Prepaid debit cards, such as Netspend cards, differ from credit cards in that you can only spend funds, which you have already preloaded onto the card. In other words, a Netspend card is not a credit card at all but simply a way of making funds that are already in your possession available via credit and debit card electronic payment technology.

Netspend’s prepaid cards function similarly to debit cards, but with one crucial difference: they’re not tied to an existing bank account. Otherwise, you can use a prepaid Netspend card as you would any other card: to make purchases, pay bills, cash checks, receive deposits and withdraw money from ATMs.

The Netspend Prepaid Card works like a traditional debit card, except it doesn’t draw funds from a linked checking account. Instead, you must add, or “load,” funds onto the card before you can use it to make purchases or withdraw funds from ATMs. Using the Netspend prepaid card means paying fees.