A lot of lenders and other large financial institutions are adding prepaid debit cards to their choices. Chase is among the popular organizations jumping on the prepaid card bandwagon. The cards are being rolled out this summer. How often have you needed more details on where to find a instant pay day loan, and turned to a web search on "instant online payday loans?" Your search is over, all the info you will need is at http://MatchFinancial.com.
Larger players getting involved
The New York Times explained that there are some big players associated with prepaid debit cards right now, regardless of the belief that they generally would not be associated with one another. Visa and MasterCard both have the prepaid cards along with American Express. There are not prepaid cards offered by Regions Financial and Wells Fargo also.
Yet another big financial institution is entering the prepaid debit card business, according to the Washington Post. Chase bank is going to start supplying a prepaid card at all branches nationwide. It's called the Chase Liquid card and it is already accessible at roughly 200 branches, but will be made accessible at all branches over the summer.
An excellent thing to offer
Depending on how one views it, the move by Chase could possibly be either a somewhat gracious extension of services to people who ordinarily wouldn't be able to bank with Chase or a way to grab fee revenue. Perhaps it's a combination thereof.
There is a $4.95 monthly fee on the card that is waived as long as the consumer loads cash or deposits a check onto the card at a “reload friendly” Chase ATM. There are over 10,500 to pick from in the country. It is free to get cash off of the card at a Chase ATM, but a minimum $25 deposit is required to start the car up, according to CNBC.
The Dodd Frank Act Durbin amendment is the one that limits how much banks can charge to merchants in fees to process a transaction. According to the Baltimore Sun, prepaid cards do not apply to that part of the law though. The prepaid debit card fee averages 1.70 percent while the typical debit card fee is only 0.25 percent.
The good news
Prepaid cards can, according to CNN, carry better terms than some debit cards tied to checking accounts. For instance, there are more than 22,000 ATMs in the MoneyPass network that Green Dot card holders can use for free. Prepaid cards also will not overdraft; the card will simply be declined at the point of transaction. Also, terms can vary and there might be ways to get around some charges like withdrawal and reloading fees.
If you do choose to get a prepaid card, make sure you shop around before deciding on one. The fees can add up and get pretty expensive if you are not careful. A Nerdwallet survey showed that about $300 in charges is the typical on a prepaid debit card compared to the $110 on most debit card accounts.
Sources
New York Times
Washington Post
CNBC
Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/sns-rt-us-jpmorgan-cardbre8470...
CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/08/pf/prepaid-cards-what-to-know/
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