5 Ways Someone Can Send Money to Your Netspend Card

Netspend is a handy and extremely popular prepaid card that’s versatile and offers many ways of topping up. If you want to find out all the ins and outs of Netspend money transfers, keep reading. 

There are five ways a person can transfer money to your Netspend card: 

1. Bank Transfer
2. Wire Transfer
3. PayPal Transfer
4. Netspend to Netspend 
5. Cash Deposit

Let’s dive in deeper and see exactly how they work, how much they cost, if anything, and how fast they typically are. 

1. Bank Transfer

Bank transfers are commonplace and something that people use on a daily basis. They’re also very easy to do and are relatively fast. You should use a bank transfer when you want to send smaller amounts. 

How much you’ll have to pay for a bank transfer depends on your bank.

To transfer money to someone’s Netspend card, one can use almost any bank debit card or bank account, as well as checking, or even savings accounts. 

To make a transfer from a bank to a Netspend card, here’s what needs to be done:

1. Sign in to your bank’s website or mobile app
2. Go to the transfers section
3. Add the Netspend account info (routing and account numbers) 

That’s about it. It’s as simple as it gets. If someone’s doing an international transfer to your Netspend account, I recommend they use Wise. More on that below. 

With Netspend, the money only goes one direction; from a bank account to Netspend. There’s still no way of sending money back to a bank account.

READ ALSO: How to Get Money Off Netspend Account Without a Card (A Quick Guide)

2. Wire Transfer

Wire transfers are great for larger amounts of money. However, you need to check the Netspend limits. You’ll also need the recipient’s (so, presumably yours) name, address, routing, and account numbers. See in the article below how to get them. 

Wire transfers aren’t typically cheap, and banks may charge a fee for both sending and receiving them. 

3. PayPal Transfer

PayPal is arguably the most preferred way of sending money to Netspend cards. However, you should only use this if you completely trust the person, as it involves linking your Netspend account to the PayPal account, just as you would link a bank account or card.

That’s why it’s mostly used for transferring cash between your PayPal and your Netspend.  

The process also implicates two small amounts transferred out of your Netspend card that you’ll have to use to verify the account on PayPal. 

Here’s what the process of linking PayPal to Netspend looks like:

1. Log in to the PayPal account 
2. Click on “Wallet” at the top of the page
3. Click on “Link a credit or debit card” 
4. Click on “Debit or credit card”
5. Type in the Netspend card number 
6. Enter expiration date, CVV, and billing address
7. Click “Link card”
8. Go back in a day or two once the two small payments are done
9. Type them in to confirm the Netspend card association

4. Netspend to Netspend

If the person wanting to send you money has a Netspend account as well, they can do it for free. This is the best way of sending and receiving cash, as there’s no money being spent on fees with these transfers. 

The person sending you money needs to know your name and your FlashPay ID, which you can easily find in your Netspend Online Account Center.

READ NEXT: Can You Transfer Money From Cash App to Netspend Card? (Helpful Tips)

5. Cash Deposit

Cash deposits are another simple and convenient way of loading your Netspend card and account, as there are over 130,000 locations across the country. Some of them offer this service for free, and some charge around $2, but typically, most locations charge $3.95 per transaction.

Cash deposits do mean that the person depositing cash needs to have your card in their hands. That, again, means that it should be a person of extreme trust. 

The somewhat hefty fees also mean that you’ll be losing quite a lot of money if you do it regularly. For that reason, your best bet would be to opt for one of the free options.

To find the nearest cash deposit location, open your Netspend app or website and enable your location or type in your ZIP code, city, or state. 

How to Get Netspend Routing and Account Numbers

So, we already know that routing and account numbers are important for setting up direct deposits, bill pays, bank transfers, etc. 

You can, however, only get them if you have already activated your Netspend card and verified your identity.

To obtain these numbers, do one of the following:

• Text “DIRECT to 22622” (if you’re registered for Anytime Alerts), and Netspend will text you back the routing number and account numbers 
• Log in to your Netspend Online Account Center and select “Direct Deposit”. The account information will appear on the right side in the grey box 
• Call 1-866-387-7363 and pick “Other Services” to get them

Does Netspend Support Zelle?

Zelle is major banks’ answer to popular mobile payment apps like Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, etc.

Unfortunately, Zelle isn’t supported in this case. Actually, It’s not that Nestpend doesn’t support Zelle, Zelle doesn’t support Netspend. 

This is because Zelle primarily operates with brick-and-mortar banks and credit unions. Digital banks and accounts like Netspend, Cash App, Venmo, Chime, and others, aren’t supported at this time. 

Mobile payment apps have their own ecosystem and don’t even support each other, let alone Zelle. It’s safe to say that they are self-reliant. 

Zelle, unlike digital banks, is a product of major traditional banks that needed to figure something out due to the rising competition from financial apps. They were under pressure as tens of millions of their own clients jumped ship.

International Netspend Transfers

As I briefly mentioned above, I recommend Wise for international transfers. If you’re expecting a transfer from someone living abroad, advise them to use Wise as one of the cheapest and fastest alternatives for money transfers. 

To send money with Wise: 

• Register with Wise
• Enter the amount for the transfer
• Enter what type of transfer it is
• Fill in your details
• Enter the recipient’s details (or enter just their email)
• Review everything
• Choose the speed of the transfer

The great thing about Wise is that if you don’t know the recipient’s bank details, you can simply enter their email address, and Wise will take it from there.

If the recipient already has Wise, the company will find the account they want to receive money into.

And if they’re not on Wise, they get an email asking for their bank details. It’s dead easy. 

Conclusion

There are many ways someone can transfer money to your Netspend card. Many of them are fast and free. On the other side, some or just not that practical and should be used only for transfers between your own accounts. 

We also showed you how to get your Netspend account and routing numbers that are necessary for bank transfers. 

With this knowledge, you can decide what the best way to transfer money is, and you can recommend it to the person sending you the funds.