Prepaid Debit Cards that Allow you to Pay Bills It’s an irresistible headline. “Why a guy making $100,000 a year can’t get a bank account,” was the provocative title to a recent intriguing story by Danielle Douglas in The Washington Post. In it, Douglas describes how a Kansas City software engineer, Zikomo Fields, pulls in… Continue reading Prepaid Debit Cards that Allow you to Pay Bills (Like a Checking Account)
Month: June 2014
Suze Orman Prepaid Card Discontinued June 30
That’s because Orman’s Approved Card, a partnership with Bancorp Bank that was released in early 2012, is suspending operations on July 1. According to a story in The New York Times, holders of the Approved Card recently received a letter from Bancorp Bank urging them to spend whatever money remained in their accounts – anything not spent would be refunded to them.
Consumer Financial Protection Report: Mishandling Credit Report Errors, Hassling Consumers and More
Harassing phone calls. Credit report errors. Payday loan company employees showing up at a customer’s workplace demanding money. These are just some of the more troubling findings in a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was set up in the wake of the financial meltdown to police financial products and services.… Continue reading Consumer Financial Protection Report: Mishandling Credit Report Errors, Hassling Consumers and More
Visa Attacks Prepaid Fee Confusion
It’s getting harder and harder for prepaid card issuers to be sneaky about their fees. Earlier this year the Pew Charitable Trusts issued a report detailing the lack of uniformity when it comes to prepaid fee disclosures and proposed a model disclosure box to make it easy for consumers to compare the fees associated with… Continue reading Visa Attacks Prepaid Fee Confusion
American Express -Sponsored Movie Spent Premieres
Life outside the financial mainstream is getting the Hollywood treatment. On June 4th, the American Express-sponsored documentary, Spent: Looking for Change, which profiles the challenges and frustrations of those Americans who lack traditional bank accounts and credit cards, premiered in Los Angeles and online. Executive produced by Davis Guggenheim, who won an Academy Award for… Continue reading American Express -Sponsored Movie Spent Premieres
JPMorgan Launches Financial Solutions Lab
American Express just got a little competition in its efforts to appeal to those living outside the financial mainstream. On May 29th, banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that it has committed to invest $30 million to create the Financial Solutions Lab. A collaboration with the Center for Financial Services Innovation, the new Financial… Continue reading JPMorgan Launches Financial Solutions Lab