If the Rushcard business was owned by Donald Trump or even Sheryl Sandberg the outcry over this would be a million times higher. The fact is Simmons has "street cred" because of his race, political affiliation (Democrat), and his loudly proclaiming solidarity with leftwing causes. He takes advantage of poor people, mostly people of color. Some of his advertisements make it sound like this card is his altruistic gift to underserved communities when it in fact rips them off.
If he were any combination of white, rich and Republican the outrage from black civil rights leaders and the social justice community would be through the roof. Shame on the left for it's selective outrage and willing to turn the other cheek when the despicable and greedy behavior is coming from people on "our" side. He speaks out loudly against racism and classism which gives him the right to take advantage of poor black people. Unfortunately there are many more like him who the left also gives a free pass to.
If he were any combination of white, rich and Republican the outrage from black civil rights leaders and the social justice community would be through the roof. Shame on the left for it's selective outrage and willing to turn the other cheek when the despicable and greedy behavior is coming from people on "our" side. He speaks out loudly against racism and classism which gives him the right to take advantage of poor black people. Unfortunately there are many more like him who the left also gives a free pass to.
6
It has been poor Black and Brown people that are most impacted by this crisis, and they were raising the cry for over a week before the NYT or any mainstream media got hold of the story. The reason media hasn't covered this story like it should is precisely because of mass media's racist attitudes toward poor people of color, the very people with limited access to traditional banks. But of course someone like you is going to blame society's contempt for poor Black people on Black people themselves. Like clockwork.
2
His race or political affiliation has nothing to do with anything trust me i am one of the people that this has affected. We are all complaining all races. comments like this are worse than the media making this about race and street cred that is dumb none of that exist when it comes to money
3
I was once a Rush Card cardholder but the monthly fees became overwhelming. I'm so glad I left before this incident because I honestly don't know what I would have done. I always heard ads on the radio for a prepaid debit card with American Express and joined. The One VIP card is great and from the stories I've been reading compared to Rush's Customer Service, American Express' is amazing. My monthly fee is waived from my direct deposit and I pay my bills on time every month. I pray those innocent people are compensated for their losses and for the hassle of being inconvenienced.
9
The problem evolves from a lack of financial education. Why does somebody not create tutorials online that cover this and other financial matters. Card companies could advertise the tutorials and save themselves customer service expenses.
3
A lot of these poor folk like to deal in cash. I'm tired of standing behind a heavy woman in a convenience store fishing in a deep purse for a check book zippered in a section of the purse, in order to write a check for $3. Then there are those buying lottery cards with cash at the same convenience store. I have a credit card that takes 4 seconds per transaction as do most people standing in those lines. A credit card is a 25 day free loan. Debit cards are for people who are afraid the credit card licenses them psychologically to overspend. I try never to go to banks. Get the minimal cash I need to buy things at taverns from free ATMs. Leave all my money in interest bearing accounts, however small, nothing in the checking account, until I go online and move cash to pick it up at a free ATM from a convenience store. The credit union I use overcharges for checks, to get a kickback from the printer, but I normally write just one of those a month for rent anyway, the rest of my bills deducted automatically from the credit card or savings account. I used to keep credit card slips but mostly don't now except for use as a receipt for items I might need to return later. Its easy to monitor a mailed credit card bill monthly without any but major credit card receipts for returnables. Banks don't place branches where poor folks live. Its a hustle to live when you can't afford transportation to get to a bank. Prepaid debit cards are a hustle to avoid banking laws.
2
The latest crush at the supermarket is at the service desk where people are now using Western Union like a money order to pay bills.
1
Frankly, this should not be allowed. Certainly more needs to done to ensure that people are not put into such situations. It is pretty disgraceful Mr Simmons!
5
A glitch lasts for a few hours, maybe one day. I hope that Simmons is investigated. It seems that fraud or theft may be the problem.
8
So many American businesses are not set up to treat customers as people. They have procedures, regulations, algorithms, customer service operators with no authority. So much money can be made by ignoring all complicated situations and, in this situation, by telling people you get what you pay for. Has been this way for a long time. A big money center bank lost a large check -- half a month's pay -- back in the '70's. They told me they had a statutory 21 days to respond, and not to expect anything sooner. Half a month's pay!
3
Faulty software seems to be the problem as this happened when RushCard switched to another digital processing services company. Too many companies fail to fully vett their "upgardes" and "updates". And the programming crowd has 1- little or no real working world experience and 2- no downside to their failures.
Banks can violate the law with robo-signers stealing houses with faulty foreclosures and are never punished so I expect those that can't buy meds and die and those that can't pay their rent and are evicted will have no recourse and restoration of what they lost. The Financial Industry seems above the law in most aspects. You or I serve as a money drop for a cartel and we go to jail. Big Banks act as clearing houses for billions and they apologize with no admission of misdeeds and retain all their profits from the cartel dealings.
Banks can violate the law with robo-signers stealing houses with faulty foreclosures and are never punished so I expect those that can't buy meds and die and those that can't pay their rent and are evicted will have no recourse and restoration of what they lost. The Financial Industry seems above the law in most aspects. You or I serve as a money drop for a cartel and we go to jail. Big Banks act as clearing houses for billions and they apologize with no admission of misdeeds and retain all their profits from the cartel dealings.
6
Don't understand why anyone with $5 can't open a bank account. I do realize the fees are a joke, and growing for all of us. However, there must be a fee for these prepaid cards as well, otherwise they wouldn't be in business.
If you have a direct deposit, like the woman highlighted here, most banks and all credit unions don't charge a monthly fee. Don't understand. But anything can happen now in a world dependent on computers. Just look at those impacted at Southwest a couple weeks ago when their computers failed.
If you have a direct deposit, like the woman highlighted here, most banks and all credit unions don't charge a monthly fee. Don't understand. But anything can happen now in a world dependent on computers. Just look at those impacted at Southwest a couple weeks ago when their computers failed.
3
You obviously do NOT understand, as you say. No commercial bank has opened an account with $5 in fifty years, Mary. Now, they not only want $100, but you actually need a satisfactory credit score! Not for a credit card, but a deposit account!
In the mid 1980's I was working for a bank in their marketing department and was turned down when I tried to get an account! Bad credit, I was going through a really bad time. Their own employee!
So, before passing judgment, be informed.
In the mid 1980's I was working for a bank in their marketing department and was turned down when I tried to get an account! Bad credit, I was going through a really bad time. Their own employee!
So, before passing judgment, be informed.
8
You do realize that not everyone has good enough credit for a bank account? I have two bank accounts and would never use anything like Rush Card, but it's the only solution for people who can't open bank accounts.
7
Other people replying to this don't understand that it's almost always not a credit score issue. Banks use a different system called ChexSystems where they report people who overdraft, write bad checks or other things that would make a bank not want to give you an account. It's not the same as a credit bureau like Equifax or Transunion.
These people did something to get on the naughty list in ChexSystems. You don't need credit or credit in order to get a bank account. Just need $50 for an initial deposit.
These people did something to get on the naughty list in ChexSystems. You don't need credit or credit in order to get a bank account. Just need $50 for an initial deposit.
There is a myth that most of these people have "no access to traditional banking," whatever that means. It's just another manifestation of financial illiteracy in this country.
It's interesting how these Rushcard users are able to post complaints to Twitter and Facebook from their smartphones but can't open a free checking account (either online or through local credit unions/banks).
Many like CapitalOne 360, Fidelity, Ally and credit unions offer fee-free checking, free bill pay and free ATM access and rebates for out of network ones. I've had several checking accounts as a new student to the US (all without any income or credit history) and never once been "victim" to checking fees I didn't choose to pay.
Some people invite themselves to be victims of such situations and rather than educate them, we seem to feel sorry for them and allow them to continue making the same mistakes.
It's interesting how these Rushcard users are able to post complaints to Twitter and Facebook from their smartphones but can't open a free checking account (either online or through local credit unions/banks).
Many like CapitalOne 360, Fidelity, Ally and credit unions offer fee-free checking, free bill pay and free ATM access and rebates for out of network ones. I've had several checking accounts as a new student to the US (all without any income or credit history) and never once been "victim" to checking fees I didn't choose to pay.
Some people invite themselves to be victims of such situations and rather than educate them, we seem to feel sorry for them and allow them to continue making the same mistakes.
6
I agree, we should educate each other. Part of being a good citizen in this nation, means to me, that we look out for each other, that we help those that need help, that we educate the ignorant, etc etc. However, I never, and will never, be a party to anyone ever blaming a victim. You can label this people as ignorant about the banking world around them, but you can not blame the victim for their troubles. Their troubles, were caused and 100% a result of the company they chose to do business with, where that company promised them a service, which then the company did not provide that service and caused real catastrophes for many people. The bank did not properly test their new computer system that caused this problem for so many people. Just how, seriously, how is that the fault fo the victims? I consider myself well informed about my banking matters, and you know what, people still try to steal my credit information, or my credit card. I have received 3 brand new credit cards in one year, because supposedly I used my card at legitimate business that were hacked. Even with my good education and background, I still became a victim. 1) There are people who are willfully doing wrong in this world who should be dealt with severly and 2) there are those companies and people at those companies who make mistakes that end up causing harm to their customers - is there mistake illegal, maybe not-but the company must do right by their customers and do their best to make them whole again
8
As others have already explained, banks use ChexSystems and/or run credit checks to verify a potential customer so someone with any negative items on their ChexSystems report and/or a bad credit history would not be able to open a bank account or maybe only a savings account with a minimum deposit requirement they can't afford. No credit is not the same as bad credit. I opened a bank account at 18 with no credit because I had a clean ChexSystems report.
Yes, people are responsible for their own mistakes but the unbanked are already living on the edges.
Yes, people are responsible for their own mistakes but the unbanked are already living on the edges.
10
I am on of "these RushCard" users that you so audaciously stoop atop your soapbox with your pedantic ramblings to criticize so let me educate you a bit. I have a traditional bank account with FSNB Bank but chose Rush for half of my DD because of the 1% Cashback, and 2 day early DD option, that I assume was my open "invitation to be an victim"? You sir are a disgrace and have no idea of the real world around you. Why don't you hop down from that high horse your on and chew on this , your first reaction to someone elses trouble is with judgement rather than any sense of empathy, No one is looking for anything but what is theirs. Thank you for being "that guy" you do it so well....
2
The bank in my town won't issue debit cards, even if you have plenty of money in your bank account, if you have a bad credit rating. The bank gets their debit cards through VISA and if VISA has you down as a bad credit risk, too bad. No amount of money in a checking account will get you a debit card if VISA says no.
Many commenters say, "Why don't the people just get bank accounts?" But bank accounts don't guarantee that a person will get a debit card.
Many commenters say, "Why don't the people just get bank accounts?" But bank accounts don't guarantee that a person will get a debit card.
8
You may want to ask for a check cashing card instead of a debit cart. When you make a purchase with a check cashing card, it comes directly out of your checking (or savings) account. However, if you use a debit card instead, it IS tied to a credit card agency like VISA, because their business is to offer credit. Credit by these companies is a short-term loan. So, each time you use your credit card, you are essentially taking out a loan, which you promise to pay back to them at the next billing cycle. If they do a credit check, and see you have bad credit, they will not want to offer you these short-term credit card loans. They have a right to protect their financial interest and the interests of their other customers with good credit. So get a check cashing card, you can use them just about everywhere. Once you build up good credit again, then you can apply for a different card with the visa logo on it. If you need help figuring out how to build good credit, there are many state and local agencies and private agencies that can help you with that. Reach out to your church, your local YM/YWCA, your local chamber of commerce, and many other agencies to help give you information to start building good credit. This does not happen overnight. When I got my first job after college, decent paying, thought I could get a car with a loan - I was denied because I had NO credit rating, even though I had a good paying job. Once I started paying back my school loan it generated good credit
Most if not all checking/savings accounts come with a free debit card.
I have poor credit and haven't been able to get a bank account. I have a One VIP Card from American Express Serve, it's $1 a month with no hidden fees. I have never experienced a glitch in their systems.
1
This is MRS. The autoworker? So surprising that she never considered using the credit union that's available to auto workers. They're established all over this country; I know -- I am married to a retired auto worker. OMG. The RushCard, through their advertising, shows a keen knowledge of the culture of the people they seek as customers. Russell Simmons should be ashamed of how his operation just took advantage of his own people.
9
Turn post offices into banks Eliminate the predatory check cashing schemes
13
Yes, this! Or at the very least credit unions. There is a stately Post Office with beautiful stone mason-work practically going to waste (it only functions as a distribution center) in my neighborhood and my 'local' credit union is practically in the next town. I would love it, if that P.O. were made into a credit union and even contacted the Postmaster at my State's Capital and was told that it is a federal decision but they would take my suggestion on advisement i.e. polite brush-off, I guess.
5
Why don't people open bank accounts and use debit cards?
Many banks offer no fee bank accounts for direct deposit of paychecks. There is often a limit of how many checks can be written on those accounts, usually five per month, but inexpensive money orders can be bought for less than a dollar, if bills need to be paid by mail.
Many banks offer no fee bank accounts for direct deposit of paychecks. There is often a limit of how many checks can be written on those accounts, usually five per month, but inexpensive money orders can be bought for less than a dollar, if bills need to be paid by mail.
2
In answer to your question, it's because anyone who has bounced a couple of checks, even inadvertently, goes onto a blacklist shared by all banks and you can't open any new bank accounts or store debit cards like the Target red card elsewhere.
This happened to me and I spent a lot of time on the phone with a Phillipines call center who told me there was basically nothing that could be done unless the first bank reinstated your account. Because I was otherwise a solid citizen with good credit and a financial history (the checks had bounced because of a bank error with a deposit "hold") I could continue having a checking account and debit card. The folks who need check cashing stores, not so much.
The obvious answer is let the USPS get into postal banking like many countries to serve this segment of the populace and replace the Green Dot vultures. But while that's been proposed, it's not on the agenda of the Greedy Old Party that wants to kill or privitize the USPS so we can pay more to UPS and FedEx
This happened to me and I spent a lot of time on the phone with a Phillipines call center who told me there was basically nothing that could be done unless the first bank reinstated your account. Because I was otherwise a solid citizen with good credit and a financial history (the checks had bounced because of a bank error with a deposit "hold") I could continue having a checking account and debit card. The folks who need check cashing stores, not so much.
The obvious answer is let the USPS get into postal banking like many countries to serve this segment of the populace and replace the Green Dot vultures. But while that's been proposed, it's not on the agenda of the Greedy Old Party that wants to kill or privitize the USPS so we can pay more to UPS and FedEx
13
If you have terrible credit, or issues with bank accounts in the past you may not be able to get a bank account. Even a minimum requirement one.
8
BECAUSE:
Quote from article
"Banks, seeking to reduce their regulatory burden after the financial crisis, have shed lower-income customers."
Whether fees are charged or not doesn't matter. These people cannot open bank accounts because the Banks won't let them.
Quote from article
"Banks, seeking to reduce their regulatory burden after the financial crisis, have shed lower-income customers."
Whether fees are charged or not doesn't matter. These people cannot open bank accounts because the Banks won't let them.
10
More American exceptionalism,
4
Just another way to exploit people who are on the margins of society by claiming to provide a service.
"Banking" fees for people w/out access to traditional banking is a monster business and Russell Simmons is not the only one doing that. Of course, he's gaining a lot as he's a minority and most of those w/out access to traditional banking are minorities.
"Banking" fees for people w/out access to traditional banking is a monster business and Russell Simmons is not the only one doing that. Of course, he's gaining a lot as he's a minority and most of those w/out access to traditional banking are minorities.
5
$65 billion held on prepaid cards and the "big banks" aren't interested?
As their sole interest in generally profit, it seems like the suits and the brilliant MBA's and consultants employed at megasalaries by these banks should be able to figure out how to profit from this. Clearly they're not earning their keep!
Not that it would help the underbanked.
As their sole interest in generally profit, it seems like the suits and the brilliant MBA's and consultants employed at megasalaries by these banks should be able to figure out how to profit from this. Clearly they're not earning their keep!
Not that it would help the underbanked.
3
When a significant proportion of the population is either unbanked or underbanked, one has to question why more hasn't been done to make low or no-cost services available to them? Given the time and expense involved to process checks and direct deposits these days, there is no excuse why people should have to resort to expensive alternative arrangements, unless there is a reason they are evading the traditional banking system and in that case, why isn't more being done to keep these kinds of things from happening?
4
Many low income people have been "disinvited" to have accounts because of the administrative problems they create. Many cannot manage money and write checks when there is not enough money in their account to cover them. Assessing over draw fees just makes the problem more difficult because they haven't the funds to pay them. Unsecured checkbooks are taken by people in their household and the person refuses to pay for the over draws.
Similar reasons are behind their ability to get credit cards unless they are secured.
Similar reasons are behind their ability to get credit cards unless they are secured.
3
Many of the comments here call RushCard and Russell Simmons a fraud, but the article does not explain why customers have not been able to withdraw their money.
It's just as likely that the company is not preying on lower income individuals, but is trying to provide a much-needed service in areas that have been neglected by traditional banks. This may just be a breakdown in banking operations, not the exposure of a fraud.
It's just as likely that the company is not preying on lower income individuals, but is trying to provide a much-needed service in areas that have been neglected by traditional banks. This may just be a breakdown in banking operations, not the exposure of a fraud.
9
They cannot withdraw because the balance on their rush account is $0.00 despite their paychecks having already been deposited.
3
Try some reading comprehension, it's amazing what you can learn. The article very clearly states the alleged reason for the problem.
Next, try some compassion.
Next, try some compassion.
3
I recieve my SSI and child support on my rush card. I'm unable to use my child support. I had to walk my children to school this morning due to not being able to put gas in my car. Rush card hasn't been concern with people like us struggling just to get by.
9
I would trust a bank's prepaid debit card system or even Walmart's debit cards before I trusted any debit card fronted by a celebrity. Is there a Kardashian debit card yet?
5
1
OMG. The fees are outrageous!
As for Mr. Simmons, if he really cared about those he "serves" his website would offer useful information on money management, budgeting, living within your means, etc.
As for Mr. Simmons, if he really cared about those he "serves" his website would offer useful information on money management, budgeting, living within your means, etc.
I'm concerned that this article did not mention the fees associated with these cards that are not common on regular debit cards OR other options for people with less money that are also less subject to fraud, like credit unions.
It's also worth noting that most credit unions are now based on geography instead of where you work or worship and have better financial education programs than the bigger banks.
It's also worth noting that most credit unions are now based on geography instead of where you work or worship and have better financial education programs than the bigger banks.
5
I recently received 2 $10 on prepaid cards for rebates. In reading the fine print, there was a $3/month service charge. I plan to use them as soon as possible so it doesn't diassapear.
About 5 years ago, I banked with a local bank. I had an account there for 30 or more years. Then they were gobbled up by a nationally known mega bank. The fees for my checking and savings account would have been about $500/year. I closed those accounts and went to the credit union across the road, where the checking service charge was $1/month but they also gave 1% interest on the checking account. The line for closing accounts at the bank were out the door, as others did the same as I did. It became clear that the mega bank was only interested in the 1%ers, not the middle class or poor.
About 5 years ago, I banked with a local bank. I had an account there for 30 or more years. Then they were gobbled up by a nationally known mega bank. The fees for my checking and savings account would have been about $500/year. I closed those accounts and went to the credit union across the road, where the checking service charge was $1/month but they also gave 1% interest on the checking account. The line for closing accounts at the bank were out the door, as others did the same as I did. It became clear that the mega bank was only interested in the 1%ers, not the middle class or poor.
2
There's little sympathy here for the victim-hood of prepaid card users. Even those with the worse banking history may be eligible for second-chance checking accounts, possibly with debit cards.
Certainly a percentage of the unbanked or underbanked can not open accounts. Those who can open accounts, yet opt for garbage, predatory prepaid service providers, get what they deserve.
Banks, how about making the opening of an account easier.
Certainly a percentage of the unbanked or underbanked can not open accounts. Those who can open accounts, yet opt for garbage, predatory prepaid service providers, get what they deserve.
Banks, how about making the opening of an account easier.
2
"Get what they deserve?" Wow, just wow. When it's the only option in a society that sometimes won't take cash, even?
You are one heartless bugger. GOP?
You are one heartless bugger. GOP?
1
I once had no credit history or money and was able to open an account at a credit union within ten minutes...
I think this is more about financial illiteracy than racial exploitation.
Can we have a follow-up article on how to make these simple good financial decisions?
I think this is more about financial illiteracy than racial exploitation.
Can we have a follow-up article on how to make these simple good financial decisions?
8
A credit union can be a great option but it's not always the easiest option. They don't usually have many branches so if there isn't a branch near where you live or work how can you make cash deposits? Access a no fee ATM?
I belong to a credit union and for the first time ever they have started monthly fees if your account doesn't have $1000 or more in it. $10 a month if you don't have $1000. So even the little credit unions are showing they don't want lower income people.
I belong to a credit union and for the first time ever they have started monthly fees if your account doesn't have $1000 or more in it. $10 a month if you don't have $1000. So even the little credit unions are showing they don't want lower income people.
4
When we have college students borrowing sums that will take most of their lives to pay off we can see that financial illiteracy is rampant today. It used to be taught in Civics and Home Economics classes years ago but of which were eliminated from schools curriculum.
1
Too true. I went to a commercial high school and I was taught the basics of banking, how to buy insurance, general accounting etc-life skills which helped me deal with the real world. Also many credit unions have switched to more traditional banking as union memberships declines.
Presumably, all that 'prepaid' money is floating around somewhere, but where?
My bank can still float a deposit for 12 hours, which is a huge improvements over whatever was in vogue before, so --- who is floating the money paid into these cards?
Just saying...
My bank can still float a deposit for 12 hours, which is a huge improvements over whatever was in vogue before, so --- who is floating the money paid into these cards?
Just saying...
3
If you can't trust the company of a hip-hop mogul, who can you trust ?
8
Never heard of RushCard, but there are better options.
I have traditional bank accounts with Bank of America, USAA (FSB) and my local Credit Union. I also have a Pre-paid card that I use for casual transactions (vending machines, drive through payments, etc) that is isolated from my main accounts as a guard against identity theft (skimmers).
The Serve Card from American Express charges $1 a month and does not nickel and dime users like most prepaid cards. If you transact more than $200 a month on the card it is fee free. Although it allows for direct deposit and online deposit, I fund it strictly through point of sale cash. The account is accessible online, has a mobile app and can be used to pay online.
For many people this account would probably be all they need as it allows direct or physical deposit, allows for online and point of sale transactions, can be used to pay bills, is widely accepted (anywhere AmEX is taken) and is essentially fee free. My understanding is that many Pre-Paid cards nickel and dime the customers with fees for everything.
I have traditional bank accounts with Bank of America, USAA (FSB) and my local Credit Union. I also have a Pre-paid card that I use for casual transactions (vending machines, drive through payments, etc) that is isolated from my main accounts as a guard against identity theft (skimmers).
The Serve Card from American Express charges $1 a month and does not nickel and dime users like most prepaid cards. If you transact more than $200 a month on the card it is fee free. Although it allows for direct deposit and online deposit, I fund it strictly through point of sale cash. The account is accessible online, has a mobile app and can be used to pay online.
For many people this account would probably be all they need as it allows direct or physical deposit, allows for online and point of sale transactions, can be used to pay bills, is widely accepted (anywhere AmEX is taken) and is essentially fee free. My understanding is that many Pre-Paid cards nickel and dime the customers with fees for everything.
9
Using an isolated pre-paid card to avoid identity theft is a great idea. I think I'm going to try that.
4
You obviously understand banking. Most of these prepaid card users don't. And most of the banks and cards you mention require decent credit.
The AmEx Serve costs nothing to start and can be used like a conventional Bank account- pay bill, accept direct deposit or physical deposits and does not kill the customer with fees. The only real difference is that you do you banking at retail stores that participate in the program like Wal-Mart. Walgreens, Family Dollar and many others.
It is a much better option than the RushCard and it is backed by American Express.
It is a much better option than the RushCard and it is backed by American Express.
1
This is an abomination. What will RushCard do to compensate its customers for what happened? Isn't Russell Simmons supposed to be a spiritual person or something?
4
Time for a major rethink.. we live in an electronic world. We need to provide a way for money to be transferred from one point to another. Why not let the USPS offer basic banking services to the underserved group that the private banks will not service. Of course you could force the banks to provide that service. Then all government transfer payments, social security, disability, food stamps, would occur electronically. This would make the transfer of payments cheaper and more efficient. There are lots of ways to solve the nation's problems and make the government more efficient. Also could be used for low wage income workers paychecks, instead of being charge so much to get the money they legally deserve.
9
Micleblanc, I think this is a wonderful idea !!!! It would also provide USPS with a means to stay afloat and be profitable (once again), compensating for their losses due to electronic bill payments, etc., while providing a safe, reliable means of money access to lower income citizens. Its a very sensible solution, therefore, I doubt our big-business owned government will enact it.
1
I put $200 on my card to pay a bill....it never made it to my card. I called the lady looked up my account and without telling me transfers me to CVS where the card was loaded, I called back now no onecan access my records. I will be switching banks/cards. This has taught me to discipline myself when using a real bank. Find my funds rush card and give them to me.
6
It's worth pointing out that in addition to these issues with RushCards, the problems associated with prepaid, reloadable debit cards extend much further. Nowadays it is not uncommon for some employers - generally running small/medium business with hourly wages on the bottom end of the scale - to pay their employees with cards like these. They claim it's about convenience - and sure, for some consumers it likely is easier than receiving a paper check and having to cash it. But it's not as though these debit cards lack fees - on the contrary, the typically have a slew of fees and charges, often piling them on to the point where a sizable percentage of a paycheck goes towards fees for actions as simple as withdrawing $100.
13
Is anyone tracing the money all of these banks are charging on fees? Why is the government or any agency using a method of payment to it's employees or to wellfare recipients that charge any fees for their service? How many politicians or business owners own stock in these prepaid card companies? I bet you more than one, which poses a serious problem. Once again, we are allowing industry to profit and screw over the most vulnerable part of our population. This needs to end. The only way this can end is if we educate the underpriveliged about letgitimate alternative banking options. I belong to a state credit union. There are NO fees with my credit union. I get free checks, free debit cards, free visa cards. The only times fees occur is if I do not pay my VISA bill in full and on time, which is normal, and those are not really fees, but is an interest percentage I pay on the outstanding balance. There are NO account minimums either. They offer free on-line banking, free bill payer service, free direct deposit, offer 4 or more saving share classes. So why as a nation are we not educating the underprivileged about these great financial credit unions?!?!? Write your legislatures. Ask them to put a stop to states and the federal government, and any business, that uses these pre-loaded, pyramind-scheming, pre-paid credit cards. There are so many real solutions out there, but we keep letting greedy, tyranical jerks make decisions for us. That is just stupid.
5
It is, and always has been, very expensive to be poor.
It's worth noting that Mr. Simmons was a very prominent protester at Occupy Wall Street.
It's worth noting that Mr. Simmons was a very prominent protester at Occupy Wall Street.
16
How much extra revenue did Mr. Simmons earn on all of that cash in his bank for an extra week, without his customers being able to withdraw upon it? He should be forced to pay any extra income his firm earned during that tine to the card holders as non-taxable dividends.
3
Thanks to Liawatha Warren the poor are getting shafted. I guess she has no idea regarding unforseen consequences. And she claims to know better about our financial system?
Russell Simmons RushCard product is exploiting his community. A Hip Hop impressio owning a financial services company is a big red flag and obviously a house of cards.
14
How about providing a national network for the types of banking services needed by the unbanked, and that banks obviously don't want, through the U.S. Postal Service?
13
We all ready have legitimate, and free banking companies and services here in the USA. They are called credit unions. Mine is 100% totally free. Free check and savings account. Free money market account. Free Credit account in the form of a visa card. Free on-line banking. Free bill payer service. Free ATM service from all federal credit unions, and my credit union pays me back for fees that other ATMs charge me if I use another bank's ATM. On the flip side, I earn very little to no interest on my accounts, but that has more to do with the base-board low federal reserve rate, than it does my credit union.
But, this information about credit unions must be educated to the unbanked, underbanked, underprevileged, and to the companies that employ those groups of people.
By allowing the underprivileged to remain ignorant on real banking options, we are doing a disservice to everyone. We should all feel shame at this.
As good citizens, we have a responsibility to look out for each other, it is one of the defining concepts of a civilization. When we stop looking out for each other,and stop caring about each other, stop caring about the underprivileged,our community suffers, and we all suffer.
Write, call, email your representatives, and hold them accountable to fix what can be fixed legally,but then take responsibility ourselves to go out into our communities and really help those people who need help with issues like this.It takes both parts of this equation for this it to work.
But, this information about credit unions must be educated to the unbanked, underbanked, underprevileged, and to the companies that employ those groups of people.
By allowing the underprivileged to remain ignorant on real banking options, we are doing a disservice to everyone. We should all feel shame at this.
As good citizens, we have a responsibility to look out for each other, it is one of the defining concepts of a civilization. When we stop looking out for each other,and stop caring about each other, stop caring about the underprivileged,our community suffers, and we all suffer.
Write, call, email your representatives, and hold them accountable to fix what can be fixed legally,but then take responsibility ourselves to go out into our communities and really help those people who need help with issues like this.It takes both parts of this equation for this it to work.
I'm suspicious about the "unable or unwilling" to get a bank account, especially the "unwilling". Banks have not been immune from pressure and many offer free accounts to low income people. Is this a question of something that is attractive to illegals who can't get a legitimate account?
4
Good question. I'd love to hear or read an educated news article on that topic. My guess is that these cards are a safe haven to any illegal activity, as many of them can be anonymous.
Poor people do not typically have stellar - or even middling - credit scores. They are often not the most appealing customers from a bank's perspective. Furthermore, there is no "right" to a checking or savings account. As is the case with many things in life, there are applications to fill out and - ideally - acceptance to be granted.
And this is all assuming that full-service bank branches are plentiful in low-income areas, which is not usually the case. ATMs, sure - but in many areas, you're far likelier to find a check-cashing/payday loan shop and a no-frills ATM at 7-11. If you're a person working erratic, often-changing hours, without access to a vehicle or the luxury of several hours to sit on public transport while traveling to a branch location 10 miles away, then a lack of "willingness" to open a bank account is not terribly likely to be #1 in the list of reasons why a traditional account hasn't been opened. As for "illegals," as you said, while there may be plenty of undocumented workers who use these cards, there is a sizable population of citizens who use these. While I can't say for certain, my hunch is that the majority of these users are not "illegals."
And this is all assuming that full-service bank branches are plentiful in low-income areas, which is not usually the case. ATMs, sure - but in many areas, you're far likelier to find a check-cashing/payday loan shop and a no-frills ATM at 7-11. If you're a person working erratic, often-changing hours, without access to a vehicle or the luxury of several hours to sit on public transport while traveling to a branch location 10 miles away, then a lack of "willingness" to open a bank account is not terribly likely to be #1 in the list of reasons why a traditional account hasn't been opened. As for "illegals," as you said, while there may be plenty of undocumented workers who use these cards, there is a sizable population of citizens who use these. While I can't say for certain, my hunch is that the majority of these users are not "illegals."
If you shoplift you go to jail, if you have an ounce of dope on you you go to jail, if you can't pay your parking ticket you go to jail.
If you are a bank and prevent people from buying food, paying their tickets or need to "escape" the stress from it all you are just told: "Please pretty please don't do it again. We will NOT prosecute you and you will NOT go to jail"
Am I missing something?!
If you are a bank and prevent people from buying food, paying their tickets or need to "escape" the stress from it all you are just told: "Please pretty please don't do it again. We will NOT prosecute you and you will NOT go to jail"
Am I missing something?!
10
"If you are a bank and prevent people from buying food, paying their tickets or need to "escape" the stress from it all you are just told: "Please pretty please don't do it again. We will NOT prosecute you and you will NOT go to jail"
Ok smart guy, what law was broken here that would lead to jail time?
Ok smart guy, what law was broken here that would lead to jail time?
2
It sounds like theft to me. If even if it was only temporary theft. The results of that tempory theft had devestating consequences to many people. That must be answered for. I agree, for anyone who uses these stupid companies, I hope they have now woken up and withdraw all their money from them and close those accounts, and open a free credit union account, that offers free checks, free checking and savings accounts, free on-line banking, many offer free over-draft protection if you have decent credit too. Seriously, let's educate our neighbors and fellow community citizens to be smarter consumers. That is the only real long-term solution.
Switch of "Processing Technology Center"? Call-centers with three hour hold? Sounds like the usual get-rich-quick scam involving (1) clueless Americans (2) lax regulation (3) offshore data centers (4) offshore call centers, and last but not the least, a count-me-in-just-tell-me-what-to-do Uncle Sam. Brought to you by H1B, America's greatest resource.
7
The FDIC should be able to seize the underlying bank and the CFPB should be able to issue brutal fines. There is no excuse and it seems US regulators, as usual, are doing somewhere between little and nothing to address this issue.
10
If regulations for electronic money transfers and other payments have existed for decades, then why have some parts of the prepaid card industry fallen outside their reach? Then it begs the question why regulators have not extended their jurisdiction to close those gaps in protecting consumers. Could it be that lobbying by the industry has stymied regulators from enacting rules to catch up to changing times and technologies?
Russell Simmons is disingenuous when he states that he cares deeply about the populations he serves. What he cares about is the money he makes off these poor people who have placed their trust in him. He said the problem with the cards has been mostly fixed; mostly fixed is not fixed. He should show greater concern to those who have suffered financially by this problem by giving them a break on the fees they pay. By that example he would truly show how much he cares for them.
Russell Simmons is disingenuous when he states that he cares deeply about the populations he serves. What he cares about is the money he makes off these poor people who have placed their trust in him. He said the problem with the cards has been mostly fixed; mostly fixed is not fixed. He should show greater concern to those who have suffered financially by this problem by giving them a break on the fees they pay. By that example he would truly show how much he cares for them.
7
I can see a class action suit here too. All of the people out there who suffered financial or property loss as a result of the company's ineptitude, should be compensated for the costs in recouping their losses. These are costs that many of the company's patrons can not afford on their own. If Simmons really cared, he'd personally make sure every evicted person as a result of his bank's incompetance, is un-evicted and to do so at his (Simmons) own personal expense. If he did that, that would truly be caring. What if someone did die because some couldn't get life sustaining medication? Is he guilty of manslaughter charges, or some other crime that leads to death? Seriously, people in charge of financial institutions must be held 110% accountable for when their actions or the actions of their company screws over its customers. Enough is enough.
Debit cards are usually the worst choice because banks will freeze the funds in cases of suspected fraudulent activity and they are more prone to hacking. Those funds may be denied the account holder for weeks or months while the bank investigates. A better and much safer alternative is to use a credit card and then transfer the funds, preferably on line. If there is fraudulent activity on a credit card, your bank funds aren't frozen while you're on the hook for about $50; with a debit card, it can be as much as $500.
3
this is crazy, JOIN A CREDIT UNION!!!!!!!!, look it up if you don't understand it. No one in the U.S. needs to put up with this. They offer all of the same services that a bank does, your deposits are guaranteed by the full faith of the government by the NCUA which acts just like the FDIC, but has a lot more money and is a lot more stable. Banks are for super rich people or suckers that don't understand that they do not need to live like this. I only need to keep 5 dollars in my account to avoid any fees.
8
Not everyone can join a credit union. Most have membership requirements such as employment with a specific company or union membership.
2
There are numerous credit unions that have no requirement for membership in any organization.
I belong to a credit union because there is a branch at my workplace. If that branch closes the nearest branch is a 20 minute drive away, no where near my home, work, or any place I normally go. They also just implemented a $10 a month fee unless you have $1000 or more in the account.
Also, for everyone saying "just go to a bank/credit union!", have you BEEN to a lower income neighborhood? There aren't a lot of bank/credit union branches in these areas. Without a branch you cannot deposit the cash you have, you might not be able to access an ATM without paying $3-5 in fees, etc.
Also, for everyone saying "just go to a bank/credit union!", have you BEEN to a lower income neighborhood? There aren't a lot of bank/credit union branches in these areas. Without a branch you cannot deposit the cash you have, you might not be able to access an ATM without paying $3-5 in fees, etc.
1
Like Charlie Munger said at at Omaha 2-3 years ago, "Assets good till reached for"
4
Simmons is a hustler who struck gold with Run-DMC.Anybody with the brains to know better should have avoided his prepaid debit card hustle with a 10 foot pole.
8
I always had a great credit rating, multiple credit cards, a house etc. so had no knowledge of what happened when you don't have that. I got laid off after 30 years, could not afford health insurance, had an accident and within three months fell behind on my mortgage. Within a month, my credit cards were reduced and I found out what people without credit go through. My EZ pass was cancelled, 70 cents worth of missed tolls turned into S100.70 and was sent to collection, banks demanded larger balances to be maintained or penalties, credit cards were cancelled. I remember opening my first bank account when I was 12 with $21.00 of babysitting money, all banks should have to provide some sort of savings account for any amount as long as a person has a legitimate Social Security Number.
17
I feel for ya. I hope that you are starting to get back on your feet. The other crime in this nation that you highlighted affects anyone who has either willingly or unknowling missed payments on something. And that is having to deal with third party collection agencies, which seem to have more powers in this nation than the congress, supreme court, and the president combined. I've read that many townships are using third party collection agencies to go after unpaid fines. The township pays them a fee, plus the collection agency can charge any ridiculous amount they want to the people they are going after. I saw a news report on a woman in chicago I think, who had very little to no money, for similar reasons like you. She owed like a $100 simple traffic violation fine. She never had $100 to pay it. Over time, the fine grew by thousands with penalities. It was given to a thid party collection agency that tacked on even more thousands. The woman ended up in jail for failure to pay, not that she could afford real legal represenation or anything.
There are so many crooked stories like this in our nation, it is disgusting and makes my stomach sick. Our nation is supposed to be about helping people, and not punishing people at the bottom for coming onto hard times or bad luck. It is very shameful to our nation that we allow this to continue.
There are so many crooked stories like this in our nation, it is disgusting and makes my stomach sick. Our nation is supposed to be about helping people, and not punishing people at the bottom for coming onto hard times or bad luck. It is very shameful to our nation that we allow this to continue.
1
Let's face it. Most of these people don't have bank accounts because they are simply unwilling to open one. It is not at all difficult to open a bank account. You basically need an ID and a couple hundred dollars. Neither of those are an undue obstacle. If people would rather trust Russell Simmon's ridiculous prepaid cards that's their business, but let's not claim that they're doing it because they've been shut out of legitimate financial institutions.
9
A couple hundred dollars IS an undue obstacle if you don't have a spare couple hundred dollars. Plus lots of banks have fees, even my local credit union now has a $10 a month if your account doesn't have $1000 in it fee. A CREDIT UNION! Plus have you been to a lower income neighborhood? How many bank branches have you seen? How easy is it to make a deposit or access your cash at a non fee ATM if there aren't any bank branches where you live and work?
10
No one is saying it isn't their fault for being unsuspecting consumers. However, you must realize it is still a problem that will somehow eventually cost all of us something sooner or later. However, I know first hand many families who are really poor, who have poverty passed on from generation to generation, kids who grow up with parent or parents who don't know any better, and then their parent's stupidy is passed on to them. There really are people out there who don't know a better way to bank. It is up to those of us, who call ourselves citizens, to take resonsibility for the lack of basic education of our fellow citizens in our communities, and to help educate them and to help them find better solutions in life. If we are unwilling to do that for each other, our nation is doomed. I disagree with blaming the victim, period. No one deserves to have wrong done to them, which is what you imply. You feel superior that you are smart enough and have a decent enough upbringing to not make the mistakes that the underpriviged make. So, if you feel that way, then use your superiorness to help others who have real problems in life. To help others is to be a good citizen. Stop blaming the victims. These people suffered because of negligence on the part of the company to properly test their new system before they fully implemented it, and that had dire consequences. The company MUST be held accountable for this.
2
A couple hundred dollars? Chump change for you, food for others.
3
This article is poorly written and seems to be more of a type of character assassination (of Russell Simmons). Firstly, the word "glitch" implies a transient mistake beyond the immediate control of an individual. Yet the article seems to be describing purposeful defects within the industry as a whole. The article says little to nothing about the actual source or sequence of events leading to these situations which inconvenience customers. Furthermore, they seem to play on the particulars of not having cash using terms such as "heart medication", "embarrassing" and "borrowing" as if these are something out of the ordinary for an individual who doesn't have cash on hand...the important thing is that they don't have cash, period. I personally see Russell Simmons as an individual which seems to play every side, and I question his overall motives, but there are many other companies who engage in these practices as well. This article fails to expound on the particulars. I would expect more of a front page article in the NY times.
2
Didn't the USPS once offer savings accounts?
17
About ten years ago, Wal-Mart attempted to get a bank charter so they could serve their unbanked customers. They were denied.
8
I have a rush card my paycheck wasn't on it now I have a doctors appointment in the morning I can't go to it I can't refill my insulin because I'm a diabetic type 2 when you try to call their 24 hours 7 days a week customer service number the phone rings 3 times and it hangs up on you
18
Credit Unions- minimal fees, great service. Are they not available?
16
To those with legitimate SSNs and IDs, most certainly. I have the impression the times is talking about those who don't.
3
While many credit unions are "community-centered" and have looser membership policies, plenty of them - most of them, I'd guess - have narrower eligibility standards (membership fields), such as being open to people via their employer, professional field/affiliation, location/community, church, etc. Banks have to accept the general public, by and large, whereas credit unions are typically - not always - more narrowly focused and draw from a specifically defined category or group of people. Many of the people who wind up using "unbanking" systems such as prepaid cards or check cashing services do not meet the eligibility standard/guidelines for their local credit union. They are more loosely focused now than even just 3-5 years ago, but many people either aren't aware of how they function or they still don't meet the standards (or believe, perhaps erroneously, that they don't meet the standards).
4
Around my area, they do credit checks at credit unions :(
1
"Prepaid" now has no meaning. It's way too easy for the "industry" (choke, cough) to move any funds anywhere, anytime, once they lure "customers" into their network. We have NO oversight or control of digital "banking". We have no protection against cyber crime, and no government agency charged with protecting citizens from cyber crime. Until (and if) this evolves, we won't be able to transition to a "cashless" society/economy. Digital hacking is just too rampant, too easy and too easily ignored by law enforcement.
It's ironic that we invented all this digital technology, but we're the first to fall prey to its obvious shortcomings.
It's ironic that we invented all this digital technology, but we're the first to fall prey to its obvious shortcomings.
9
At least the RushCard holders profiled in this article chose to trust Russell Simmons. He had to earn their business. Meanwhile, Janet Yellen gets paid whether or not anybody approves of the fact that peanut butter jars at the supermarket are shrinking.
2
That's an awfully weak and nonsensical comparison. For one thing, it's difficult to draw a straight line from a entrepreneurial businessman to the head of the Federal Reserve. Both may oversee systems involving money, but only one is a CEO working in business for himself.
Furthermore, the argument might have a glimmer of merit if Janet Yellen had been plucked from a random sidewalk and handed a plum position for which she was totally unqualified. But in reality, she spent decades working hard and - yes - earning the confidence of many people, including those who viewed her as eminently qualified for her current role and her prior roles. Additionally, Mr. Simmons endeavors may affect millions in the sense that he is selling them a product - whether music or clothing or prepaid debit cards - but Ms. Yellen's task is of a completely different nature, one which happens to directly and indirectly affect billions of people.
The Russell Simmons-Janet Yellen connection requires many, many more than six degrees of separation.
Furthermore, the argument might have a glimmer of merit if Janet Yellen had been plucked from a random sidewalk and handed a plum position for which she was totally unqualified. But in reality, she spent decades working hard and - yes - earning the confidence of many people, including those who viewed her as eminently qualified for her current role and her prior roles. Additionally, Mr. Simmons endeavors may affect millions in the sense that he is selling them a product - whether music or clothing or prepaid debit cards - but Ms. Yellen's task is of a completely different nature, one which happens to directly and indirectly affect billions of people.
The Russell Simmons-Janet Yellen connection requires many, many more than six degrees of separation.
1
This comes from:
(1) Making a bank account optional rather than a right;
(2) Allowing the banking industry to use gotcha fees for every mistake, which forces poor people out of the banking system.
If a bank wants a banking license, it should be forced to offer a bare-bones account which - gasp - costs nothing to use, and it should not be able to turn away anyone who wants to open said account. Sure go after Wall Street banks for their malfeasance, but more attention and regulation for local banks is also in order.
(1) Making a bank account optional rather than a right;
(2) Allowing the banking industry to use gotcha fees for every mistake, which forces poor people out of the banking system.
If a bank wants a banking license, it should be forced to offer a bare-bones account which - gasp - costs nothing to use, and it should not be able to turn away anyone who wants to open said account. Sure go after Wall Street banks for their malfeasance, but more attention and regulation for local banks is also in order.
48
Why on Earth should any business be required to give away their products for free? Is that honestly how you think the world works? How furious would you be if the government came in and told you that you needed to start giving away services from your business for free?
4
That sounds all well and good, and in a perfect world it would be. But in our world, the banks use Chex Systems to verify new customers due to overdrafts and bounced checks by many of these same people. I think of the old country saying, "Poor people have poor ways". Sadly, there is much truth in that saying.
Rights do not require taking goods or services from one by force to give to another. Learn something...anything.
1
I have never understood debit cards or prepaid cards of any sort.
However, there is, fortunately, a new technological development which is immune to hacking, computer failure, and the bankruptcy of a third party: it's called cash.
However, there is, fortunately, a new technological development which is immune to hacking, computer failure, and the bankruptcy of a third party: it's called cash.
11
I suspect that a high percentage of these people live in areas where keeping excess cash on their person or in their home is akin to painting a target on their back. Banks should be forced to provide cheap, no frills accounts to them. Banks are highly profitable; a little social responsibility wouldn't kill them.
52
Bills, such as those for utilities, typically cannot be paid in cash. If they can, it is often at specific locations during the narrow 9-5 window of business - a time when many or would be working. A debit card, however, can be set up as an auto-pay billing method, or used to pay via phone.
And cash does invite scrutiny and risk in some places....especially if a person becomes known around town as someone who operates using cash exclusively. There's a big fat target on their backs.
And cash does invite scrutiny and risk in some places....especially if a person becomes known around town as someone who operates using cash exclusively. There's a big fat target on their backs.
5
Kinda hard to do cash when your employer forces Direct deposit
7
Remember 'Take The Money And Run'? A great Woody Allen flick, from those great days before he started to take himself too seriously, but as an all too apt metaphor for some of these prepaid debit cards it's nothing funny at all. Use cash if you can, a credit card as second choice (At least you won't have to carry a lot of cash, especially in this age of - let's face it - people having cash confiscated by police on the flimsiest grounds of 'suspicion'), but think twice - and then some - about giving money to strangers and being sure your 'cash card' will work. And getting help on the phone, or even online? You might have an easier time getting Putin or Netanyahu into Mecca.
4
in reply to Grossness54:
"And getting help on the phone, or even online? You might have an easier time getting Putin or Netanyahu into Mecca."
Excellent line ! I shall do my best to credit you, if I ever use it.
"And getting help on the phone, or even online? You might have an easier time getting Putin or Netanyahu into Mecca."
Excellent line ! I shall do my best to credit you, if I ever use it.
2
I ain't one to gossip, but there's nothing more ameri-capitalistic than making money while in "service to the poor", and somebody's getting rewarded handily here.
But y'ain't heard that from me....
But y'ain't heard that from me....
21
I wonder if credit unions appeal/are an option instead of these pre-paid cards?
8
It varies widely. Many credit unions are narrowly focused on serving specific groups - i.e., employees of a particular business or industry, school employees, churches, specific communities, and so on. By no mean are all credit unions limited in such a way, but many still are. The perception continues, of credit unions as being something for which many are ineligible, however inaccurate it may be. And realistically, for many of these unbanked individuals, opening a traditional bank account is a difficult hurdle - despite banks' obligations to provide service to nearly anyone, not just teachers from a specific school district, or households with a head member who is actively serving in the military, to name a couple of examples found in credit unions.
Credit unions are generally excellent, but people who may struggle with qualifying and affording a Bank of America checking account are unlikely to have access to a credit union either.
Credit unions are generally excellent, but people who may struggle with qualifying and affording a Bank of America checking account are unlikely to have access to a credit union either.
Who was it said, "It's no crime to be poor but it may as well be" ?
30
"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor." - James A. Baldwin
2
Sounds like much of the money may be gone.
2
This is what Hillary is talking about when she says that banking regulation must cover a wider territory than just traditional banks and investment firms. But banks are public institutions, also, and should be required to provide low- to no-cost accounts to people who only need to make a few transactions a month. When you have a bank, you do have a potential relationship. There's no relationship with a pre-paid card.
10
It's terrible to put faith in this system! This is what happens to those who trust a wolf in sheeps clothing!
The Chief
The Chief
3
In France, every employer is required to pay into a bank account; every bank is required to open an account for anyone with a job. Ok, this is maybe not 'freedom'; but it is more like 'freedom' from getting ripped off by these 'card companies' and other vultures who prey on the poor. There are no 'check cashing companies', nor companies who 'advance' your pay. We try to protect.
69
In the US, if you direct deposit your paycheck, there are no fees. None. Nada.
You've been mislead my an obtuse article that isn't clear about a solution to a non-problem.
Now, in the US you are not forced to use a bank. Many from Eastern EU countries, for example, don't trust banks. They keep cash for the most part. Not sure why these people who are employed don't just use direct deposit and an ATM card.
You've been mislead my an obtuse article that isn't clear about a solution to a non-problem.
Now, in the US you are not forced to use a bank. Many from Eastern EU countries, for example, don't trust banks. They keep cash for the most part. Not sure why these people who are employed don't just use direct deposit and an ATM card.
Ironically, many of the so called "outraged" are the same people who got themselves into this situation of depending on these types of services because they themselves cant be trusted to be financially responsible. Of course now that we are an enabling country that believes everyone should get everything regardless of their honesty, these people are given more chances than ever. I say, let them suffer and pay in cash. Tough.
2
um, no. The 'outraged" have paid for a service. The "outraged" should be compensated for the poor service.
27
Ill-informed and cruel comment. You have no idea what circumstances have led people to the situation they are in. And regardless, they should be protected, as consumers, from companies that wish only to take further advantage of the disadvantaged and make their plight worse.
8
You left out the "harrumph!". How does it affect you well bring in insisting that "these people" be punished for demanding, as you would in a similar situation, that they actually receive the service they purchased? Shame on you, sir.
3
Mr. Simmons "cares deeply" about the people he has fleeced for years, taking $15 per CD for his rap pap?? He has helped write the soundtrack to black abasement in this country, while coasting off the transaction fees and goodwill of the financial product he has so graciously consented to provide. Despicable.
22
I have friends who are on state assistance and they have had no trouble opening bank accounts with minimal fees, so I have to question the entire premise of these cards.
25
How do you know your friends are on state assistance? Sounds like a right wing fairy tale to me, like poor folk with huge TV sets. Now wait for the comments saying "My best friend's son says his daughter says that her girlfriend personally knows..." ad infinitum.
"Financiers support the state as the rope supports the hanged man." - Charles de Montesquieu
33
Well versed.
"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." John Maynard Keynes
Russell Simmons, RushCard, payday lenders, Wall Street, our "representatives " and their 1% masters... are all bloodsucking ticks on the buttocks of America.
Sure wish I lived in a civilized country.
Or even a christian one.
WWJD?
... "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
: ) L
Russell Simmons, RushCard, payday lenders, Wall Street, our "representatives " and their 1% masters... are all bloodsucking ticks on the buttocks of America.
Sure wish I lived in a civilized country.
Or even a christian one.
WWJD?
... "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
: ) L
12
Use cash whenever you can, period! These cards also collect and sell your data, and they score you and sell those scores too. It's how healthcare data gets around HIPAA, they don't sell the actual data, they sell your score..wake up time folks. Everybody's in this one with prescriptions, just try and get your secretive medication adherence score, you can't, but every pharmacy benefit manager is scoring you and selling the score to insurers, drug companies and more.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/06/medication-adherence-predictions-...
And here's more, if you pay cash, you are and Outlier as the software at PBMS default you to non compliant if they can't dig up enough credit card and other card data about you, listen to this pharmacist tell you.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/07/patients-who-pay-cash-when-fillin...
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/06/medication-adherence-predictions-...
And here's more, if you pay cash, you are and Outlier as the software at PBMS default you to non compliant if they can't dig up enough credit card and other card data about you, listen to this pharmacist tell you.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2015/07/patients-who-pay-cash-when-fillin...
11
"secretive medication adherence score"? Mine is printed on the paperwork RiteAid gives me every time I have a prescription filled. Quack is right.
3
Russell Simmons is an enormous fraud which would be less infuriating to me if he wasn't touted as a human rights advocate from people like Bill DeBlasio and given a column on Huffington Post to preach.
He partook in the Occupy Wall Street protests while admitting that he pays no corporate taxes due to loop holes his tax attorney exploits. He said he felt fine with that because of all the money he donates.
He loudly condemns racism and Islamaphobia while openly promoting Nation of Islam. When a Jewish group tactfully took him to task for this he went off on them on a very ugly rant. He loudly condemns Donald Trump and Pamala Geller while promoting Louis Farrakhan. He and his ilk are to the left what Jerry Falwell and his ilk are to the right: people who get political and social power due to high regard from large and very gullible segments of this country for promoting positive "values" in public while living a very unethical and hypocritical life in private.
He partook in the Occupy Wall Street protests while admitting that he pays no corporate taxes due to loop holes his tax attorney exploits. He said he felt fine with that because of all the money he donates.
He loudly condemns racism and Islamaphobia while openly promoting Nation of Islam. When a Jewish group tactfully took him to task for this he went off on them on a very ugly rant. He loudly condemns Donald Trump and Pamala Geller while promoting Louis Farrakhan. He and his ilk are to the left what Jerry Falwell and his ilk are to the right: people who get political and social power due to high regard from large and very gullible segments of this country for promoting positive "values" in public while living a very unethical and hypocritical life in private.
78
Three thumbs up, and I'm liberal.
6
Simmons should be investigated. Fraud? Theft? Embezzlement? I wonder.
If you add up all the fees that many of these loadable cards charge you could open a traditional bank account. I worked in banking for almost a decade and now many banks offer no fee accounts and with the way your debit card works now unless you opt-in it will decline the transaction. The exception is on a transaction that is reoccurring. The reason these loadable cards are popular is many of the unbanked can not open accounts due to abuse of a bank account in the past. I.E. fraud, multiple charge offs, account abuse.
44
Don't confuse this group with facts.
2
Are the banks promoting these programs to the areas that could use these services? In my area, Cincinnati, I have not seen it at all. Maybe the ROI isn't there to make it worth the banks' while.
"In 2012, the most recent year available, prepaid cards held $65 billion"
Looking past the poor wording of this phrase, it still makes little sense. It doesn't say who or what agency or company is supposed to keep track of pre-paid card usage in aggregate. And if it is somebody's job to keep track, why would it take them nearly 3 years to compile their stats?
Looking past the poor wording of this phrase, it still makes little sense. It doesn't say who or what agency or company is supposed to keep track of pre-paid card usage in aggregate. And if it is somebody's job to keep track, why would it take them nearly 3 years to compile their stats?
12
We should have a nationalized bank for this. The fees for these prepaid debit cards are extravagant.
38
Of course, conservatives will squawk, "Retain banking belongs in the private sector!" Sure, except when there are no banks available, so the government needs to step in.
1
Yeah, like a Single-Payer healthcare financing.
2
How are these cards legal? The rushcard clearly took advantage of low income people. I felt shame when Mr. Simmons did this to many of his own people. The card has so many fees.
79
amen, sister - you just said a mouthful~
8
"His own people" are the very filthy rich.
11
"...his own people."? Really?
4
This is sickening. RushCard should have to pay customers $100 for every day their card isn't working. Perhaps we can hear from Elizabeth Warren on this fiasco.
63
Lower income pre-paid card users would not have to rely on these cards if banks had not pulled out of their underserved communities long ago.
In a world that is increasingly digital and cashless, it is important that we don't leave people behind and make sure that everyone has the ability to conduct their financial transactions conveniently, and safely.
In a world that is increasingly digital and cashless, it is important that we don't leave people behind and make sure that everyone has the ability to conduct their financial transactions conveniently, and safely.
74
It's probably been years since I set foot in a bank. Who cares if they have branches in a community? Get a bank account, write checks or pay online, avoid anything having to do with "celebrities" particularly hip-hop.
Wealthy people were ripped off by Madoff, poor people by Simmons. Try being a sensible person instead of following some cult figure.
Wealthy people were ripped off by Madoff, poor people by Simmons. Try being a sensible person instead of following some cult figure.
5
Please see Wild Bill's comment above.
@trudy,
If you live in a community from which banks departed years earlier , and you lack access to private transportation or face a very lengthy trip to reach a branch via bus or train, it's not as simple as just opening up an bank account and voilá, problem solved. Banks are not obligated or required to open accounts for anyone who walks in the door with the proper documents. While major advances have been made in personal finance and banking access, we have not simply eliminated the structural issues that can make regular, consistent access to traditional banking difficult and even impossible for certain low-income people.
If you live in a community from which banks departed years earlier , and you lack access to private transportation or face a very lengthy trip to reach a branch via bus or train, it's not as simple as just opening up an bank account and voilá, problem solved. Banks are not obligated or required to open accounts for anyone who walks in the door with the proper documents. While major advances have been made in personal finance and banking access, we have not simply eliminated the structural issues that can make regular, consistent access to traditional banking difficult and even impossible for certain low-income people.
2
"New" gimcrack economy; same as the old Big Bank-run economy! Rigged at the expense of consumers!
37
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-lets-...