The UPside card is a prepaid, reloadable spending card; like a prepaid phone card or a store gift card that you can use everywhere Visa® Debit is accepted. Because it's a prepaid card, your spending is limited to the amount of money transferred to your card. The purchases that you make with your UPside card are decremented from your available balance. Your family or employers are able to reload funds onto the card when needed. And, unlike most other reloadable spending cards, the UPside card provides you with reward points for free goods and discounts at a variety of stores.
Unlike a credit card, the UPside Visa® prepaid card does not have a line of credit. Therefore, you are unable to go into debt or spend more money than your balance.
The name of the cardholder is embossed on the card.
UPside services are operated by Plastyc Inc, based in New York, NY. The Upside card is issued by Metabank in Sioux Falls, SD as a prepaid Visa® card.
You should receive your card within 10 business days after registering.
You can activate your card by calling 1-866-845-6273 from your home telephone.
If you registered with UPside more than 10 business days ago and you have not yet received your card, please email customer service at cs@upsidecard.com.
When swiping the card at a retail store terminal, choose either "credit" or "debit". If you choose credit you can simply sign the receipt - if you chose debit you just need to enter your PIN number (which you get by calling customer service and can change after activating and registering your card.) Please note, not all merchants accept PIN transactions. If that is the case, just select credit and simply sign the receipt.
You can use your UPside Visa® prepaid card anywhere Visa Debit is accepted, both online and in physical stores. You may also withdraw cash at ATM terminals accepting Visa® Debit or Cirrus.
Only the cardholder whose name is on the card may use the card. All cardholders must be at least 13 years of age to get an UPside prepaid card.
Yes. You may withdraw cash from any ATM where you see Visa® Debit or Cirrus® signs, using your card and PIN (personal identification number). Insert your card into the machine, enter your PIN, and press the cash withdrawal option. You will then be prompted to choose an account from which you want to withdraw funds; select credit card cash advance, enter the amount, and receive your cash.
No. There are no fees attached to spending money on your UPside Visa® prepaid card.
You are able to check your balance in three ways –
1) Online by logging into your UPside online account
2) by using your cell phone’s internet browser and logging into your account at www.upsidecard.com.
3) By calling customer service at 1-866-845-6273.
No. You cannot access more than the available balance through your UPside Visa® prepaid card. However, if you know your available balance before you make a purchase, you may ask the merchant if you can pay the balance of your purchase with cash or another form of payment.
There is no maximum amount for a single purchase other than the current balance on the card.
For financial transactions at certain types of merchants, such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and mail order retailers, there is an authorization amount and a settled amount and these amounts are usually different. This occurs when the actual amount of your purchase is not immediately available.
For example, this will occur when you use your UPside Visa® prepaid card at a restaurant. The transaction is authorized for an amount greater than the actual amount because the restaurant does not know yet if you are going to add a tip to your bill after it is run through the system. Therefore, if the actual amount of your restaurant bill is $15, the restaurant may actually authorize it for $20. $20 is the authorization amount that will initially be deducted from your UPside account. If you add a 15% tip to your bill ($2.25), the actual amount of your bill will be $17.25. When the merchant sends through the actual bill, the settled amount will be $17.25 and the difference between the authorization amount ($20) and the settled amount ($17.25) will be added to your available balance. If the settled amount is greater than the authorization amount, then the difference will be deducted from your available balance. Depending on the merchant, the adjustment could take a couple of days.
If a merchant does not send in a settled amount within a specified number of days (specified by the Issuer), the authorized amount of the transaction (in the example above this would be $20) will be added to your available balance.
As mentioned above (restaurants and gas stations) you need to remember that some merchants hold a reserve of more money than what you may actually mean to spend. If this does occur with your UPside Visa® prepaid card the system may hold this reserve amount up to three business days. In some instances a hold could take up to 10 days to fall off.
Yes. The UPside Visa® prepaid card is accepted at most merchants worldwide accepting Visa.
Unlike most of our competitors, either the cardholder or account owner is able to begin registering for an UPside Visa
® prepaid card. Once both parties have finished registering, the account is activated and the card is shipped. To begin registration, click
here.
Yes. You can suspend your card at anytime. The account owner is the only party that may unsuspend it.
UPside includes an alert service when the balance reaches a preset threshold or is zero ($0). Further alerts are coming soon, including weekly spending thresholds and single purchase limits.
In order to access your account online, you must enter your username and password on the login window. If you have forgotten you username or password, click the link provided on that window.
Please refer to the UPside Privacy and Security policy available through this website. We provide protection to our online card members by taking several security measures to create a safe and reliable experience.
- We keep your information on secure servers in our data center. These computers are not directly connected to or accessible by the Internet.
- We establish a secure session with your computer before asking you to send confidential information over the Internet to the UPside website.
- You must enter your username and password to gain access to our site. To protect your account information, we use firewalls that limit access to visitors who provide a valid username and password combination.
- We encode or scramble data using 128-bit key Secure Socket Layer encryption before exchanging it between a cardholder and our database.
UPside will never ask you for your account information, password or username in any email sent to you or pop-up windows while you are not on the secured Upside website or cell phone WAP site. To report misuse, please contact your local authorities, then contact us and
http://www.wiredkids.org
To contact customer service, click
here
For investor contact information, please click
here
The UPside Visa® prepaid card can be used as a budgeting tool for your spending. With UPside, you and the account owner decide together the amount to spend. The account owner is the only one who can authorize internal transfers of money from another account to UPside. With immediate access to online statements, you can review your spending along with the account owner, and together discuss how you can develop and maintain financial responsibility in your spending decisions, using our educational tools provided. As well, with instantaneous funding, you have the peace of mind that you will never be without money in an emergency. The UPside card is the most powerful and effective means to help you develop responsible spending behaviors, while still having the freedom to shop everywhere Visa® is accepted.
The UPside Visa
® prepaid card has lower fees than most other spending cards available. And the majority of these fees can be avoided by managing your UPside card correctly – checking your balance online, making sure you always have suitable funds on your card. Below is a list of fees:
UPside Access Plan Purchase Fee - $4.95
- Monthly Fee - $0.99
- Value loads cost $0.99 for ACH funds transfers and $2.50 for credit card transfers
- Phone Inquiry Fee - $0.99
UPside Edge Plan Yearly Fee - $24.95
- Includes unlimited free value loads (surcharge applied to credit card value loads)
- One free phone inquiry every month; $0.99 per subsequent call
ATM Fee - $1.49 + fee charged by ATM provider
Card Replacement Fee - $6.95
For a full breakdown of the fees associated with the UPside card, please click
here.
The card is sent to the account owner (parent/guardian). Please note that we cannot ship to PO Boxes.
You can use your UPside Visa® prepaid card online anywhere Visa is accepted. When checking out, enter your billing information as asked. Please note that the BILLING ADDRESS is the address of the account owner. If you would like the merchandise shipped to another address, enter shipping information accordingly.
The account owner (usually a parent) is able to load funds onto the card and monitor spending done by the cardholder.
The cardholder is able to make purchases using his/her UPside card. At this time, the cardholder is not able to load money onto the card.
You may load funds onto the card online or by calling customer service. Funds may come from either a checking account or credit card in the name of the account owner.
Yes. Once your account is activated, you are able to set up an allowance schedule for any period or amount you choose.
Funds originating from a credit or debit card appear immediately upon loading. Loads from ACH/bank transfer can take up to 5 days. If the funding source does not have enough money, the load will be denied.
Value load fees will vary depending on which UPside Plan you choose. You may not load more than $3000 onto your card in 30-day period and no single load can exceed $500. Maximum balance allowed on the card at any one time is $1500. For more information, see
UPside Terms & Conditions.
With UPside, you and the account owner decide together the amount to spend. The account owner is the only one who can authorize transfers of money from another account to UPside. With immediate access to online statements, you can review your spending along with the account owner, and together discuss how you can develop and maintain financial responsibility in your spending decisions, using our educational tools provided.
Yes. As account owner, you are able to view account balance and transaction history in real time by logging into your account online or calling customer service.
The UPside Visa® prepaid card can be used as a budgeting tool for your spending, as you can only spend the funds available on the card – meaning that you will not go into debt like many do with credit cards. And, with UPside, you do not pay for incoming transfers, unlike most retail banks. The UPside card is the most powerful and effective means to help you develop responsible spending behaviors, while still having the freedom to shop everywhere Visa® is accepted.
The UPside Visa
® prepaid card has lower fees than most other spending cards available. And the majority of these fees can be avoided by managing your UPside card correctly – checking your balance online, making sure you always have suitable funds on your card. Below is a list of fees:
No Purchase or Maintenance Fee
No ACH Funds Transfer Fee
$0.99 per call to Automated Customer Service; $2 to speak with a Live Agent
ATM Fee - $1.49 + fee charged by ATM provider
Card Replacement Fee - $6.95
For a full breakdown of the fees associated with the UPside card, please click
here.
If you are over 18, you can register for the UPside Life card. There is no fee involved or money needed to register, but you will need a Social Security Number for verification of your date of birth. To begin registration, click
here.
The card is sent to the address you have provided at registration. Please note that we cannot ship to PO Boxes.
You can use your UPside Visa® prepaid card online anywhere Visa is accepted. When checking out, enter your billing information as asked. The billing address is the address you provided at registration. If you would like the merchandise shipped to another address, enter shipping information accordingly.
Only the person whose name is on the card may use the card. All cardholders must be at least 18 years of age to get an UPside Life prepaid card.
Funds can be loaded from any external bank account that allows outgoing transfers. This can be from you, your friends, your family or your employer. You can find your Direct Deposit Information on your online account dashboard in the MyUPstart or My UProfile windows. You can also send this information directly to your funder from the UPside website.
Loads from ACH/bank transfer can take up to 5 days. If the funding source does not have enough money, the load will be denied.
Maximum balance allowed on the card at any one time is $4000. There are no maximum values for a single load. For more information, see
UPside Terms & Conditions.
With UPside, you can only spend the amount of funds on the card. With immediate access to online statements, you can review your spending and decide how you can develop and maintain financial responsibility in your spending decisions, using our educational tools provided.
The UPside Mall is an online shopping mall which features stores and products that may be of interest to both UPside cardholders and non-cardholders. The stores accessible through the UPside Mall, by clicking on one of the hyperlinks featured on the website, are run by independent merchants which can also be accessed online directly by typing their respective URLs in your browser. The UPside Mall is accessible publicly to anyone, and everyone can earn points when you successfully complete an online purchase.
The UPside Mall itself does not sell any product or services.
The UPoints Rewards Program is a one-of-a-kind rewards program available to all UPside cardholders or UPside Mall account owners. Rewards include both cash back and rewards certificates to nationwide retailers. UPoints are rewarded in various ways:
- Up to 12 Points-per-dollar-spent at any of the hundreds of UPside Mall merchants. The purchase does not have to be made with an Upside card
- Loading money onto the card earns 1 UPoint per dollar (UPside Edge only)
- Successfully referring a friend who signs up for the UPside service earns 500 UPoints
- Additional offers like the Create-A-Card contest and “Purchase of the Month” gives extra UPoints
In order to earn UPoints by shopping through the UPside Mall, you need to:
1. Be an UPside Mall account owner or UPside cardholder with an account in good standing.
2. Log in successfully to your UPside Card account. This can be done either:
On the upsidecard.com website itself, and then follow the link to the UPside Mall featured on your dashboard page.
Or by logging into the UPside Mall website. When you are successfully logged in, each page of the UPside Mall website displays a “Log Out” button. Otherwise, if you have failed to log in, then each page of the UPside Mall website displays a “Log In” button.
3. Follow one of the hyperlinks on the UPside Mall website leading to a merchant website, or to a product category of a merchant website or a particular individual product on a merchant website.
4. Complete the online purchase of an item of your choice from that merchant, using your UPside card, or any other accepted payment card, as a payment means. Note that the item you purchase does not necessarily need to be the exact item that was displayed on the UPside Mall website if you reached the merchant by clicking on a particular product picture or text link.
The points that you earn depend on the merchant that you have made your purchase at. You will receive between 1 and 12 points per dollar spent, which are worth between 1 and 12% cash back. For a list of how many points you receive, please go to
No you do not need an UPside card to earn points at the UPside Mall. You just need to create a simple online account on the Mall so that we can track you each time you make a purchase. However, when you want to redeem your points you will need to apply for a free UPside card so we can credit your card with cash back.
Yes you can any payment card accepted by the participating merchant. As long as you logged-in to the mall before visiting the merchant you will receive points.
More than 150 merchants are part of the UPside Mall. Please click
here for a full list.
In order to redeem points, you will need to have an UPside Visa® prepaid card. You need at least 1000 points to receive cash back. UPoints are redeemable for cash back rewards of $10 and $20 onto your UPside card. In order to get an UPside card, go to
www.upsidecard.com.