Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc

Tag: financial

  • Here’s how financial coaching can help you meet your money goals – saving, building credit and more

    Here’s how financial coaching can help you meet your money goals – saving, building credit and more

    We talked to people across the country about financial well-being and what it means to them. Many people told us that financial well-being means:

    • Feeling in control of day-to-day finances.

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    • Having a safety net to help stop a financial shock from turning into a long-lasting setback, and
    • Staying on track to meet financial goals while also having the freedom to enjoy life, which means different things to different people. For some that means taking a vacation, for others it’s about going out to eat, and for others it could mean working less to spend more time with family.

    At the CFPB, we believe all consumers have the right to achieve greater financial wellbeing for themselves and their families. That’s why we’ve studied a promising approach to financial education: financial coaching.

    How financial coaching helps consumers

    Earlier this week, the Urban Institute released a study we commissioned, which found that financial coaching can help increase financial well-being.

    The study analyzed two different coaching programs serving low and moderate-income consumers – Branches, a faith-based social services organization in Miami and the Financial Clinic, a non-profit financial services organization in New York City. Financial coaching is customized to meet each person’s goals, and the study found that coaches can help people achieve financial outcomes that are most relevant to their own situation. The study showed that on average, people offered access to financial coaching:

    • Increased savings by almost $ 1,200 in New York City
    • Reduced debt by over $ 10,000 in Miami
    • Increased credit scores by 21 points in New York City
    • Were more likely to pay bills on time
    • Reported an increased sense of confidence in their finances and reduced feelings of financial stress

    Check out the study here to learn more about these financial coaching programs and how they serve consumers.

    Here’s how coaching can help you meet your financial goals graphic

    So, what does a financial coach do?

    Financial coaches can help you address concerns by assisting you in defining your own personal financial goals as well as the steps you need to take to meet your goals. Financial coaches usually meet with clients one-on-one, and can help you:

    • Determine and define your financial goals
    • Develop concrete plans to meet those goals
    • Provide support over time as you work toward your goals

    Our financial coaching initiative

    The CFPB has a financial coaching initiative that provides guidance to recently-transitioned veterans and vulnerable families in places where they’re already going for assistance. We’ve joined forces with the Department of Labor (DOL) and more than two dozen non-profit social-services providers to place certified coaches in DOL American Job Centers and community-centered non-profits across the country.

    This article by Janneke Ratcliffe was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.

    Personal Finance Syndication Network


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  • Helping Financial Caregivers in Every State

    Helping Financial Caregivers in Every State

     

    Helping financial caregivers in every state

    Millions of Americans are managing money or property for a family member or friend who is unable to pay bills or make financial decisions. We’ve heard from these financial caregivers about how tough it can be.

    Kristin in Virginia had to take over financial management for her 35-year-old brother when he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a devastating car wreck. “Taking over financial caregiving for my brother was especially challenging when coupled with the physical and emotional trauma of his accident. Even though I’m a financially savvy individual, I had no idea where to get help…. Unfortunately, there was no guide, no checklist, or a book of best practices to refer to.”

    In Florida, Hector stepped in to help his elderly mother after a niece stole nearly $ 100,000 from her. Despite his own severe disability, he works every day to make sure her nursing home bills are paid and her accounts are in order. “When you have to take care of someone else’s finances, you feel more responsible for their affairs than you do for your own. It’s overwhelming.”

    Managing Someone Else’s Money

    We listened to consumers about the need for easy-to-understand tools to help manage a loved one’s money. Two years ago we released the Managing Someone Else’s Money guides for financial caregivers all over the country, and we’ve distributed over 600,000 printed copies so far. The guides are for:

    • Agents under a power of attorney
    • Court-appointed guardians of property and conservators
    • Trustees
    • Government-benefit fiduciaries (Social Security representative payees and VA fiduciaries).

    The guides help financial caregivers in three ways: they walk them through their duties, they tell them about protecting their loved ones from financial exploitation and scams, and they tell them where to go for help.

    But, because people’s powers and duties overseeing another person’s finances vary from state to state, we’ve learned that people need more than a one-size-fits-all guide. That’s why we are releasing specially adapted guides for six states. We’ve already launched guides for Florida and Virginia, and soon will release guides to help financial caregivers in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois and Oregon.

    But, what about the other 44 states and the territories?

    Today we are releasing new tools to help experts in other states adapt the CFPB’s guides. These tips and templates are meant for key state professionals to develop guides for states that don’t have them. (If you are wondering who a key state professional is, check out tip 2, in the tips document.) Our tips and templates will make it easy for experts to create state guides with specific information that financial caregivers need to know. The tips tool explains how to adapt the guides in ten easy steps. The templates highlight the parts of our guides where experts can add information about your state’s laws, practices and resources.

    The tips and templates are available for download on consumerfinance.gov/managing-someone-elses-money . If you would like free print copies of the tips document, you can order single copies or place bulk orders .

    Let’s work together to meet the needs of people like Kristin and Hector in your community.

    This article by Naomi Karp was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.


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    Personal Finance Syndication Network

    [box_success]We want to hear from you!
    What do you think? Are you doing any financial caregiving duties currently, or do you foresee this in the next few years? Wherever you are in status on this issue, we would love to hear your comments below.
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  • Survey: Americans Need To Get More Financially Fit

    Survey: Americans Need To Get More Financially Fit

    It can often seem like there are a bewildering number of things to do in order to stay financially fit. Don’t borrow too much money. Create a budget and stick to it. Save for retirement. Squirrel away money for your children’s education.

    Now add this to the list of to do’s required in order to be financially fit: Be clear on what your credit status is. It may seem like something that can be easily relegated to the bottom of your pressing financial concerns, but that notion is misleading. Having good credit, after all, is a prerequisite for qualifying for a mortgage or a car loan or even a credit card. Furthermore, lenders look at your credit – usually your credit score – to determine how risky it is for them to hand money over to you. If you’re deemed a big risk, you either won’t qualify at all or you’ll have to pay a sky-high interest rate.

    Sadly, a new survey conducted by the financial services company Capital One found that when it comes to credit, Americans are not nearly as financially fit as they need to be. Indeed, the survey discovered that a great deal of education needs to take place for many of us to improve our financial IQ, at least as it relates to credit. Among Capital One’s findings were:

    • About one-third of Americans surveyed believe that a credit score only matters when they need to buy a house. This misconception is particularly pervasive among young Americans. Almost half of those under 35 who were polled believed this to be true.
    • The survey also pointed towards widespread confusion about the factors that go into determining a credit score. For example, over a quarter of respondents mistakenly believe that having one late payment on a bill will not damage their credit. Another 24 percent of those polled wrongly believe that age is a factor in a credit score, while 19 percent asserted that where they live is considered.
    • Although it’s free and a very smart thing to do only 30 percent of respondents had requested a copy of their credit report in that past year. Doing so allows consumers to check for and correct any errors that may be harming their credit. By contrast, 66 percent of respondents had their car’s oil changed and over half had been to the dentist.
    • Despite all of this, the survey also found that 81 percent of parents believed that their kids would have better credit than they do by the time they reach their age.
  • Prepaid Card Fraud Controllable

    Prepaid Card Fraud Controllable

    A recent report by Mercator Advisory Group examines the vulnerability of prepaid debit cards to criminals.

    by Chris Warren

    Prepaid debit cards make it into the news a lot these days. A lot of the time stories are focused on the maneuvering of large financial services companies like Chase and American Express and the various strategies they’re implementing to grab a larger chunk of this ever-growing market.

    But there has also been a steady stream of news recently about fraud involving prepaid debit cards. For instance, in mid-November six Yonkers, New York residents were arrested and charged with hacking into bank financial systems and swiping prepaid debit card information that enabled them to steal $45 million. There have also been frequent reports of criminals posing as utility workers, who threaten victims with shutting off their power unless they put money on a prepaid debit card.

    While the use of prepaid debit cards by criminals is gaining notoriety, the scope of the overall problem may not be so dire. Indeed, according to a recent report by Mercator Advisory Group, a consulting company, fraud involving prepaid debit cards is much smaller than what takes place with debit cards. The report, “Prepaid Card Fraud and Risk Controls in the United States,” notes that criminals target credit, debit and prepaid cards alike simply because they all have some level of weakness that can be exploited.

    Prepaid Card Fraud Controllable

    In addition, Ben Jackson, the report’s co-author and a senior analyst at Mercator’s Prepaid Advisory Service, insists that further regulation of the industry isn’t necessary. “Prepaid fraud is a serious, but manageable problem, as long as the members of the prepaid value chain work together. There is nothing inherent to prepaid that makes it more or less risky than other financial products,” he says.

    Furthermore, Jackson outlines a variety of best practices that can be implemented to thwart criminals. For instance, the report says that card issuers and retailers should not be hesitant to say “no” to customers who raise red flags. In addition, the report encourages companies and banks to ask for additional documentation in situations when they feel it’s warranted and also to create a list of problematic names, addresses and phone numbers.

Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc