American Express to sell prepaid cards through Office Depot stores

American Express will make its reloadable prepaid card available for purchase at Office Depot stores, the company announced in a press release. More than 1,100 Office Depot locations will be selling the card for a one-time fee of $4.95 and customers can load up to $500 on it at the register. The agreement marks the first time Office Depot has offered a prepaid card in its stores.

Office Depot customers can now purchase a temporary American Express Prepaid card, but they will still need to order a permanent card through the AmEx website. The temporary card can only be loaded one time, but the permanent card can be reloaded in a number of ways, such as through direct deposit or at Green Dot or Vanilla Reload locations. The direct deposit option and Vanilla Reload are new money loading options for the AmEx card, and the company announced it has also increased the daily ATM limit to $400.

The permanent card, which is free, can be used anywhere American Express is accepted, and has no monthly maintenance fee. The first ATM withdrawal each month is free from American Express (bank ATM fees may be charged), and any withdrawals after that are $2. Reloading can be done via a checking or savings account, along with the direct deposit and retail cash loading options. Green Dot's Money Pak service is available at Walmart, CVS/pharmacy, Kmart, Rite Aid, 7-Eleven and Walgreens, and Vanilla Reload services are found through the company website and are mostly located in smaller chain convenience stores.

The prepaid card is not available in Vermont and Arkansas, and while the temporary card is only good in the United States, the permanent prepaid card can be used internationally where American Express is accepted. Other perks of the card include purchase protection, roadside assistance and online account management tools.