While your local utility could call you up and demand immediate instant payment using a prepaid debit card before shutting off your natural gas and power, they will never actually do that. The owner of the Squeeze Inn, a fantastically-named restaurant in California, learned that the hard way when he panicked and sent $1,000 to scammers claiming to represent Pacific Gas & Electric. [More]
prepaid cards
Video Shows You Don’t Need All That Fine Print In Prepaid Card Fee Disclosures
By 7.22.14
Prepaid debit cards may offer a convenient alternative for unbanked consumers, but there are often unexpected costs buried in all the fine print of the cards’ disclosure documents that most people never read. It doesn’t need to be that way. [More]
CFPB Now Accepting Consumers’ Prepaid Card, Debt Settlement And Title Loan Complaints
By 7.21.14
Just in time for the fourth anniversary of its creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its expanding the type of consumer complaints it accepts to include prepaid cards and other nonbank products. [More]
Suze Orman And Magic Johnson Prepaid Cards Come To An End
By 6.18.14
Lending their names to a reloadable prepaid debit card might be a hot way for celebrities to make money and take up permanent residence in their fans’ wallets, but they’re also widely criticized for their high fees and taking advantage of unsophisticated consumers. Now the cards promoted by two big names who really should have known better, Magic Johnson and Suze Orman, are shutting down. [More]
Chase Becomes First Bank To Implement New, Simpler Disclosure Box For Prepaid Cards
By 2.26.14
In 2012, nearly 12 million consumers loaded more than $64 million onto prepaid debit cards. With so many people turning to these cards, more companies are getting into the prepaid debit business. To assist consumers faced with a plethora of card options, Pew Charitable Trusts unveiled a new model disclosure box for easy comparison of prepaid card fees and terms and conditions. [More]
GAO: Changes Needed For Student Debit Cards Offered By Colleges, Universities
By 2.14.14
Going to college comes with a new set of responsibilities for students, and one of those responsibilities is being in charge of their own finances. What better way to impart a lesson in finances than giving them access to federal student aid on a prepaid debit card? As the use of such cards is growing in popularity at universities and colleges, advocates are calling for more oversight to their use. [More]
Celebrities In Your Wallet: Cool Prepaid Card Or More Fees Than You Can Handle?
By 2.13.14
Prepaid credit cards offer millions of unbanked Americans an alternative to traditional banking. With the number of prepaid card options growing each year, card providers look for new ways to set themselves apart. That’s where name recognition comes into play. We’re not talking about Visa or MasterCard, we’re talking about celebrity like the Kardashians or Justin Bieber. A celebrity attaching his or her name to a prepaid card serves as a great marketing opportunity, but are the cards really any help to consumers? Probably not, seeing as most of the cards are riddled with fees. [More]
Prepaid Debit Cards: Salvation From Overdraft Fees Or Putting Your Money At Risk?
By 2.6.14
No overdraft penalties, no overspending and sometime low but occasionally ridiculous fees are all perks that have led consumers to an increased use of prepaid debit cards in the last year. And while the cards are convenient there are plenty of reasons consumers should by wary. [More]
Are Prepaid Cards Improving Or Are They Still A Confusing Mess Of Hidden Fees?
By 7.30.13
First, the good news: Our wiser, elder siblings at Consumer Reports have ranked the best and worst prepaid cards for the very first time, and it seems many cards have lower fees and act a lot like traditional bank accounts. But now for the bad news: Fee information can still be tricky to find and many cards don’t come with the guarantees you can get with a regular debit card. [More]
Coming Soon: Withdraw Prepaid Debit Cards From The Nearest ATM
By 6.21.13
The automated teller machine is now ubiquitous and can perform most of the functions you would visit a bank branch for: withdrawing cash, transferring money, making deposits. One thing that has really never changed about ATMs is what they dispense. Cash is cash: untraceable, lightweight, and nobody charges you any fees to use it. How boring and unprofitable. [More]
AMEX Unveils Low-Cost Prepaid Card Without Hidden Fees
By 6.14.11
The prepaid card industry is notorious for preying on poorer consumers with hidden fees for just about every thing you use it for. There’s even fees for not using them, in the form of inactivity fees. So it’s an unexpected breath of fresh air that American Express is rolling out a new prepaid card with very few fees and a pretty straightforward approach, at least for consumers. [More]
Citi Gives Self Permission To Sell Your Personal Info If You Get Prepaid Rebate Card
By 10.8.09
Greg says he inadvertently authorized Citi to share his personal info because he applied for an online rebate. He writes:
