This post comes from Odysseas Papadimitriou of Card Hub.

Traditional checking accounts are progressively getting more expensive with higher fees and minimum-balance requirements. Prepaid debit cards, the fastest-growing method of payment over the past two years, are becoming increasingly rewarding as a result of recent legislative changes. 

So, if it will save you money, why not replace your checking account with a prepaid card?

The pros

Prepaid cards are essentially checking accounts without the ability to write paper checks.  They allow online account management and bill pay, direct deposit and ATM withdrawals -- basically all the functionality most people need from a checking account. They even provide an opportunity to lead your children by example, since providing your child's allowance via prepaid card is a great way to teach the principles of fiscal responsibility.

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Most importantly, the right prepaid card can be cheap to use. A recent Card Hub report showed exactly how inexpensive a prepaid card can be for a consumer who deposits a paycheck of at least $1,000 each month and only uses in-network ATMs. More specifically, by using a GreenDot prepaid card and tapping into the company's 18,000 in-network ATMs, one could escape fees entirely and essentially have a free checking account. 

Seeing as major banks -- such as Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, SunTrust and Citi -- are beginning to implement monthly fees of $3 to $25 for various checking account offerings to compensate for the loss of revenue resulting from legislative and regulatory changes, free certainly sounds appealing.

The cons

Though financial-reform laws have done a lot to increase transparency within the credit card industry, prepaid cards have not yet come under the microscope of such regulatory attention. Now, this doesn't mean prepaid cards should be ruled out completely; it simply means that most cards have complex fee structures that need to be evaluated carefully.

The inability to write physical checks therefore becomes the only real drawback, but as more and more of your financial life goes online, that becomes less important.

Odysseas Papadimitriou is the founder and CEO of Card Hub, a marketplace for the best credit cards, prepaid cards and gift cards.

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