Prepaid cards have become an indispensable tool for making online purchases, avoiding queues at checkout counters and sending or receiving small amounts of money. Too bad that having them is not always easy: often you have to go to an office, you have to fill out piles of paperwork and you have to wait endless days for the card activation procedure to be completed. And the waste of time does not end there! Some prepaid cards, in fact, involve convoluted (and often expensive) procedures even when it comes to making a top-up. In short, these payment instruments are very useful, very comfortable, but often their use is ruined by unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
Among the “smart” payment solutions that I have had the opportunity to try in recent times is HYPE: an electronic money account associated with a Mastercard circuit card (both physical and virtual) that allows complete management of money from a smartphone. It can be activated, managed and used comfortably from your smartphone or PC without bureaucratic delays and without costs related to bank transfers or other operations. HYPE also includes a technology that allows you to pay directly from your smartphone at physical stores, without the need for a card or cash and with the possibility of obtaining cashback on over 500 online stores. There is also the option to receive free wire transfers, send and receive money, set savings goals, get up to 2,000 euros in credit, and buy / sell Bitcoins.
The card can be requested free of charge and is delivered directly to the user’s home. The account also has its own IBAN and can be reloaded completely free of charge by making a transfer from a current account, using another card from the Visa / Mastercard circuits, requesting sums of money from your contacts and / or using the function to recharge the ATMs enabled for the “QuiMultibanca” circuit. The creation of the account takes just over 5 minutes, while its activation generally takes place within half an hour. It can be done comfortably from a PC or smartphone: just enter your data, take a couple of photos of your identity card (or your driving license) and you’re done. At the end of the procedure you can start using your account to make online purchases, send wire transfers, top up your mobile phone and exchange sums of money with your contacts. The physical card to make purchases in stores arrives directly at home within 2 or 5 days (depending on the geographic area in which you reside). If you want to know more and want to find out more about how HYPE works, read on: everything is explained below.More information on HYPEMore information on HYPE PlusMore information on HYPE Premium
Index
- How much does HYPE cost?
- How to open a HYPE account
- How to use HYPE
- Reload HYPE
- Pay with HYPE
- Manage cards
- Withdraw
- Send and receive money
- Wire transfers, bulletins and telephone top-ups
- Movement monitoring
- Goals and offers
- Buying and selling Bitcoins
How much does HYPE cost?
Let’s start with the question you are asking yourself before any other: is HYPE really free? The answer is yes, but with some limitations.
As already mentioned above, HYPE does not provide for any activation costs, provides the payment card completely free of charge and does not include costs for payments, top-ups or transfers. However, its basic floor, HYPE Start , has daily and annual ceilings that can only be overcome by switching to the more advanced floors.
Going into more detail, the HYPE Start starting plan does not provide for fixed monthly costs but has a limit of 1,000 euros for daily recharging, 999 euros for spending per single operation, 2,500 euros for annual validation and 250 euros for daily withdrawal; the HYPE Plus plan (1 euro / month with a 15 euro bonus on the first top-up using the PLUS15 code during registration), on the other hand, breaks down withdrawal, top-up and spending limits present in HYPE Start and also offers the domiciliation of utilities and credit salary, while the HYPE Premium plan (9.90 euros / month with 25 euros bonus on the first top-up using the code PREMIUM25 during registration) also includes comprehensive travel insurance (medical and for delayed / canceled flights), free payments and withdrawals worldwide, the World Elite Mastercard credit card and priority assistance (also via WhatsApp).
Having clarified this fundamental aspect of HYPE, I would say to go straight to the point and see immediately how to register for the service for free.
How to open a HYPE account
As already explained at the opening of the post, to open an account on HYPE just fill out some online form and take some photos of your identification document (as well as a selfie of yourself with your identity document in hand). At the end of the operation you will receive a confirmation email and, within 24 hours, you will be notified of the activation of your account. The account can be opened by users with at least 12 years of age.
Account opening can be done either from a computer (using a browser with webcam support, such as Chrome ) or from a smartphone , using the HYPE application available for Android (available both on the Play Store and on the Huawei AppGallery ) or iPhone .
For convenience, I advise you to proceed from the official HYPE website , but in the end the procedure to follow is the same also from the app. Therefore, connect to the HYPE website, click on the button to register and choose a plan between HYPE Start , HYPE Plus and HYPE Premium .
Then fill out the form that is proposed to you with all your personal data (therefore the data relating to identity, your contacts and information on your residence), read the privacy policy and information document on expenses and prizes on the Continue button .
It then indicates whether to obtain only the virtual card or also the physical Mastercard card (free and essential for ATM withdrawals), in case it indicates where to receive the physical card; then check the boxes relating to sensitive data and promotions and then click on the Continue button .
On the Identified page you will have to take a selfie with your valid identity document in hand (face and document must both be clearly visible): you can take the photo directly with the webcam or smartphone and then upload it to the HYPE website using the appropriate box.
After taking / uploading the photo, enter the data of the document with which you took the selfie, upload front and back photos (in the respective boxes) and press Continue once again . Finally, accept the HYPE contract (after reading it very carefully) and that’s it: now you just have to wait for the HYPE email containing the instructions to complete the account opening.
Once you have received the email in question (also check the Spam, for safety), open it, click on the Create codes button and complete the registration to HYPE. To do this, enter the required data (this is a confirmation of the data you have already entered previously) and click on the Continue button .
Then enter the security code you received via SMS or email, click Continue again and set the password to access your HYPE account, typing it in the appropriate fields and then pressing the Continue button . Well: now you are a hyper and you can use your account to send and receive payments in a very simple way!
Later, if you want to switch from HYPE Start to HYPE Plus or HYPE Premium , all you have to do is connect to the pages of the HYPE site that I have just linked to you, press the button to register and fill out the form that is proposed to you, or you can press on the item relating to the upgrade in the HYPE app. For more details, I invite you to consult my tutorial on how to switch from HYPE to HYPE Plus .
How to use HYPE
Once you have opened your account, you are ready to top up it and use HYPE to make purchases, both online and in physical stores (also with Google Pay and Apple Pay and with the possibility of obtaining cashback on over 500 online stores), send and receive money , send and receive wire transfers for free, withdraw from ATMs, buy and sell Bitcoins (only for users with at least 18 years of age), pay bills and bills, set savings goals, make phone top-ups and much more. Find everything explained in detail below.
Reload HYPE
To add funds to your HYPE account (and to the card associated with the latter) you can make a bank transfer ; a deposit from another payment card of the Visa and Mastercard circuits; you can use the top-up function available at the ATMs enabled for the “QuiMultibanca” circuit; you can top up in cash at the supermarket or at one of the affiliated SisalPay | 5 points (bars, tobacconists or newsstands) or you can request sums of money from your contacts.
To recharge HYPE by card , start the HYPE app on your smartphone, press the (+) button on the main screen and choose the With other card option . Then press the + button , at the top right, and enter the details of the card you want to use to top up. Once this is done, select the card in question from the app menu, type the amount you want to transfer and press Confirm .
If you prefer to top up HYPE by bank transfer , you simply have to obtain the coordinates of your account: you can do it from the smartphone app , by going to the Menu section of the same and selecting the Profile and Bank details items ; or from a PC , by accessing the Web version of HYPE , clicking on your profile photo (bottom left) and selecting the item Bank details from the menu that opens.
To top up HYPE in cash at one of the supermarkets or affiliated SisalPay | 5 points, enter the HYPE app, press the (+) button on the main screen, select the Cash item and choose whether to top up in a supermarket or in one SisalPay point | 5 . At this point, enter the amount to top up (min 20 euros), show the cashier or operator the QR code displayed on the phone and make the payment in cash. To top up at SisalPay | 5 points you will also need to bring a valid document and your health card to read the tax code.
To charge by HYPE ATM-enabled QuiMultiBanca circuit , went at an ATM, insert into the slot HYPE your card or another debit card Pagobancomat , select the entry for the Reload Prepaid , enter the data of the card and follow the HYPE on-screen indications.
Finally, to request money from another Hyper , open the HYPE app and go to Payments> Request money . Then select the contact you want to request money from, press the Continue button and fill out the form that is proposed to you with the amount and description of the request.
If any step is not clear to you and / or you want more information on how to reload HYPE , take a look at the tutorial I dedicated to the topic.
Pay with HYPE
Paying with HYPE is very simple, both online and in physical stores. To purchase goods or services on the Internet, just choose to pay by card and enter the details of your HYPE card (virtual and / or physical). You can see the card details by accessing the HYPE Card section .
To make purchases in physical stores, on the other hand, you can use contactless payment systems such as Google Pay and Apple Pay (having previously associated the card to one of the systems in question via the appropriate button in the HYPE application or by manual addition in the wallet of your smartphone). Alternatively, you can use the physical payment card , which can be used in all the stores of the Mastercard circuit (even in contactless mode) or, again, you should know that there are many stores that allow you to make purchases by paying directly through the HYPE app.
To find out which shops near you allow you to pay through the HYPE application, go to the Payments section of the same and press the Pay in store button in the menu that opens.
Manage cards
HYPE allows you to manage the cards connected to your account in a very simple way. For example, by starting the HYPE app on your smartphone and going to the Card section, you can put the card in “pause” and then “reactivate” it when necessary.
This means that you can prevent anyone from using your card when you want to put it on “pause” and you can reactivate it as soon as you need to make payments. You can do everything with a couple of “taps” in the HYPE application: to be precise, you have to go to the Card section and move the lever under the graphic representation of the card to Paused or Activated .
From the same screen, you can also decide whether to keep active or deactivate online purchases made via the HYPE card, in-store purchases and ATM withdrawals : just activate or deactivate the levers located next to each of the options just mentioned.
Another interesting detail of the card, in addition to the possibility of recharging it for free and withdrawing without commissions anywhere in the world, is the protection offered by Mastercard “protected anytime, anywhere”, which reimburses unauthorized purchases.
If you have requested the physical payment card , in order to use it, you must first activate it in the HYPE app: to do so, go to the Card section of the application, choose the option to enable the physical card and type the CVV code you find on the back of the card itself.
Withdraw
With the physical card of HYPE you can withdraw at any ATM in EU and non-EU countries , including Postamat . Withdrawals in Euros from any banking institution in Italy and Europe are completely free.
But be careful : some ATMs apply extra fees on withdrawals (which are not dependent on HYPE). To make sure you have these charges, check that the ATM screen does not say “Additional charges will apply” .
For withdrawals in foreign currencies, however, a commission of 3% on the exchange rate established by Mastercard is applied , but this commission also lapses if the HYPE Premium plan is activated (9.90 euros / month).
The withdrawal limits vary depending on the HYPE plan subscribed. Here are all the details.
- Single operation: 250 euros with HYPE Start; 500 euros with HYPE Plus and HYPE Premium.
- Dailywithdrawal: 250 euros with HYPE Start; 1,000 euros with HYPE Plus and HYPE Premium.
- Monthlywithdrawal: € 1,000 with HYPE Start and HYPE Plus; 10,000 euros with HYPE Premium.
For more information on how to withdraw with HYPE , do not hesitate to read the tutorial I dedicated to the topic.
Send and receive money
As abundantly pointed out above, HYPE makes sending and receiving money extremely simple. Transactions take place in real time and are free of charge.
To send a sum of money to a friend or relative, go to the Payments section of HYPE and select the Send money item from the screen that opens.
Now, select the name of the person you want to send money to (make sure you have allowed the app to access the address book), indicate the amount to be sent in the Amount field , enter a description for the operation in the appropriate text field and presses the check mark , at the top right, to transfer the money.
You can also send money to people who don’t have a HYPE account yet. The latter will receive a message through which to subscribe to the service and collect their sum of money. To have the possibility to send money to people who are not yet subscribed to HYPE, go to the Send money screen of the application and disable the lever related to the Show only Hypers function .
To request, instead, a sum of money from your contacts, go to the Payments section of HYPE and select the item Request money from the screen that opens. Then choose the contacts to request money, press the Continue button that appears below and fill out the form that is proposed to you with the requested sum (to be entered in the Amount field ), a reason for your request (to be typed in the Description field ) and tap on the check mark located at the top right.
Wire transfers, bulletins and telephone top-ups
HYPE not only allows you to make online / offline payments and exchange money with other people: it also allows you to make free transfers to any account, pay bills and top up the telephone credit of any mobile phone.
To make bank transfers and pay bills, go to the Payments section of HYPE and choose the option you are interested in from those available. Then type in the “coordinates” of the account to which the bank transfer or the bulletin to be paid, press the Continue button and confirm the execution of the operation. It’s all very intuitive.
It should be noted that there are no costs for wire transfers, while for bills it all depends on the HYPE plan in use: with HYPE Start it is possible to pay MAV bills without commissions, blank bills and pre-marked bills with a commission of 2.15 euros. and PagoPA / CBill and RAV bulletins with a fee of 1 euro ; the HYPE Plus plan (1 euro / month) lowers commissions to 1.99 euro for blank bulletins and pre-marked bulletins , while the HYPE Premium plan(€ 9.90 / month) provides for the complete cancellation of commissions on bulletins, bills and card top-ups. For more information, I invite you to consult my tutorial on how to pay bills with HYPE .
As for the phone cards , you can do them without any fees, by going in the section Menu HYPE, by tapping Reload phone and filling out the form that is proposed to you with a telephone operator , phone number and amount : easier to do than to say! In any case, you can learn more by reading my tutorial on how to recharge your phone with HYPE .
Movement monitoring
Money management with HYPE is made easier by a series of statistics that allow you to always keep an eye on your income and expenses.
On the Home screen you will find the list of transactions (in the center) with all the income and expenses, while at the top is the field You can spend with the balance available on the account. By tapping on the field in question you can view a brief summary with the balance available on the account, the scheduled payments and the funds committed for the objectives (which we will discuss shortly ), while pressing on the items relating to each movement you can view all the details of the latter.
To view additional information on your account, go to the Menu section of HYPE and select the Profile item : you will be able to analyze the thresholds relating to the limits currently in force on your account, you will be able to consult the average stock , bank details , documents etc.
In the profile screen you can also set the personalized notifications that the app should send you when you spend too much on certain purchases and / or when your balance reaches certain thresholds (a very useful function to avoid “crazy spending”!). Convenient, right?
Goals and offers
Another function of HYPE that allows you to avoid “crazy expenses”: or rather, to save in view of important purchases, is the one called objectives . By setting a goal in HYPE (e.g. buying a new smartphone or booking a summer vacation) you can make sure that the application helps you to regulate your expenses and reach the set goal.
To add a goal in HYPE, go to the Savings section and press the (+) button located at the top right of the screen that opens. Then, type in the amount you want to reach, indicate what you want to buy , the date by which you must make the purchase, specify the amount you have already set aside to reach your goal and press the check mark located at the top right . From now on, HYPE will help you save day by day until you reach your goal. More info here .
Another tool that allows you to achieve your goals is the one related to offers , accessible from the Menu section of HYPE: every day, based on your actions and the objectives you have set in the application, HYPE will report offers that could help you save the money needed to win the smartphone of your dreams or travel for your well-deserved vacation.
Not only that: HYPE also allows you to earn by making purchases in the Offers section of the app, giving you a percentage of what you spend as cashback on over 500 affiliated online stores. The percentage of earnings is clearly visible on the screen before making the purchase.
And if you need an extra credit for an unexpected expense, you can take advantage of the HYPE Credit Boost , which allows you to get up to 2,000 euros in credit for your expenses. More info here .
Buying and selling Bitcoins
HYPE also allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin , the most widespread cryptocurrency in the world. By going to the Menu section of the app, you can in fact open a Bitcoin wallet in 30 seconds, for free and without sending documents and then monitor the market trend in real time and exchange, buy and sell Bitcoins.
For example, to convert your Bitcoins into euros, just press the Sell button in the Bitcoin section of the app, enter the amount in euros to sell, press the Continue button and confirm. The transaction involves the payment of a commission which is added to the amount indicated at the time of the sale based on the current EUR / BTC exchange rate. The Miner cost foreseen for the payment of the “miners” who have the task of inserting the transactions within the Blockchain network and providing the certification is also added to the commission in question.
