Prepaid Cards
On August 24, 2009, the New York Daily News published an article regarding prepaid cards and so-called “hidden costs”. Of possible interest is a quote from Kirsten Trusko, president of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, located towards the end of the piece that helps to balance the article’s slant against the prepaid and debit card industry.
Increasing popularity of reloadable prepaid cards, particularly among the unbanked and the underbanked, has begun to raise concerns among consumer advocates who view the cards as lacking important protections offered on bank cards. As more merchants become active in issuing these cards, advocates are lobbying for more oversight. For reference, see the recent Consumers Union report released on August 13, 2009.
The September 2009 issue of Selling Prepaid E-Magazine is now online. One article that may be of interest describes the perceived advantages of having/using prepaid cards in financial transactions over traditional methods such as paper checks, credit cards or debit cards.
An article published on September 6, 2009 in the Chicago Tribune describes how the U.S. Treasury has been campaigning to get Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients to switch to prepaid debit cards from paper checks.
