Prepaid cards: know your rights

Prepaid cards (physical, like plastic, or electronic) are preloaded or can be loaded with funds. You may use them to buy goods and services and sometimes make cash withdrawals. Financial institutions issue prepaid cards linked to payment card network operators such as American Express, Mastercard, and VISA. You can buy prepaid cards online, by telephone or at retail businesses.

Learn more about using prepaid cards.

By law, federally regulated financial institutions that issue prepaid cards must provide you with key information about them. This does not apply to prepaid cards issued by provincially regulated financial institutions or retailers.

Your right to information about prepaid cards

All federally regulated financial institutions that issue prepaid cards must provide you with certain information:

Federally regulated financial institutions other than banks that issue prepaid cards must also provide you with certain information:

They must disclose the information in a manner and using language that is clear, simple and not misleading.

Information to be disclosed about the prepaid card

Before issuing the card, federally regulated financial institutions must disclose information to you, such as:

Banks must also disclose the following information before issuing of the card:

Federally regulated financial institutions other than banks must disclose the above additional information on issuance of the card. This doesn’t apply when they issued a prepaid card in person and already disclosed this information before issuing it.

Information on the prepaid card

Federally regulated financial institutions must provide information directly on the prepaid card, or its exterior packaging if any. If there’s exterior packaging the fees must be presented prominently in an information box.

This includes information such as:

Prepaid card charges

Federally regulated financial institutions can only impose certain charges and only under certain conditions. 

Maintenance charges

Federally regulated financial institutions may impose maintenance charges after you buy the prepaid card. These charges aren’t associated with using the card, or any service that relates to it. They can only do this 1 year after you’ve activated the prepaid card unless it’s a:

Overdraft charges

Federally regulated financial institutions can only impose overdraft charges for prepaid cards if you provided express consent. Using the prepaid card doesn’t mean that you provided express consent. 

Learn more about providing express consent for financial products and services.

Changes in charges or new charges

Federally regulated financial institutions that issue prepaid cards can only increase charges or impose new ones if:

Expiry dates on prepaid cards

Federally regulated financial institutions can only set expiry dates on certain cards and only under certain conditions. 

For prepaid cards

Federally regulated financial institutions can’t set an expiry date on funds loaded onto prepaid cards they issue. The card itself can have an expiry date. They must provide you with a statement that says that your right to use the funds won’t expire. There may be a fee to transfer the funds and to issue a new card.

For promotional prepaid cards

Promotional cards may have an expiry date on the funds. Certain companies distribute these cards as part of a promotional, loyalty, or award program. They must show the expiry date on the card and in a statement that indicates whether the funds expire. They must do so before they issue the card.

When these rights apply to you

These rights apply when you’re dealing with a federally regulated financial institution like a bank or federal credit union.

Find out if your financial institution is federally regulated

Learn more about how your banking rights are protected.

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