Consumer Advocates Want Prepaid Card Restrictions

Kristina Peterson of WSJ/Yahoo Finance reports that new credit card legislation enacted by President Obama is not set to cover prepaid cards. Peterson reports that, "Consumer advocates want to change that. They are urging the Federal Reserve to strengthen guidelines affecting prepaid cards from companies such as Inc., Green Dot Corp., NetSpend Corp. and Inc. while the Obama administrations focus remains concentrated on regulating the credit-card and banking industries. Unlike credit cards, prepaid reloadable cards aren't covered by the federal statutes that protect credit-card holders from fraud or limit their losses when cards are lost or stolen. Though many prepaid card companies do offer some consumer protections, they do so voluntarily. "

Should more restrictions and consumer protection be placed on prepaid cards?

A Push to Regulate Prepaid Cards

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |

Prepaid Cash Cards are on the Rise while Credit Cards Decline

The NY Times recently wrote a piece discussing the rising popularity of prepaid cash cards. In the article James Flanigan highlights how the cards, which have the MasterCard, Visa, or Discover logos, have become more like “portable checking accounts” where consumers can load up on deposits made at retail outlets instead of banks.

He also mentions that companies like Green Dot Corporation, NetSpend, and nFinanSe Inc. are highly involved in the distribution and management of the accounts, handling customer service and providing computer servers and software. The number of “unbanked” and “underbanked” is growing at record pace throughout this economic crisis, and so it is no wonder where there is a sudden decline in credit cards. Do you think that this trend will continue for quite some time?

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |

Will Sowell of GE Money Joins Green Dot Corporation as COO

According to this latest article from PRNewswire, Will Sowell of GE Money has joined Green Dot Corporation as their newest Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Green Dot, Will served as VP of Prepaid Products at GE Money.

The CEO of Green Dot, Steve Streit mentions, “Will is a great leader in the classic Green Dot sense. No nonsense, honest, action-oriented, success- driven and always deeply respectful and appreciative of our customer. Will's knowledge of Green Dot, banking services, the prepaid market and our customer base will make him immediately impactful on our continued success.”

It will be interesting to see where Mr. Sowell will lead Green Dot in the future.

Share this article with your social network, just click below to share now!

Share |