Ohio Target for Social Security Prepaid Cards

We recently informed you in one of our posts about the use of prepaid cards as a method of payment for Social Security. Recently, as this article mentions, Ohio has become one of the states that the U.S. government wants using their prepaid option. Currently, those who use paper checks sometimes pay up to $25 per check in order to have it cashed. Alvina McHale, spokeswoman of the U.S. Treasury Financial Management Service, released this statement:

''You [Ohio] are clearly at the top of our lists in terms of states we want to reach out to''

The reason for Ohio as a target is because the state is ranked 5^th highest for the number of individuals who still use paper checks instead of alternative forms. In another statement McHale also informs citizens that:

“Any Social Security recipient, including those who already get payments directly deposited into their bank accounts, can request the debit card, but the ''unbanked'' recipients are being targeted”

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Texans with Prepaid Phone Cards May Be Facing Fees

The Dallas Morning News recently reported that consumer groups are protesting the new collection fee that will be placed on prepaid cell phone cards. In the state of Texas, everyone with a local exchange number is charged 50¢ (as detailed by the State Government) for each access line. These charges lead to over $7.9 million in 911 fees from May 11 to June 10 this year alone for cell phone users.

The controversy comes from how prepaid phone cards will be handled. It’s not clear how many companies are charging the 50¢, but it is believed that over 2 million Texans use the prepaid cards.

Texas Consumer Association president Sandy Haverleh believes that prepaid card companies will solve this problem by just adding a 50¢ to every card, and :

"Fifty cents is just too much out of a $5 card or a $10 card," she said. "I don't think the Legislature intended to have that high a rate."

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