Greenlight review

The monthly fee is $5.99 to $19.98 on the prepaid card, and adding money costs free, so the subscription is the only recurring line. Monzo Flex lists £0 and Wise lists £0 for comparison, so holding a card every week costs more here.

The currency conversion fee is 0%, and Greenlight ranks 1 out of 237 brands on that measure. The typical figure across the site is 1%, so nothing is added on top of the rate you see.

It is a prepaid card on the mastercard network, so it is accepted wherever Mastercard is taken and the spend limit is the balance you have loaded. The card is built for kids and students rather than general adult banking.

A virtual card is one of the listed features, alongside multi-currency, so you can pay online before a physical card arrives. Spending draws on the same prepaid balance, which suits a first card where an online purchase may come before the plastic does.

Support runs on email, chat and phone, which covers phone and chat as well as email and a help centre. Any of those channels works for questions about the card, the balance or the account, and you pick the one that suits you.

Greenlight is a US brand and the regulator listed for it is the FDIC. The legal entity behind the name is GREENLIGHT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY, INC., the company has been running since 2014 and the card sits on mastercard.

The stated audience is kids and student, so the card is shaped around a kid or a student rather than a shared household account. It works as a first spending card, with a virtual option online and a 0% conversion fee abroad.

Adding money is free, and the account runs as a prepaid balance rather than a current account, so you top up before spending. That model suits a kid or student learning to budget, and the $5.99 to $19.98 subscription still applies on top.