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Please note that this page is outdated and maintained for archival purposes only. However, the overall Editor’s rating above is still updated.
Also, be sure to read consumer comments below. New consumer reviews of the Walgreens prepaid debit card (by folks like you) currently known as Scarlet! You can view our current prepaid card reviews here.
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Overview:
Average Monthly Fees and Costs:
Product Details: The Balance Financial Card from Walgreens is no longer offered and became part of Exact Prepaid Card in Dec. 2015. Now Walgreens and Duane Reade stores offer the Scarlet Bank Account and Mastercard Debit Card.
- Earn points on your Balance® Rewards account when you use your Balance Financial MasterCard
- Access and manage your account in Walgreens and Duane Reade stores, online, or from your smartphone or tablet using free mobile App
- American Express branding. It’s a trusted name and comes with protections
- Add an additional Balance Financial MasterCard to your account, and manage them all with one consolidated dashboard.
- $2.95 load fee at any Walgreens or Duane Reade store
Activation Fee: $3.00
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Monthly Fee: $3.00
Card Limit: $3,000
PIN Transaction Fee: $0
Signature Transaction Fee: $0
ATM Withdrawal Fee: $2.00
ATM Balance Inquiry Fee: $0.95
ATM Out of Network Balance Inquiry Fee: $1.00
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Bill Payment Fee: $0.95
Inactivity/Maintenance Fee: $2.00
Card Reviews: Card Reviews, Prepaid Debit Card Reviews
Card Features
Initial Fees
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Bill Pay Fees / Features
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User Rating
6 total ratings
Things We Like
No-fee ATM withdrawals at 8,000-plus Walgreen’s and Duane Reade stores nationwide. Customers have easy access to their account – check balance, move funds and view previous transactions on a website, mobile app or even at in-store kiosks. Rewards program is a plus.
Things We Dislike
Depending on how you use it, you could rack up lots of fees.
Bottom Line
The Balance Financial Card from Walgreens is no longer offered and became part of Exact Prepaid Card in Dec. 2015. One of the Nation’s largest drugstore chains , Walgreens, is making a foray into the prepaid debit card market. With the Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard, Walgreen’s reiterated a reality that has already prompted so many […]
PostedJune 11, 2018 by Curtis Arnold
Full Article
One of the Nation’s largest drugstore chains , Walgreens, is making a foray into the prepaid debit card market. With the Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard, Walgreen’s reiterated a reality that has already prompted so many other large banks and financial institutions to unveil their own products. The many Americans lacking traditional bank accounts need an alternative to cash transactions and ultra-high fee check cashing and payday lending services.
Notably, the card will allow for no-fee ATM withdrawals for cardholders at most of the 8,000-plus Walgreen’s and Duane Reade stores nationwide. Balance Financial customers will also be able to check their account balance, move funds and view previous transactions on a website, mobile app or even at in-store kiosks. Like many other prepaid debit cards, Balance Financial can be reloaded for free via direct deposit. Also like similar products, the Walgreen’s prepaid card comes with a variety of fees, including a $2.95 account activation fee and a $2.95 monthly charge.
Where the new Walgreen’s card is somewhat different from its competitors is in how it is synchronized with the store’s customer loyalty program. Use of the Balance Financial prepaid card earns points for every dollar a customer spends at Walgreen’s. Users of the card can also earn points for in-store reloads and direct deposits, points that can be used for future savings and other benefits.
Reviews / Ratings of the Walgreens Prepaid Scarlet MasterCard:
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3 Comments
- charnette May 30, 2015 at 12:12 pm this card is a rip off i will never ever use this card again. i loaded money to this card and both my purchase on a dessert at olive garden was declined and but they took all the funds off my card and when i called them they tell me that i have to have them provide them with a code which olive garden is not going to do then they tell me that i have to wait 10 days to get my money back. so a few days later i reload money to this card again to pay my netflix bill which i have done plenty of times with my green dot card and never had any problem will netflix declined my payment but balance financial took the money off my card and i call again and the lady have the nerve to tell me to have the netflix people call them so i called netflix on 3way and they asked them for a code of course they couldnt give them a code and the netflix customer service verified that the payment did not go through the balance finacial agent told me that i had to wait ten days for my money to be released back to me so this is two transactions with this card that i have to wait ten days for. so when i get my money back on my card im sure they will place it on hold a gain and whatever purchase i do will get declined. this card need to be taking off the market and walgreen needs to cut off dealing with this prepaid card company its making them look bad with there name being on this rip off of a card=
- Shane TripconyJune 23, 2015 at 10:24 pm Sorry on my delay in responding. Thanks for sharing. These are the kind of customer experiences that need to be shared. I wish I could minimize your wait time and better explain their policy, but I do not understand why this is happening with the funds not going to the proper party. Only thing I can recommend at this point is to ask to speak to a manager the next time (if there is a next time). With this kind of experience, I would imagine you would be looking for a different card. I know I would. Happy card shopping!
We have some great cards listed on our prepaid card list. https://www.bestprepaiddebitcards.com/best-prepaid-debit-cards - michelle walzJuly 16, 2018 at 8:17 pm I have lost my balance financial card. My company issued it to me to put my payroll on and there is what I consider to be a substantial balance on there. I’ve been trying to get it replaced for over 2 months. Please help me!
