Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc

Tag: financial education

  • Girl Scouts Embrace Prepaid Cards

    Girl Scouts Embrace Prepaid Cards

    A Girl Scouts chapter strikes a deal with prepaid card company, SpendSmart Payments.

    by Chris Warren

    Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs and Lemonades are definitely not financial terms. Yet the truth is that, aside from fundraising, one of the main reasons Girl Scouts from across the country sell these and other varieties of cookies is to learn something about money management and running a business. Think about it: Successfully selling hundreds or thousands of cookies requires smart marketing and sales strategies, wise inventory management as well as record keeping and order tracking.

    While involvement with the organization’s sprawling cookie business is certainly one way for young girls to become more financially aware and savvy, one Girl Scouts chapter has gone a step further. In October the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Hornets’ Nest chapter announced that it had established a partnership with SpendSmart Payments Co., a financial services outfit and prepaid debit card issuer based in San Diego, California.

    According to a recent story in The Kansas City Star, SpendSmart is crafting a financial education program that will be offered starting in January of 2014 to the 16,000 girls in North and South Carolina who make up the Hornets’ Nest chapter. With materials designed to appeal to girls from kindergarten through high school, the curriculum being developed by SpendSmart is meant to help girls understand the value of money and credit, as well as learn how to budget and use plastic wisely.

    “That last point of emphasis caught my attention,” Kansas City Star reporter Steve Rosen wrote. “As part of its partnership, Scouts 13 and older can sign up for the SpendSmart Prepaid MasterCard.”

    It is understandable why SpendSmart would be eager to become well known by thousands of young girls. The company offers prepaid debit cards specifically designed for teens and parents. Among other features, SpendSmart cards alert parents via text or email whenever a purchase is made, allowing them to monitor how well (or poorly) kids are spending money.

    Rosen points out that SpendSmart charges a $3.95 monthly fee, an amount that is both far higher and lower than other prepaid debit cards. He also notes that prepaid cards like those offered by SpendSmart also charge for withdrawing money from an ATM, replacing a card and checking an account balance. “The upshot: Whether it’s SpendSmart or some other prepaid debit card, weigh the costs against the services provided and decide on the best deal.”

    SpendSmart certainly hopes the Girl Scouts like the cards and the information they’re offering. The company hopes the deal with the Hornets’ Nest chapter is the first of many partnerships with the Girl Scouts.

  • Experian Snags Award

    Experian Snags Award

    Credit bureau Experian recognized for efforts to promote financial literacy

    by Shane Tripcony

    One of the first lessons people interested in becoming savvy with their personal finances learn is to keep a close eye on their credit scores. In a nutshell, credit scores are a number meant to represent just how well someone pays their bills. Banks, mortgage lenders and automobile dealerships use the score to determine whether they will lend money to you and what interest rate to charge. Knowing what a credit score is and monitoring it routinely to make sure it doesn’t include faulty information, such as attributing someone else’s overdue mortgage to you, is an essential part of maintaining a solid financial life.

    One of the companies that calculates credit scores and maintains the credit reports that document how people do in paying off credit card, mortgage and student loan debts is Experian. Based in Costa Mesa, California, Experian is, along with TransUnion and Equifax, one of the nation’s three major credit bureaus.

    Along with maintaining all of this vital financial information, Experian also offers the general public a wide variety of educational tools, including a consumer education website. Recently, Experian was recognized for its advocacy and educational efforts geared towards boosting financial literacy by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). NFCC presented its Making the Difference Partner award to Victor Nichols, Experian’s North American CEO, at the nonprofit organization’s annual leaders conference in Denver in October.

    The award, which has been handed out annually since 2005, recognizes individuals who have helped further NFCC’s mission of helping consumers become more financially educated. “Experian’s commitment to consumer education aligns with the NFCC’s mission of creating a national culture of financial responsibility, making Experian an obvious choice for this award,” says Gail Cunningham, Vice President of Membership and Public Relations at NFCC.

    This isn’t the first time Experian has received this award. Last year’s recipient was Maxine Sweet, Experian’s Vice President of Public Education. In accepting the award Nichols vowed to continue working to promote financial literacy. “We understand what an impact education has in helping consumers manage their financial lives, and we will continue to make financial literacy a priority along with our commitment to always put the consumer first,” he says.

  • Chase Blueprint Presents the Resource Center for Mindful Spending

    Chase Blueprint Presents the Resource Center for Mindful Spending

    As more optimism sets in concerning consumer finances, Chase Blueprint releases its new initiative aimed at helping consumers reinforce positive spending habits.  The Resource Center for Mindful Spending was unveiled at Washington Post Live’s “Kitchen Table Economics” forum and is focused on helping customers take steps toward a better financial future.  The new initiative comes in the wake of Chase’s Pulse of the Consumer Survey revealing that more than seventy-six percent of Americans are more optimistic about their finances; up 11 percent from last year.

    The survey takes a comprehensive look at Americans’ financial habits and attitudes toward the economy.  Forty-five percent of those surveyed believes their personal finances have already bottomed out and are getting better, a fourteen percent increase from last year.  More than sixty percent believe the national economy has bottomed out and is stable or improving.  In addition, consumers are even more optimistic about economic conditions around them, with sixty-seven percent believing their local economy is stable or improving.

    The Resource Center for Mindful Spending draws upon the expertise of Chase and respected experts in areas ranging from finance to psychology.  Consumers can delve into a wealth of resources and tools to help them better understand how why they borrow and spend the way they do will help them use their resources wisely.

    “As consumers begin to feel more optimistic about their financial situation, it’s more important than ever that we help them maintain good spending habits,” said Florian Egg-Krings, general manager, Chase Blueprint.  “That’s why Chase Blueprint is launching a new initiative that provides research and information to help nurture a mindful spending movement.  Together, we can help consumers strengthen the responsible spending and borrowing habits developed over the last few years.”

    “Few question the importance of financial literacy, but we would benefit from a better understanding of how the human mind actually develops habits around spending and borrowing,” said Dr. Shefrin, the author of the paper and Mario Belotti Chair in the Department of Finance at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.  “Based on a deep investigation of how people spend and borrow, this paper identifies three specific pathways for developing better financial habits.”

    1. Make budgeting as easy as possible by designing smart, nurturing programs that help people carry out the basics of managing spending and borrowing.  This can involve things like: setting goals, developing budgets, tracking expenses, identifying ways to increase income, choosing appropriate lenders, matching a person’s credit cards to their specific needs and paying balances down intelligently.
    2. Use modern technology, specifically personal financial management tools to provide consumers with their current spending data in a straightforward method.  Collecting spending data in one place can help consumers recognize spending patterns and correct bad behavior before it gets out of control.
    3. Turn finances into fun by using games to help instill better spending and borrowing habits in children, particularly during the K-12 years.  Electronic games motivate students’ competitive instincts and activate the reward centers of their brains, all of which helps to make teaching them about mindful spending easier.

    About the Survey

    The 2013 Chase Blueprint Pulse of the Consumer Survey is an online omnibus poll of a nationally representative, randomly selected sample of 1,208 adults.  It was conducted March 5-7, 2013.  The margin of error is ± 2.8 percentage points.

    About Chase Blueprint

    Blueprint is available free of charge to new and existing Chase credit cardholders.  It’s simple to set up, easy to use and customizable.  With Blueprint, cardholders can save money and pay down balances faster.  More information is available at www.chase.com/blueprint.

    About Chase

    Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.4 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries.  Chase serves more than 50 million customers and small businesses through more than 5,500 bank branches, 17,500 ATMs, credit cards, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking as well as through relationships with auto dealerships.  More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.

     

Prepaid Debit Card Reviews, Complaints, Etc