A vanilla prepaid card provides a prepaid payment solution that relies on funds loaded in advance. These cards generally run on Visa or Mastercard networks, allowing acceptance at participating merchants until the balance is exhausted. Unlike credit cards, vanilla prepaid cards do not involve borrowing or monthly billing. Users can only spend the funds already available on the card. Unlike debit cards, they are not linked to personal bank accounts. Once the prepaid balance reaches zero, the card becomes unusable.