Alternatives to Postepay: which one to choose

Postepay is the most used prepaid card in Italy: simple to obtain, it allows you to withdraw cash from any ATM of the Italian Post Office (also called Postamat), to receive your salary thanks to the included IBAN, to pay online on -commerce such as Amazon and eBay, can be associated with PayPal or other payment services and is safer than a classic current accountsince it does not allow you to exceed spending limits (it is not possible to have a negative balance and get into debt).

Unfortunately for some years this card presents a fee to be paid annually: even if the payment can be canceled by keeping a certain amount on the card or by carrying out other activities, keeping Postepay requires an annual expense that many users are not willing to pay.

In this guide we will show you the best alternatives to the Postepay cardso you can have a safe, efficient prepaid credit card that can replace the post office card for any payment or to receive your salary in peace.

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1) What should the alternative to PostePay be like?

A prepaid card that can replace Postepay must have the following characteristics:

• International circuit: the prepaid card must support the most famous international circuits, such as MasterCard or Visa Electron, so that it can be used at any ATM in Italy and around the world.
• Without annual fee: a good alternative to Postepay it must not have management costsso that you can use it even sporadically without fearing that there may be a hidden expense.
• IBAN: in order to credit the salary or to top it up, an IBAN must be present, so as to be able to use the prepaid card as if it were a real current account (without the costs of the current account!).
• Spending and Withdrawal Limits: in order to be able to replace the Postepay card, there must be sufficient withdrawal and spending limits to cover all future expenses that we want to make both in physical stores and in the case of cash withdrawals at an ATM.

We anticipate that most of the alternative cards to Postepay must be recharged by bank transfer, by another card or by cash recharge (only for some cards).

2) Letter YAP

An excellent alternative card to Postepay is the letter YAPwhich works as a contactless payment app (via NFC phone) and as an app for exchanging money but can also be requested as a physical card (at a cost of €9.95).

To use this service, we sign up for a new account and download the YAP app for Android and for iPhoneso you can pay immediately with your mobile phone in any shop.

The app offers an interface designed for young and very young people and some functions designed specifically for them such as contactless payment, sending money to friends, payment groups, payment requests (for freeloading or forgetting friends always cash) and prizes reserved for account holders.

The top-up costs are €0.90 (if we top up with another card or by bank transfer) and €2.5 (if we top up in cash at Mooney points).

Withdrawals with physical card (Italy and Europe) cost €1, withdrawals in the rest of the world cost €4; with this card, however, we can pay in shops abroad without limits (using POS).

3) Carta Mooney

Another card that we can use to replace the Postepay is Mooneya physical card with a reduced fee that works exactly like a current account.

This card can be managed comfortably from the phone app, on which we can top it up by bank transfer, with other cards and in cash (at Mooney points). From the app it is possible to make transfers and manage direct debit for home bills, as well as pay bills, PagoPA and car tax.

The card has an annual fee of €10 charged directly to the card account following activation; the first year fee is free. We can withdraw money from all ATM/Bancomat automatic teller machines affiliated with Visa and we can make payments (in-store and online) and withdrawals anywhere in Italy and abroad.

4) HYPE account

As a valid alternative to Postepay we can consider the HYPE account.

This account provides a virtual card available immediately from the HYPE appassociated with the payment system phone contactless (to pay directly with your smartphone).

The virtual card installed on the phone allows you to pay in any shop that supports the MasterCard circuit (via NFC and contactless POS) but also to pay on online sites, receive bank transfers via IBAN, pay bills, PagoPA and car tax directly from the app and make free instant withdrawals and transfers.

The account is totally free and can replace Postepay very well, especially if we don’t want any physical card; those who want the physical card can view HYPE Nextwhere the physical card costs €2.90 per month.

This account can be topped up in cash at a tobacconist or authorized shop, as seen in dedicated page.

5) Tinaba Letter

Another valid alternative to Postepay that we can consider is Tinaba letterwhich provides an account with an Italian IBAN and a Mastercard without any fees, stamp duties or activation costs.

With the dedicated app for Android and for iPhone we can transfer the money to the prepaid card at any time, we can send money to our contacts in the address book and also create spending groups, so as to divide the expenses for a gift or a collection among friends and relatives.

The card allows you to make 4 free transfers per month; from the fifth onwards you pay €0.49. Account top-up is free from an external card for amounts over €150.

Conclusions

The accounts and cards shown in this guide will offer you valid alternatives to the Postepay cardso that we can continue to buy safely, keeping monthly and annual spending under control and obtaining all the advantages we used to get with Postepay.

The only truly free card is HYPE Accountgiven that the card is totally virtual within the app: we can still use it to pay in stores by enabling Google Wallet or Apple Pay and bringing the phone near the POS via NFC, without ever needing the physical card (which you pay for).

If we are looking for an effective and modern contactless payment method, we invite you to read our in-depth study on Satispay.

For more information, you can also read our guide to best virtual credit cards free.