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The total stupidity of Pre-Paid VISA Cards


nelis

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So I get this Pre-Paid VISA card in the amount of $35.00 for a Christmas gift. The shmuck who bought it paid a $4.50 activation fee. I can't believe they're that stupid!

 

Now here's the really annoying part from my end. So I'm at a restaurant and I tell the waitress to make the bill + tip equal $35.00 so I can use the card. She puts it in - and it's DECLINED.

 

So I figure maybe she did something wrong. So I pay in cash.

 

So now I'm at a fast foody kinda place and I do the same thing except I add the tip to the bill to make it $35 and it get's DECLINED. So I pay in cash.

 

So I call the Pre-Pay VISA people and they tell me that Restaurants or Tipping retailers will add 15% to the authorization and that's why it gets declined. So I say, is that in the Card Holder agreement and she says yes.

 

So I read the Card Holder agreement that comes with the card and there is absolutely NO MENTION of this rule.

 

So I call there customer service again and again they state that they were told it's in the Cardholder Agreement.

But it really isn't. I finally access there Web Site and in there it's mentioned but in the "Merchant Resource Center". So to be clear ... it is NOT in the card holder agreement that comes with the card.

 

I wonder if I have a Class Action Legal Case here? :)

 

Bottom line is ... why would anybody, in their right fricking mind, purchase this stupid item??????

 

I mean really, a 12.9% service charge to activate it and the chance that the person who uses it get's stuck after a meal unable to pay for the food.

 

To top it all off of course, the card cannot be reloaded, so the "idea" from VISA's side is that most people wouldn't use the extra bit left over and they get more money out of this business arrangement. Further to that after 7 months they start charging a fee of $2.50 a month until the card is out of money.

 

I can only speak for myself though - I would never, ever, ever, ever purchase this item for anybody for any reason.

Unless I hated them ... Have a lunch on me ... don't bring money ... Visa is accepted everywhere. Ha ha ha!!!

 

Then again; maybe that's why I got it :)

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That's unbelievable.

Hard to believe a world class company such as V would have such a product. I would be embarrassed. My kids got those cards for their birthday...I can see giving to a kid (they got a kick out of having a credit card), but what a rip off if they take $2.50 every month after 7 m

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I agree that it's a terrible product.

 

It probably does serve a purpose for people that can't get a credit card because they can use it for over-the-phone hotel reservations etc. where a card is required.

 

 

I read that these cards aren't accepted for hotels or rental cars since it's not really acceptable as a security deposit.

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I agree that it's a terrible product.

 

It probably does serve a purpose for people that can't get a credit card because they can use it for over-the-phone hotel reservations etc. where a card is required.

 

 

I read that these cards aren't accepted for hotels or rental cars since it's not really acceptable as a security deposit.

 

That is interesting..  I thought that this would work if you had a card balance higher than the temporary authorization required to hold the room.  The temp auth would prevent you from spending that balance that is held in reserve for the hotel deposit.  No personal experience though..

 

 

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While I was reading this thread I noticed the ad at the top was for a prepaid Visa card...it has various "plans" that you can select from...

 

The issuer of the RushCard is Bancorp Bank

 

http://www.rushcard.com/index.aspx?referer=GCprepaidcard&gclid=CNr4_cLCrqYCFcjsKgodLjfdog

 

Take a look at the fees...Holey-Smoley

 

http://www.rushcard.com/whyrushcard/scheduleoffees.aspx

 

 

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I agree with you Nelis that the fee is a cash grab and they failed to inform the purchaser and the user appropriately.  At the same time, I wouldn't be too hard on the person that bought you the card...at least they gave you a gift!  And no it wasn't me!  ;D  Cheers!

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You guys probably think the fee Visa is outrageous. It is peanuts compared to this one.

 

'Kard' Marketer Sues Kardashian Sisters

American Banker  |  Tuesday, January 11, 2011

 

By Sean Sposito

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RELATED LINKS

Viewpoint: Lessons Learned from the Kardashians - December 2, 2010

After Outcry Over Fees, Kardashian 'Kard' Is Kaput - November 30, 2010

Don't Laugh. There's a Business Case for the Kardashian 'Kard' - November 18, 2010

Reality TV Sisters Plug Prepaid Card - November 2, 2010

The company behind the celebrity-sponsored Kardashian Kard has sued the Kardashian sisters reality television stars for dropping their endorsement shortly after the prepaid card's introduction.

 

The card came under fire for charging up to a year's worth of fees up-front. On a month-by-month basis, the card's fee structure was not out of line with what many prepaid cards charge, but the requirement to pay so much at the time of purchase spotlighted the card's cost of ownership, leading some to declare it predatory.

 

"The bottom line is, we got thrown under the bus," said Christopher L. Rudd, the attorney for Revenue Resource Group LLC, the prepaid card marketer behind the Kardashian Kard. "We brought out a card that was, in many ways, a bargain compared to some of its competitors, and we got trashed for it."

 

About three weeks after the card's early-November debut, the Kardashians pulled their endorsement, and the website that sold the card was shut down. Revenue Resource Group is suing for at least $75 million after the Kardashians reneged on a two-year contract to promote the card, Rudd said. He added that two rappers had been ready to sign up to promote similar products before the Kardashians pulled out. He would not name the rappers.

 

The prepaid product behind the Kardashian branding "had some neat facets," he said. "It really did. It had a lot of neat features that made it great for other licensees."

 

Shortly after the card's introduction, Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, blasted the product, calling it "filled with 'gotcha' fees and charges … raising concerns about potential threats to consumers, particularly young adults," according to a press release issued at the time.

 

Though the card could not be purchased by minors, analysts said its celebrity endorsement strongly suggested a focus on teenagers.

 

Sunrise Community Bank, the holding company for the card's issuer, University National Bank in St. Paul, Minn., had no comment.

 

The card's cost was $59.95 for six months, or $99.95 for a year; these prices included the card's $7.95 monthly fee and an initial load of five dollars.

 

Upon its introduction, many perceived the card as a "premium" prepaid product. The Kardashian sisters' celebrity status, paired with the card's high purchase cost, lent it a sense of exclusivity.

 

Some said the high up-front cost also addressed a long-standing issue for prepaid card companies — that their products are commonly seen as disposable by end users, who buy them for a specific purchase. If users pay as much as a year in fees up-front, they may feel a greater attachment to the card and use it more, observers said

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