Teen celebrity Justin Bieber has partnered with BillMyParents.com to offer his very own brand of prepaid debit cards, following in the footsteps of other celebrities including Suzie Orman, Russel Simmons and the Kardashians. What is different about Bieber’s card is unclear; according to Kiplinger.com, the card has a monthly fee of $3.95 a reload fee of $2.95, a fee of $.50 for every balance inquiry at an ATM and $1.50 to make a withdraw at an ATM. If you should run out of money and are unable to make transactions with your Justin Bieber card, there is a fee for that as well. A fee of $3 will be charged to your card if you have not used it in 90 days in addition to the $7.95 that you will pay if you are not using your card because it is lost.
Prepaid debit cards have become increasingly popular as the public’s
opinion of traditional banking continues to decline. Many of America’s
misgivings about banks, their practices, and their accessibility to
people with bad credit are justified; but many of them are not. Suze
Orman, the Kardashians, Bieber and others, would prefer that potential
costumers believe their products to be the only option for anybody who
has questionable credit and wishes to enjoy the convenience of managing
their funds online, making internet purchases, or receiving direct
deposits. Optimum Capital Management president, and financial literacy
advocate, Ryan Mack, could not disagree more. Ryan Mack has publicly
blasted the purveyors of these cards. He has condemned them as a guest on FOX News, in The Huffington Post, and he condemned them once again,
during an interview on Saturday.“You have to pay for everything. Water is not free, you have to pay for air, now they are making you pay to spend your own money”, Mack said.
Prepaid debit cards such as Lil Wayne’s “Young Money” card, Russell Simmons “Rush” card and the Kardashians defunct “Kardashian Kard” not only charge too much, but they offer nothing in return, according to Ryan Mack. He says that they do not help you build credit because they do not report to the major credit bureaus. Some cards advertise that they can help you with your bad credit, but the help comes in the form of a credit tracker or a similar service that is available free of charge on the internet. Some of them may even report to a credit bureau, but this is an alternative credit bureau that will not help you establish good credit.
When Ryan Mack is not on the news, he is speaking to kids, young adults, and the underprivileged about the importance of saving, investing, having a defensive financial strategy, budgeting, and having a 20 year vision to name just a few of the suggestions that he shared on Saturday.. He has publicly asked Def Jam Records co-founder and Fat Farm clothing creator Russell Simmons to discontinue his “Rush Card” due to its high fees and subsequent poor reputation. On Saturday, Ryan Mack revealed a plan that he had hatched for an upcoming interview with theglobalgrind.com.
Mack is confident that he can provide a randomly selected Rush card user with the knowledge necessary to make decisions that will help repair their credit. This is something that they cannot do with a prepaid debit card and chances are that Mr. Simmons knows this, but is hoping that you don’t.
The whole story is under construction, but can be found here.
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