Prepaid cards are essentially open-loop gift cards without the word “gift” on them and are often marketed as a viable alternative to a bank account. Wal-Mart recently announced that it will be paying employees through prepaid debit cards instead of direct deposit.

Consumers Union decided to weigh in on the topic and has published an in-depth review of prepaid cards; it isn’t pretty. But of course, if you’ve read any of the other information published here about open-loop gift cards, you already guessed that. The bottom line is prepaid cards are chock full of fees, do nothing to help someone build credit, and have inadequate protection against loss.