Visa is a household name in most of the world. So, it’s no wonder that millions of people globally use prepaid Visa. Pre-paid Visa cards are ideal because they offer safe, secure payments, not attached to your name or bank records. That’s perfect if you want to make payments for products which might not be legal federally in the United States. Unfortunately, finding seed banks that accept prepaid Visa cards isn’t always as easy as you might like.
In addition, some card processors might not accept pre-paid Visa. However, this should be incredibly rare and should only relate to subscriptions. This means your cannabis seed bank might not have the option to accept prepaid Visa without changing payment provider. However, while buying cannabis seeds with prepaid Visa isn’t always as straightforward as you might like, there are always workarounds.
TDLR: There is only one seed bank that accepts prepaid Visa card payment, CropKingSeeds.com
Surprisingly, some of the largest reputable seed banks globally such as ILGM, Seedsman and MSNL might not accept prepaid visa cards. However, do note that they can all take other payment methods such as Bitcoin, Debit Card, PayPal and more.
Topics
Crop King Seeds
Crop King Seeds is the only major prepaid visa accepting seed bank. And, even then, you might have your card declined, depending on where you buy it. However, Crop King Seeds attempts to accept most prepaid cards and debit cards.
In addition, Crop King Seeds is an extremely popular seed bank. In fact, they launched in 2005. Now, the Vancouver-based seed bank distributes through 300+ physical locations. Plus, their webshop offers free shipping to anywhere in the world.
Like every other seed bank that accepts pre-paid Visa, Crop King Seeds doesn’t specifically advertise it. Instead, they accept Visa. That’s important, because any card merchant that accepts Visa is likely to at least attempt to process Visa debit and Visa prepaid cards.
Crop King Seeds always charges in USD. That may be important when buying your prepaid Visa. You’ll likely face higher costs if Visa has to convert funds for you when purchasing seeds with the prepaid Visa card. Additionally, Crop King Seeds offers 2–7-day shipping – so you’ll get your seeds quickly after payment.
- Launched in 2005
- 300+ physical distributors
- Guaranteed delivery available
- Free shipping on orders over $200
- Discrete and stealth shipping
- 2–7-day delivery times
- Accepts most types of Visa
- Warehouse in Vancouver, Canada
- 80% germination guarantee
- Offers thousands of seed options
Why Use Seed Banks that Accept Prepaid Visa Cards?
Prepaid Visa cards are safe, convenient, and popular. In fact, they’re one of the most common alternatives to a gift card. Visa advertises these cards as working anywhere Visa does. And, that’s often how it works. You simply buy a card, load money onto it, and then it works almost anywhere a credit card does.
Unfortunately, that also means that purchasing cannabis with prepaid Visa cards isn’t always possible.
Why? Many banks and banking organizations have an anti-cannabis policy. This means that the bank might refuse the transaction if it’s linked to a known cannabis seed retailer. That makes sense, considering the Federal government retains the right to seize funds from cannabis sales in the United States. But it might also make your using this convenient and private payment method that much harder.
In addition, Visa itself is anti-marijuana. One Visa spokesperson said:
“Transactions in the U.S. involving the purchase or trade of marijuana are not permitted on the Visa network, until such time as federal law allows,”
Essentially, you can only pay for cannabis related products with Visa when the store hasn’t shared what it’s actually selling. That’s likely the case with Crop King Seeds. Other card frameworks like Mastercard are less strict but could tightens restrictions at any time.
Prepaid Visa Disadvantages
Prepaid Visa might be accepted anywhere Visa is. It also might not be. That makes using a prepaid gift card to pay for cannabis seeds difficult. You can’t invest in a card if you don’t know for sure that a seed bank that accepts prepaid Visa will actually process it. This makes Visa incredibly unreliable for buying cannabis seeds.
However, there are plenty of alternatives. For example, you can use your Visa prepaid card through payment apps. Because the payment is indirect, Visa is less likely to block it. So, seed banks accepting payment apps are more likely to accept the card. Additionally, you can generally use your prepaid cards through apps like PayPal when you find seedbanks that accept it. Additionally, you can simply use your card to purchase Bitcoin.
Fun Fact: If your prepaid Visa is declined, you can always use it to top up a prepaid Mastercard. You’ll get the same privacy, with fewer restrictions.
How Does a Prepaid Visa Card Work?
If you’re planning on buying marijuana seeds with a prepaid Visa, the process is relatively straightforward. However, Visa may flag and decline the transaction. It’s not up to the seed bank.
- Look for a seed bank that accepts Visa. Crop King Seeds is a major one. Seedsman is as well. However, you’re more likely to have prepaid Visa declined with Seedsman because it’s an international payment.
- Make sure you have enough money on your card to make the payment. In most cases, you can easily top up your card beforehand.
- Go through the checkout process and select Visa. There is no split between Visa Credit, Visa Debit, or Visa Prepaid. If the merchant processes one, it should process all of them.
- Add your card details and check out.
- Wait for your card to process.
- Done!
If your card is declined during the transaction, Visa has flagged it. You could try again. This might not work. For example, a spokesperson at ILGM says that most Visa transactions are declined through their system. However, not all of them are.
At the end of the day, paying for cannabis seeds with prepaid Visa is unreliable. You should most likely look at another payment option if you haven’t already invested in a Visa card. Alternatively, if you’ve been gifted one, it doesn’t hurt to try. There are no repercussions other than having the payment declined. Then, you can simply try again with another payment method.
FAQ
If you still have questions about buying cannabis seeds with a prepaid Visa, this FAQ should help.
What is the Maximum Prepaid Visa?
The NetSpend Visa Prepaid Card is the highest spend card you can get. This card offers a daily limit of $4,999 with a daily ATM limit of $940. Additionally, you can load up to $7,500 in a day. However, you can load up to $15,000 on the card.
That’s a big difference from the standard card. A Visa Gift card offers $50-$1000. In most cases, withdrawal limits are set to just $150. However, spend limits can normally be set with the banking provider, although this may not be an option.
How Much is a Prepaid Visa Card?
Many banks offer fee-free Visa Gift Cards and prepaid debit cards. However, many Visa gift cards come with a host of fees. For example, if you buy your Visa Prepaid Card from a merchant like Target, you’ll likely pay a $5 fee. In other cases, you might have issues if you try to make a payment and you already have a hold on the card. So, for example, if you try to make a payment and it declines, you may not be able to try another purchase until the charge is removed from the card entirely. Additionally, many Visa Gift cards are subject to monthly maintenance fees. However, some fees only come into effect after a year of non-use.
Where Can I Purchase a Prepaid Visa Card?
Most banks and major stores offer prepaid Visa Cards. Additionally, you can purchase Visa cards online from many organizations. In most cases, the best and cheapest option is to simply go to your bank. However, you may want to research if they have fees.
Large stores such as Walmart and Target also sell prepaid Visa cards. However, they are also likely to charge higher upfront fees for the cards.
What’s the Difference Between a Prepaid Debit Card and a Prepaid Credit Card?
There is no such thing as a prepaid credit card. However, you can choose to load funds onto your credit card so that the balance is in the positive.
A prepaid card is different from a debit or credit card in that it is not linked to a bank account. Instead of spending credit balance or your bank balance, you have to specifically load money onto the card. You can normally do this through an online portal. In addition, some prepaid cards allow you to load them through an ATM. However, this is rare.
The most important difference between prepaid cards and debit cards is that the prepaid card is not linked to your auditable financial records. While the card is still in your name, it is only tangentially so. Many prepaid cards require only minimal name verification. For example, some may only require basic details like your name and date of birth. Otherwise, it’s relatively private.
What Seed Banks Might Accept Prepaid Visa?
Any seed bank that accepts Visa might accept prepaid Visa. However, Visa doesn’t allow cannabis-related purchases. That means your Visa purchase might fail. So, no Visa prepaid card is a sure-thing.
- Seedsman
- ILGM
- Weed Seed Express
- Crop King Seeds
- True North Seed Bank
- Gorilla Seed Bank
- Barney’s Farm
- MSNL
Next Steps
If you’re set on buying weed seeds with a prepaid Visa card, there’s no reason not to try. However, any Visa card might be declined. That’s true even if the seed bank accepts Visa. Additionally, not all merchant bankers accept prepaid cards. This is largely only true when you are trying to pay for a subscription. Additionally, your card will always be declined if you don’t have enough money on your account. Otherwise, the only thing that happens if your payment is declined is that you have to try again.
Hopefully, in the future, Visa relaxes its anti-cannabis stance. Until then, you’re likely better off looking for a different payment option.
Harry is a cannabis growing veteran, recognized marijuana seed cultivation expert and founder of GrowReporter. Harry has spent the last 20+ years educating thousands of people about his techniques and methods.