Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc

Author: Shane Tripcony

  • Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com Announces Our First Ipad Mini Giveaway Winner

    Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com Announces Our First Ipad Mini Giveaway Winner

    A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who entered our first contest here at Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com!!

    Here at Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com, we are impacting lives!

    We are happy to introduce our lucky winner of our first Ipad Mini giveaway.

    A big congratulations goes out to: Linda Tollison of Ozark, Missouri

    Ipad Mini

    She is the lucky winner of a new Ipad Mini!

     

    Below is a quote from an email we received from Linda.  We were very excited to have the opportunity to give the Ipad Mini away on behalf of BestPrepaidDebitCards.com, and we are all so very happy for her.  

     

    “This is Linda Tollison, and I still can’t believe it. I just received my brand new mini Ipad. I am so excited and happy. I have never won anything in my life. I am the happiest old lady in this world right now.”

     

    A big thank you to everyone for participating in our first BestPrepaidDebitCards.com giveaway, and all of us at BestPrepaidDebitCards.com are wishing everyone the best as we head into the holiday season and look forward to our next giveaway.

    Check back for announcements on our next giveaway – we have another giveaway planned before the end of the year, and we hope to help Santa make someone else happy around the holidays!

    Thanks for visiting the Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com website, and please “Like” our page on Facebook at:

    https://www.facebook.com/bestprepaiddebitcard

     

    All the best,

    Curtis, Shane and all the rest of the Best Prepaid Debit Cards.com team

  • UN Turns To Prepaid Cards

    UN Turns To Prepaid Cards

    To better aid Syrian refugees, the United Nations is utilizing prepaid debit cards.

    by Shane Tripcony

    By every measure the ongoing civil war raging in Syria has been a humanitarian disaster. The United Nations estimates that over 100,000 people have died in the years long clash between supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and the various factions seeking his ouster.

    Not surprisingly, millions of Syrians have fled the violence that has destroyed cities and towns across the country. An estimated 800,000 Syrians have made the trek to nearby Lebanon, where the United Nations World Food Programme is leading efforts to provide food and water.

    As part of that initiative, the UN Food Programme has reportedly decided to utilize MasterCard prepaid debit cards. According to a story on the website, Mashable, the UN is set to begin distributing the cards; each loaded with $27, with the goal of eventually getting one to each and every refugee. Each month the cards will be reloaded with an additional $27, an amount the UN believes is sufficient to meet the monthly nutritional needs of an individual.

    The distribution of prepaid debit cards, which can be used to buy food from the 300 Lebanese stores that have agreed to accept them, will replace the UN’s use of both pre-packaged rations and paper vouchers.

    UN officials say that the use of prepaid debit cards will provide many benefits. Refugees will no longer have to line up to receive coupons every 30 days and the local economy should get a boost from Syrian purchases. The cards also offer the promise of more self-sufficiency. “They’re just more independent that way,” Bettina Luescher, a spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme told Mashable writer, Colin Daileda. “They can get what they like for their families.”

    The cards are also less susceptible to fraud, a MasterCard executive told Mashable, because they’re easy to track and require a UN issued ID to use. The UN has already piloted the use of prepaid debit cards in Lebanon, albeit with just 10,000 people in one town. But if the card works well in all of Syria, the UN plans to begin distributing them to the 300,000 Syrian refugees currently living in Jordan.

  • Changes To American Express Serve Cards

    Changes To American Express Serve Cards

    Starting in November, American Express Serve prepaid customers will be able to add cash to their accounts at CVS and 7-Eleven with no fees.

    by Shane Tripcony

    The competition to serve the millions of Americans lacking traditional bank accounts just got a little stiffer. On October 8, American Express announced significant new changes to how its Serve prepaid card works. Starting in November, Serve customers will be able to load cash to their accounts, for free, while shopping at over 14,000 CVS and 7-Eleven stores nationwide. Additionally, American Express Serve customers will also be able to add funds via direct deposit of a paycheck without incurring a fee. By the end of 2013, customers with a smartphone camera will be able to take a picture of a paper check and add that money directly into their account by using Serve’s mobile app.

    In making these changes to how the Serve card functions, American Express declared that it was directly targeting the almost 70 million so-called “under banked” Americans. “Unfortunately, the traditional banking system is not easily accessible to large segments of the population, making managing money cumbersome and expensive for many,” says Dan Schulman, Group President of Enterprise Growth at American Express. “Today, we’ve added a number of new features to make the management and movement of money more affordable and convenient for everyone.”

    In the past, individuals who did not have bank accounts have had to rely on check cashing or payday loan services. Many of which charge exorbitant fees or prepaid debit cards layered with charges for everything from adding money to an account to checking a balance. While there are still plenty of prepaid cards that charge high fees, more and more big financial players like Chase, U.S. Bank and PNC are now offering low-fee options.

    The changes American Express has made to its Serve card are meant to address what it sees as the substantial charges that come with simply adding money to an account. Citing research from Javelin Strategy and Research, American Express says that 41 percent of under banked customers report paying between $3.00 and $3.99 to reload their prepaid cards. Depending on how often someone reloads their card, American Express estimates that utilizing Serve, which charges a $1 monthly fee, could save between $72 and $240 annually. The savings could be even greater if a Serve customer opts to use direct deposit or adds at least $500 to an account over the course of a month.

    In addition to a variety of fee-free ways to add money to Serve card accounts, American Express also allows customers to withdraw money from MoneyPass ATMs for free as well as pay bills for free using Serve.com and the Serve mobile app.

  • Walgreen’s Launches A Prepaid Card

    Walgreen’s Launches A Prepaid Card

    The drugstore chain puts a prepaid debit card at the center of its financial services options

    by Shane Tripcony

    Walgreen’s is already the place millions of Americans head to in order to pick up everything from deodorant to Halloween candy to prescription drugs. Now the nationwide drugstore chain is adding financial services, including a prepaid debit card, to its already lengthy menu of offerings.

    On October 7, 2013 the Illinois-based retail giant announced that its new Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard is available to customers in 250 Walgreen’s stores in Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville. The company also said that the new prepaid debit card will be available nationwide by the end of the year.

    In making a foray into the prepaid debit card market, Walgreen’s reiterated a reality that has already prompted so many other large banks and financial institutions to unveil their own products. The many Americans lacking traditional bank accounts need an alternative to cash transactions and ultra-high fee check cashing and payday lending services. “Millions of Americans do not have – or want alternatives to – traditional checking accounts and debit cards,” says Jason Dubinsky, Walgreen’s vice president and treasurer. “For them, Balance Financial will represent safety, convenience, value and rewards. With Balance Financial as our platform, over time we plan to add more features and functionality that give our customers even more powerful financial tools to get, stay and live well.”

    In other words, the new Walgreen’s prepaid debit card is just the start. While Walgreen’s is already planning to offer Western Union Money Transfers and bill payment services in 2014, the details around the features of its prepaid debit card have already been set. Notably, the card will allow for no-fee ATM withdrawals for cardholders at most of the 8,000-plus Walgreen’s and Duane Reade stores nationwide. Balance Financial customers will also be able to check their account balance, move funds and view previous transactions on a website, mobile app or even at in-store kiosks. Like many other prepaid debit cards, Balance Financial can be reloaded for free via direct deposit. Also like similar products, the Walgreen’s prepaid card comes with a variety of fees, including a $2.95 account activation fee and a $2.95 monthly charge.

    Where the new Walgreen’s card is somewhat different from its competitors is in how it is synchronized with the store’s customer loyalty program. Use of the Balance Financial prepaid card earns points for every dollar a customer spends at Walgreen’s. Users of the card can also earn points for in-store reloads and direct deposits, points that can be used for future savings and other benefits. Dan Caplinger, the financial website Motley Fool’s Director of Investment Planning, recently wrote that this is the “real genius of the Walgreen’s offering” because it encourages customers to stick with the drugstore and make repeat visits. “If it’s successful, then you can expect not only Rite Aid and other direct competitors to follow suit but also a broader set of retailers hoping to cash in on the same trend,” he says.

  • A True Wall Street Occupation?

    A True Wall Street Occupation?

    How the Occupy Card Doesn’t Live up to its Promise  

    by Shane Tripcony

    The terms and conditions of credit, debit and prepaid cards are not what anyone would call scintillating reading. Layered with legalese and hard to decipher jargon, these documents have traditionally (and understandably) been ignored by consumers. Which is too bad because they contain the sort of vital information people need to make smart financial decisions.

    By contrast, the recently announced fee structure for the Occupy Card is a legitimately fascinating read. The Occupy Card is a prepaid debit card that an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street Movement is hoping to soon introduce to the marketplace, the first of what the so-called Occupy Money Cooperative would like to be an array of financial products and services. And while the proposed fees are not the fully-fledged terms one would wade through with an already available prepaid card, there’s one section you probably won’t find with many other cards: how to avoid the fees. (To be fair, Account Now generously offers tips to save money on their fees page as well, so kudos to Account Now, as well.)

    For instance, the issuers of the Occupy Card dutifully note that it will cost users $1.95 to take money out of an ATM, the result of network and other third party charges (ie. not Occupy’s fault). But to dodge that fee, the Occupy Money Cooperative urges people to get cash back while shopping. It goes on and on like this, with the designers of the Occupy Card offering tips on how to get around fees whenever possible.

    Arguably, in a financial services industry that many believe seeks out revenue generating fees the way a shark hones in on blood, the mere existence of a card-provider tip sheet about avoiding them is incredible. Of course, it’s not a huge surprise, given the Occupy Movement’s loathing of the way it believes Wall Street mistreats its customers and harms society.

    Now, don’t expect other issuers of prepaid debit cards to suddenly follow Occupy’s lead and highlight ways to sidestep their fees. (It sure would be nice, though!) But the sad truth is that they won’t need to because the non-profit, stick-it-to-the-man Occupy Card is far less consumer-friendly than many of the prepaid cards offered by the big banks. That’s right, the greedy capitalists from Wall Street have many, many prepaid debit cards that would cost consumers far less than the offering from the former residents of Zuccotti Park.

    While the Occupy Card has a low monthly account fee of $0.99, the $1.95 charge to take money out of an ATM is painful for anyone – no matter whether it’s the fault of Occupy or not. Also costly are fees for getting basic account information. The Occupy Card charges $2 to speak with a customer service representative and $0.99 to get automated help. As with most consumer-friendly prepaid debit cards, there’s no charge to load the Occupy Card using direct deposit. But any other method to load the card will set people back as much as $5 per transaction. That’s not exactly the kind of help the 99% need.

    It’s also not going to help the Occupy Card gain much traction in the marketplace. Based on our calculations, the average annual fees for the Occupy Card would cost the average consumer $259.40 per year. Truth be told, that lands the Occupy Card squarely in the middle of the pack. There are alternatives, such as Bluebird by American Express, which cost the consumer nothing, based on our standard formula. There are quite a few other cards that average out with lower fees as well. Cards from banking behemoths like Chase and U.S. Bank and American Express offer free ATM withdrawals and cash loads and are, overall, a far better deal for consumers. Even with the fee differences, the Occupy Card does send a message, and many consumers may find the importance of sending that message to be worth those higher fees. Bottom line, here’s the question for everybody: Are you up for occupying the Occupy Card?

  • Employers Cannot Mandate Prepaid Cards For Wages

    Employers Cannot Mandate Prepaid Cards For Wages

    Responding to complaints, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a reminder to employees that they cannot force workers to accept pay on prepaid debit cards.

    by Shane Tripcony

    Over the summer the practice of using prepaid debit cards to pay employee salaries garnered a lot of attention, much of it negative. News outlets, The New York Times, Time Magazine and Businessweek, report that employees of large companies such as McDonald’s and Time Warner Cable complained that they were being forced to accept wages deposited onto a prepaid debit card. They were not offered the option of a paper check or direct deposit.

    Employees, many of them earning minimum wage, argued that payment via prepaid debit card meant they were losing a chunk of their salary to a range of the standard fees associated with prepaid debit cards. In response to the outcry, New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, launched an investigation into rules around the use of prepaid debit cards to pay salaries that were being broken. As part of that effort, Schneiderman requested information from 42 companies doing business in New York – including Sears, Home Depot and Walgreen’s – about their use of prepaid cards to meet payroll. “No worker should have to accept a form of payment that reduces take-home pay and leads to hundreds of dollars in fees,” Schneiderman told NBC News.

    Now Schneiderman is receiving support from the federal government. Last month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin reminding employers that they cannot require employees to receive wages on a prepaid debit card. “Today’s release warns employers that they cannot mandate that their employees receive wages on a payroll card,” CFPB Director Rich Cordray said in a statement. “And for those employees who choose to receive wages on a payroll card, they are entitled to certain federal protections.

    In its statement, the CFPB declared that the use of prepaid debit cards to pay wages falls under its jurisdiction under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E. These provisions outline a number of employee protections specific to prepaid debit cards. Among them are written disclosures of all fees related to the cards, access to account history and limited liability in the case of unauthorized use of a card.

    In making its declaration concerning employers’ use of prepaid debit cards, the CFPB announced its intention to aggressively enforce the rules. “The Bureau intends to use its enforcement authority to stop violations before they grow into systemic problems, maximize remediation to consumers, and deter future violations,” reads a statement from the CFPB.

     

Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc