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Another twist for the unemployed: Debit card fees – CNN.com
March 13th, 2009 [Banking, Financial, General]
9 Comments »Another twist for the unemployed: Debit card fees – CNN.com.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 30 states offer direct deposit cards to the unemployed. Many of the nation’s biggest banks have contracts with the individual states. JP Morgan Chase, for instance, has contracts with seven states and has pending deals with two others, according to Chase spokesman John T. Murray. About 10 states, the Labor Department says, pay by check only.
The National Consumer Law Center says fees range from 40 cents to a high of $3 per transaction, if the debit card is used at an out-of-network ATM. Most banks give jobless debit card users one free withdrawal per deposit period, which averages every other week in most states. But consumer advocates, including the Law Center, say the unemployed “should be able to obtain cash and perform basic functions with no fees.”
Yeah – um, aren’t the banks getting enough taxpayer money without gunning for a share of unemployment funds, too? Next thing you know, they’ll be pulling this same shady business with Social Security checks.
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March 14th, 2009 at 3:36 am
what does one expect? government can only control 17% of total economy, unless we want socialism? Perhaps it’s time for CNN to promote socialism for all of us. Whining ain’t do any good, get a job! If one doesn’t have trade skill to better paying job, then accept lower standard of living. Wake up and smell the coffee!
March 14th, 2009 at 3:54 am
In the banks’ defense, those fees are established by that state’s unemployment agency. I’m not going to say that the banks don’t see one penny of it but most of it goes right back to the state.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Stop it already…So you are a salesman who got laid off? Then pick up a shovel and start digging ditches. Just because you probably got a college education doesn’t mean you are a “better” citizen. I’m tired of capable people getting unemployment checks. I’ve spent over 400,000 dollars on my education, and I’m happy to say at this moment I’m employed. But, if it came down to it, I would rather go back to mowing lawns (as I did when I was young) than file for unemployment. Get off your ass…
March 14th, 2009 at 5:32 am
I am currently collecting unemployment in PA. Anyone upset over debit card fees, has only to take 5 minutes out of their day to set up direct deposit of their benefits into a bank account of their choosing. I have mine directly deposited into my Wachovia account and I have ZERO fees. This should be a non-story because it’s easy to avoid having to use the card at all. Payments are in my wachovia account only 2 to 3 days after filing.
Anyone currently accepting benefits in PA can easily go to the PA state unemployment website and set up direct deposit in less than 10 minutes, without even leaving their home. This Outrage is unfounded. This is a NON-story.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:36 am
“But consumer advocates, including the Law Center, say the unemployed “should be able to obtain cash and perform basic functions with no fees.””
NEWS FLASH: THEY ALREADY CAN! I’m living proof, and the labor department in PA isn’t keeping this secret or anything… Seriously you’d have to have been paying no attention to what was going on when you were applying for benefits if you don’t know this is an option. My debitcard is sitting on my desk with the sticker still on. I never even considered using it. Direct deposit is the only way to go. It’s not like they hide this option from you either. I don’t get why people can’t figure it out.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:06 am
It’s even worse than this article reports! Unemployed people have bills to pay – utilities, credit card, car, etc. – but either they won’t take the debit card at all or they charge you $5 or more to use the debit card to pay the bill. So we have to go get money orders with it and of course pay charges for that! It’s an outrage that the credit card companies are making money off the unemployed and the unemployed are made to suffer on top of being unemployed. Something needs to be done to stop this nonsense!!!!
March 14th, 2009 at 6:17 am
The unemployed here I think are being rediculous. So what if they charge a fee for a balance inquiry! How about you track your money, manage it and keep track of your spending. If you need cash at an ATM you’ll pay a fee just like everyone else. People are such complainers. I’m a democrat but I agree with Phil Graham, America is a nation with a bunch of whiners. Any time you open a new account that deals is finance you MUST READ the small print. Let me say that again, read the small print, all of it! Yes it means you sit down for 30 minutes and actually read something. You learn what the fees are and unless you’re a complete friggin idiot you learn how to avoid the fees. Don’t use the ATM. Don’t call to get your balance just keep record of your purchases. Keep track of your fund and don’t get declined for insufficient funds. I’m just shocked someone gets free money and they complain about the way it’s given to him. Unbelievable.
March 14th, 2009 at 8:40 am
I applied for unemployment in IL online. I filled out a direct deposit form right away to have the money go into my checking account. IL doesn’t even have a live check option. There was a 1 week elimination period. I only had 1 check go on the debit card and I went to my bank to get the money off of the card put into my account. No fee was assessed. I already had my debit card from my bank account and didn’t want to deal with another debit card. I immediately saw the scam with the fees after I got the debit card in the mail and read the conditions. I can’t understand why someone doesn’t just do a direct deposit into their own account. Even if accounts require so many debits per month to have no fees, you can break up purchases into more transactions to meet the requirement. Another thing, some banks offer you $50 or $100 to open up an account if you don’t have one. Many times if you have direct deposit you do not have a monthly fee assessed on the account either for these new accounts. You also are getting some extra money out of it. I can’t understand people that have still have a job getting the actual physical checks instead of using direct deposit either. Some people go to currency exchanges to cash their checks and are robbed coming out of their too. Direct Deposits are much safer. If your debit card is stolen, you are not responsible for any more than $50 of unauthorized charges in most cases for your checking account.
March 14th, 2009 at 9:35 am
This story is just another example of Fast Eddie Rendell and his pack of unqualified drones screwing the residents of Pennsylvania. Fast Eddie has loaded up state government in Harrisburg with thousands of stupid, unqualified employees who are not interested in anything resembling honest work or benefiting the people who pay their wages – the taxpayers.
In this case it is an abomination that those on PA unemployment must pay fees on what is a paltry sum relative to their prior paychecks and also pay Fast Eddie’s regime inflated income taxes on these paltry sums. The unemployed folks from PA should go to Harrisburg and shut down state government until someone makes some radical changes.
I had numbers of manufacturing companies in that state for years and left when I retired 5 years ago, I got out of there as quickly as possible, moving to Wyoming. Fast Eddie was not a fan of me nor I of him and he’s still running the good state of Pennsylvania into the ground! Down with stupidity!