer: N/A
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Monthly fee: $5 to $7.95
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Purchase intro APR: N/A
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Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
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Regular APR: N/A
Current sign-up bonus
The Control prepaid card doesn’t have a sign-up bonus or welcome offer attached to it at this time. If you’re looking for a card to give you an initial reward for choosing its service, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
Rewards
With the Control Mastercard, you can earn cash back rewards through your spending, but terms can vary.
Earning cash back
According to the Control website, you can earn rewards by logging into your Online Account Center and clicking on the offers that appeal to you. When you checkout using your Control Prepaid Mastercard, you’ll get cash back. This functions similar to a card-linked offer on a credit card (like Amex Offers), which means your actual earning rate can vary.
Redeeming cash back
Any cash back you earn will go directly into your account to be used as a credit. You can’t get the rewards in the form of a check or direct payment.
Benefits
The Control Mastercard is a prepaid debit card that gives you some of the same benefits as a credit card.
Mobile app
There’s a well-rated mobile app you can use for banking and budgeting on the go. It offers an overview of all your transactions, money transfers, mobile check deposit, and a reload location map for easy navigation to your nearest reload spot.
A high-yield savings account
You can attach a second account, a Netspend Savings Account, that can offer up to 5 percent APY for balances under $1,000. For any amount over $1,000, you’ll get up to 0.5 percent APY. This rate is higher than many other online savings accounts on the market today.
Rates and fees
With the Control Mastercard, there’s no way to get out of paying a monthly fee altogether, but you can lower the cost. You’ll pay $5 each month if you have $500 or more in direct deposit every month into the account. Otherwise, it’s $7.95 monthly.
Putting cash in or taking out cash can also cost you. Some reload centers charge up to $3.95 to add cash to your card. Others charge nothing. If you need to withdraw money at a Netspend Reload Network location, you’ll pay up to a $4 fee, as well as a $2.50 charge at a domestic ATM (plus those charged by the ATM) or at a financial institution.
There’s also a $0.50 fee to check your balance at an ATM. However, you can check your balance for free online or through Anytime Alerts. If you want to use your card overseas, you’ll pay a 3.5 percent foreign transaction fee. This charge is higher than much of the competition, so it probably shouldn’t be your first choice for trips abroad.