Thanks for answering my questions!

I was surprised to see prepaid MasterCards hanging on the shelves next to the prepaid phone cards. They were new to me.

Credit rating is one of the things we have to be aware of as expats. We've been out of the U.S. so long that we have very little in the way of credit rating and now that credit has gotten so much tighter, I wouldn't be surprised if we also faced difficulties on our return (not that we have plans to return anytime soon), despite having a bank account and one U.S. based credit card, which we seldom use.

Prepaid MasterCard is a scam (or close to it). Secure MasterCard is a different thing.

Prepaid: you buy a card, let's say for $100, and use it to buy maybe $80 worth. You can put more money on it later if you don't value them. Sorry, but this is the truth.

There is nothing to fill out, no information goes on your credit history.

Search "prepaid credit cards" on European forum, there are some good discussions.

nelsonian -- Be cautious when applying for a secured credit card. You want one from a reputable source, a bank or credit union, preferably a local one..... Some not so reputable will have high APR's attached as well as both annual, start up and usage fees. Most of those also come with a low credit line and the card could be maxed out just with the fees from applying for the card.. Make sure they read and most of all understand all the conditions before signing anything... As I mentioned earlier the best place to start is where they now have a bank account, their NZ credit may be worth something, show them the credit cards they have.... There is no such thing as a prepaid MasterCard or Visa Credit Card. Those cards you buy are nothing more than a rip off. They charge for the card and then a fee to use your own money you have put up front when you purchased the card. Another thing here in the good old USofA, make sure they know to guard their SSN and not give it out freely just because someone ask for it....