OCA review

The OCA Blue prepaid card carries a monthly fee of UYU 0 and a currency conversion fee of 0%, and top-ups by transfer from any bank are free. The credit card on the same brand has an annual fee of UYU 0, so holding either card costs nothing to maintain.

OCA operates through OCA S.A. (OCA Blue: OCA Dinero Electronico S.A.), and Banco Central del Uruguay is the regulator named for the brand in Uruguay. The card protections that are stated cover purchases and travel medical help, not money loaded on the account, so a loaded balance is a bank balance first.

OCA covers both ends of the card market. The prepaid account is prepaid and runs on visa, while the credit card is listed as credit and collects points. The prepaid side is the one built for money you have loaded, across 2 currencies.

Top-ups by transfer from any bank are free, so a salary or refund sitting in a Uruguayan account moves across without a charge. Support runs on phone, email and help centre: phone, email and a help centre, which covers most questions about loads and card use.

The prepaid card pays cashback of 2% on spending, and the credit card pays points instead. Each card runs its own scheme, so the rate you earn depends on which card is in your wallet rather than on the brand itself.

The currency conversion fee is 0%, so converting at the point of sale costs nothing on the prepaid card. The account is built for multi-currency use across 2 currencies, with crypto among the features listed (multi currency and crypto), though anything wider needs a different card.

OCA is headquartered in Uruguay, and the card, the instalment plans and the merchant discounts all sit inside that market. Readers elsewhere comparing prepaid cards can look at CrediMax Cardy EX prepaid Visa or JMMB Moneyline and JMMB Money Transfer prepaid card, whose monthly fees are BHD 0 and JMD 0.