Consumer Reports rates popular prepaid cards in the marketplace

NEW YORK, NY (WABC) -- Millions of Americans now use prepaid cards to manage their money. Unlike regular bank cards, you don't need to link these to an account.
And you don't need to go through a credit check to get them.

You simply load prepaid cards with cash and then pay bills or make purchases. Consumer Reports found some are much better deals than others.
Some consumers say they like to use the cards to pay bills because they're frustrated with traditional banking methods and fees.
But not everyone with a prepaid card uses it as a substitute for a bank account. Some use them to help stay on a budget.

Consumer Reports just rated 23 prepaid cards. Not all are great values.

With the cards it can be difficult to tell what the fees are and some of the cards are quite expensive to use.
For example the netSpend Prepaid Visa Pay as You Go plan charges one to two dollars every time you make a purchase. And there's no cap on those fees.

And the netSpend Prepaid Visa Fee Advantage plan charged 9.95 per month.

So does the AccountNow Gold Visa Prepaid Card and its fees can be hard to figure out.

Also a problem - the American Express for Target prepaid card, because it's not insured by the FDIC.

Bluebird card Bluebird, a prepaid card issued by American Express and Walmart, got top ratings.
They scored high because there are no monthly fees, no activation fees, no fees for making purchases or paying bills and no charges to load money
either by direct deposit or at Walmart.

Bluebird also has a wide network of MoneyPass ATMs that are free to use.

Consumer Reports gave several other prepaid cards high ratings.
They include Chase Liquid Visa, H&R Block Emerald Prepaid MasterCard and Prepaid Visa Rush Card with the Rush unlimited plan.