Posted on 10/24/2015 6:37:18 AM PDT by grundle
Russell Simmons’ excuses for his glitchy RushCard are falling on “Def” ears.
The hip-hop mogul and reality star caught more heat Wednesday after trying to contain widespread outrage over a computer error that kept thousands of users of the pricey prepaid debit card from their money for 10 straight days.
ushCards are aimed at the 58 million Americans who the FDIC claims are “underbanked” — that is, can’t afford, or don’t qualify for, traditional banking services, typically minorities and the poor.
Users on Wednesday remained irate as RushCard’s services were interrupted for the 10th straight day.
Simmons has blamed the glitch on a new transaction-processing vendor.
The situation has become so dire for customers that Simmons, 58, the co-founder of seminal rap label Def Jam, has even taken to Twitter to talk with people who can’t access their money.
Some direct messages exchanged with the RushCard creator have led to phone conversations, a company spokesperson said, during which Simmons not only consoles customers without any cash but also tries to expedite a return to business as usual.
For many, however, it has been too little, too late.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Of course it’s going to effect “poor and minorities”. They can’t get a bank account because they either owe another bank money (over drawn accts, etc) or because they have a habit of passing bad checks.
Referred to as “Pricey”.....I wonder what the vigorish percentage is.
Bull. They screwed their own credit up by not paying their bills. I used to have crappy credit and I still got a basic checking account through a credit union that came with a free debit card.
Bush’s fault!
“The costs can be high. The RushCard, for example, costs between $3.95 and $9.95 to set up and then either a monthly fee of between $5.95 and $7.95 or a $1 fee for transactions plus $1.95 for not using the card for 90 days. Those kinds fees are relatively common in the market, where the average refillable card charges $4.22 on average to open and $1.77 for transactions and other fees.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/10/22/3715189/rushcard-cfpb/
How democratic of him.
Now all Simmons has to do after explaining the problem is to blame evil rich white people for breathing too much and he's in the clear.
How quickly will the libtards blame this on Rush Limbaugh?
Right now? 100%...
This is very bad for the users of the RushCard. Some people have their checks direct deposited onto the card. People need their money to pay bills and buy food.
Fewer checks are being issued now days. Employers want to direct deposit their payroll. If employees don’t have a checking account, the pay can be deposited onto a prepaid debit card. RushCard is just one of the prepaid debit cards on the market. Their are other, lower fee cards available.
Prepaid debit cards are issued by banks. Then there is the celebrity/marketer/administrator that is directly interfacing with the customer.
Looking on the RushCard website, I found that the RushCard is issued by Metabank.
https://rushcard.com//legal/Cardholder-Agreement
I am curious as to what is causing the problems, and how is it going to be fixed. Is the problem at the RushCard level or the Metabank level? The article doesn’t give very many details.
Not only that, but so many traditional large money center banks are trying to get in on the action— some, like Green Dot, will waive the monthly fee if you use direct deposit to fund the card:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/prepaid-debit-cards/#buyers-guide
More blacksploitation.
My company makes direct deposit a “condition of employment” so we are 100% direct deposit for payroll and for our expense reimbursement system and I love it both as a payroll manager and as an employee.
We also no longer pre-note direct deposits for new employees or when employees close and open a new account as long as they provide a voided check or documentation from their bank with the routing number and account number, so from their very first pay, it goes direct deposit – no live checks!
We are also 100% paperless under an initiative I undertook a few years ago; no more mailing of paystubs/direct deposit vouchers (and at a big savings in just the postage cost alone plus the printing and delivery charges by our payroll processor). Instead employees go on line through the ADP self service portal to view or print their paystubs. We do provide computer kiosks with printers in each building so manufacturing employees without a desk and their own work computer, (or without computers at home or smart phones) have access.
The rules on mandating direct deposit or paperless pay varies from state to state; some don’t allow mandating direct deposit or paperless pay at all, some say it is by “opt in” only, but some will allow direct deposits to employer issued pay cards as long as there is no fee to the employee to withdrawal their funds each pay, and with some limits on the other fees that can be charged, and paperless, if the employer provides a way to access their pay stubs on line at work and at no cost as we do.
Many of the big payroll processing companies like ADP and Ceridian now offer low fee to the employee pay cards that are compliant with various state rules as an option to employers if any of their employees don’t have bank accounts, but those cards are also portable – they keep them and they revert to a regular pre-paid debit card if they leave the company. These pay cards can also be used to pay bills on line and to make purchases at retailers and typically allow the employee to deposit funds to it from sources other than the employer’s direct deposit but some do charge fees for those other transactions.
Of course if an employee chooses to have their pay direct deposited to a pre-paid debit card that they opened themselves, like the RushCard, then fees and any access issues is between them and the bank issuing the card, just as it would be with a bank checking account. If an employer issued pay card like those offered through ADP or Ceridian, then access issues, not having access to their funds, could become an issue for the employer too.
FWIW, dealing with “live checks” is a hassle for the employer and more expensive and time consuming compared to direct deposit. There are those employees who lose their checks, and we have to put a stop payment on it at a cost that we can’t legally pass to the employee, then wait several days to reissue as a manual check, to make sure it didn’t clear; or they fail to cash them and when they go stale and have to be reissued or after a certain amount of time, if they don’t clear, escheat to the State’s Unclaimed Property division. And then there are always those who don’t advise us when their address changes so their live checks or paystubs don’t get delivered in time or they get lost in the mail, I’ve even had more than one employee have checks and or pay stubs stolen from their mail boxes.
I had an employee once angrily complain to me (who had direct deposit but who didn’t opt to go paperless before we mandated paperless), that her pay stub was stolen from her mail box and her concerns about identity theft. While I understood her concerns, I had to explain to her that it wasn’t my problem - once we put her paystub in the USPS box for delivery, what happened to it afterward was beyond my control and that she should contact the Postal Inspector at her local USPS and or file a police report. I did provide her with some general information on identity theft (https://www.identitytheft.gov/), but also reminded her that our pay stubs didn’t have her SSN or bank account numbers printed on them. But she wanted us to pay for identity theft protection, but as this was not a “data breach” on our end, it was not our problem but an issue for the USPS and or the police.
I remember back when, when either your boss would hand you your check, or you’d have to go to the payroll office each payday and even sign a form that you received it, and then you’d have to rush to the bank during lunch or after work to deposit it. And if you happened to be off that day, on vacation, etc. wait for it to come in the mail. Why anyone with a bank account or access to a low fee employer provided pay card would not want their pay direct deposited is beyond me.
Probably the gray market poor load these cards up with money they can’t show in banks to remain qualified for benefits.
Great insight from a payroll management point of view. Thank you.
Russell Simmons uses the money to buy women.
Google: Russell Simmons girlfriends
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