I just got some American Express happy birthday gift card thing... and I'm just wondering, would it work online like a credit card?

It'll say in the agreement paper whether it can, but even if it can, not everywhere will accept them You also need to have the complete amount on the card as you obviously can't split the amount due

Best way to get rid of prepaid cards is to buy giftcards, as those are more flexible and you can get a gift card in the exact amount of the balance of the prepaid card.

Can the Card be used to make an internet purchase?
Yes, you can also use the Card to make a purchase over the internet or by mail order. However, some internet and mail order Merchants do not permit a second form of payment. if you experience any difficulty making a purchase online or by mail order with the Card, please call SomeRandomNumbersHere for assistance.

So, this means I can?

I used my American Express Prepaid Rebate card to buy a amazon gift card///

yup. My suggestion though is use it to buy an amazon or newegg giftcard. Prepaid cards are horrible for trying to get remaining balances off of

What's the difference?

Depending on where you live, a service fee can be charged to your prepaid card's residual ammount every month -- not true for gift cards

Getting rid of residual amounts is a PITA. You can only bill for the amount on the card or less, which requires asking the cashier to split the transaction -- not something every place will do or demands the other part be paid in cash.

I hate when I get prepaid cards, the things are just evil

Oh... interesting. :shrug:

One thing that can stop a prepaid credit card from working is that some online stores do a back check on the card - they look to make sure that the credit card you're using and the mailing address they have for you match. Which is fine for your regular CC, but doesn't work for a prepaid, since there's no address on file to check against.

(I ran into this when I tried to use an AMEX prepaid card I got from a rebate to get some Mass Effect 2 DLC. It wouldn't accept the card.)



But yeah - the whole "convert it to a regular gift card" thing really is the easiest way to deal with it.

They do have their uses, though. As one of the few online payment methods that are practically untraceable*, they're handy if you want to make an anonymous transaction (admittedly, that's not something that comes up often ). Also good if you're suspicious of the business you're buying from, but have no alternatives (Origin, for example).

*if you pay for it with real cash, 'bout the most they can do is figure out where you bought it and try for CCTV footage... which would take effort and be fairly easy to stymie.