My girlfriend is an elementary school teacher in the New York City public schools. One of the benefits of her employment is the reimbursement for the purchase of supplies and materials used in her class. Any teacher will tell you that they are required to pay for many of their own materials, and the amount of the reimbursement is subject to a maximum that never covers their full expenses.
The reimbursements until recently were distributed via check, an old-fashioned method of payment. More recently, the City of New York switched to prepaid Visa debit cards, offered by Chase Bank. This must be the result of some sort of a deal between the city and the bank because it does not make much sense for the employee.
Debit cards are meant to be used for spending, but these reimbursements take place after the spending is completed. If you want to use the reimbursements to pay yourself back for your spending on items for the classroom, you must visit a Chase branch to convert the card to cash. We tried taking the debit card to her personal bank of choice, TD Bank, but they claimed to be unable to do anything for us with the debit card.
These prepaid debit cards seem to be the latest trend for rebates. Verizon Wireless, the cellular carrier of choice for both me and my girlfriend, offers rebates on a number of its phones. The last time she needed to purchase a new phone, the rebate came not in the form of a check as it had on prior occasions, but in the form of a prepaid debit card. These cards are touted for their “convenience,” but absent direct deposit I would prefer a check.
Verizon Wireless offers a feature where you can replace your debit card by entering your information online, thus deactivating the card and issuing the old-fashioned paper check to the address on your account. This is a better option but introduces an extra step that many people will simply ignore.
Checks find their way directly into bank accounts while debit cards only make appearances in stores for purchases. If your spending is tight, this might not make a difference. If you use the debit card to purchase something you would have had to purchase anyway, without the debit card, the form of payment won’t affect the amount you spend. Most people’s spending is not tight and controlled. When you send debit cards out to 80,000 teachers, I would believe that many will be used for extra spending and some will not be cashed or used at all. The same is true for wireless phone customers who receive those rebates.
There are reports that the debit cards issued for consumer rebates are unreliable. Some have no problems while others find that cards are declined when they should not be. Even worse, some of these prepaid debit cards have monthly fees. The new rebate debit cards offered by Staples charge a $3 monthly “account maintenance fee” after six months. In states where they are allowed, which I believe is every state except California, fees can eat away at your rebate card balance until you are left with nothing. It is best to cash these rebates or convert them into a check and deposit the funds as soon as possible.
Have you seen more rebates offered in the form of prepaid debit cards? What are your experiences?
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Another frustration with these cards is knowing the exact balance on the card anytime you use it, because most of them won’t allow for a charge to be submitted for more than the remaining balance. So, many small balances go unused after an initial attempt gets rejected. If you know the exact balance remaining, many stores can do a split transaction and enter in a specific amount to the card, then pay the rest of what you owe with another form of payment. Definitely NOT convenient for the consumer!
Recently the best deal I could work for my credit card rewards was in the form of a $50 VISA debit card. I thought “not too bad, I’ll use it to buy gas”. So I get the card and have to spend about 5 mins online activating it. Then when I try to use it it says to go inside. The line is too long for that. So I go home and look up the rules – you can’t use the card at the pump, you have to go inside to have it scanned first. 5 mins looking up the “Rules” another 5 mins standing in line. Well I only use $25 of the $50 on the card because my tank won’t hold $50 in gas. So I have to remember that $25 is still on the card. Next time I go buy gas I have to go inside – wait in line again – and then go pump.
This totally changes my opinion of my “rewards” card. I’m now just mostly paying with cash as the rewards are getting too few and too hard to use. I’ll just save myself the trouble.
Sprint did this to me, and I think it is a growing trend, although I don’t understand how it would be cost effective. That being said, I think I figured a way to combat this change!
http://www.myjourneytomillions.com/articles/what-to-do-with-a-semi-used-gift-card/
I take them and apply them right to online bills, and then when that bill goes to pull from your checking account (because we are all automated lol) it will pull less, and you end up a winner!
I recall getting a prepaid card when I signed up for phone service. What was silly was, it was only good with the phone company, but they still went through the rigmarole of mailing me a card and making me type in the info into their own website. Presumably some percentage of people never bother, enough to make printing and mailing the cards worthwhile.
I know this isn’t about rebates or rewards, but it is related. My employer recently took a company-wide survey asking everyone how they like getting paid. Things like dates, frequency, and method of delivery were all discussed. In the survey, for those without direct deposit, the company seemed determine to sell everyone on the potential benefits of getting the money into a prepaid debit card versus receiving a real check.
I just recently setup direct deposit to better manage my money, so I wouldn’t be affected anymore if a change were made, but I am strongly against issuing these debit cards.
It’s also interesting that you note that Chase probably cut some deal with the school district, since it really is of zero benefit to the employee.
“Checks find their way directly into bank accounts…”
IF you have a bank account. Many Americans don’t have or can’t get a bank account. If you don’t have a bank account, good luck getting your checks cashed at a bank. You’ll end up at a check casher who’s going to keep 1-3% of the check for his services.
“Many Americans don’t or can’t get a bank account”
What Americans can’t get a bank account? With today’s zero minimums, why can’t they get a bank account?
This definitely needs some explaining. I have never heard someone claim that many americans don’t have a bank account, or that those who don’t can’t get one. If you have some statistics on this I’d be interested in seeing them.
Some people might be on Chex Systems’ blacklist. Many lower-income Americans, though, don’t seem to want a bank account: recent immigrants, in particular, from countries with shady banking systems don’t trust banks.
Unfortunately, I’m not finding any links to the articles I wrote for now :-(.
According to The Economist in 2006, 12 million households in America operate outside the banking system.
From that link:
” In America at least 12m households have no bank account—are “unbanked”, in the industry’s ugly jargon”
It seems to me that the author purposefully skips saying American(s) because that number likely includes those without SS #s.
The unbanked is an overwhelming poor and minority demographic, so it is bound to include some without social security numbers including recent immigrants, but reading and listening to interviews with those who do not have bank accounts, it seems to be more a question of trust, or lack thereof, in the banking system as well as lack of access (poor/minority locations have few banks and more payday loan operations). “Don’t” is a question of trust, “Can’t” is a question of access.
I work in social services in NYC and I know a lot of people who don’t or CAN’T get a bank account. Most of my clients do NOT have bank accounts, even though they would like to have a bank account.
What do I mean by “can’t open a bank account”?
1) They were on welfare at some point, or they owe child support, or some other governmental debt.
—- if they open a bank account, the government will take their money away. And in many cases, it doesn’t go to the child or the child’s mama (where it might actually help), it just goes straight to the government if that baby mama ever was on welfare. So why would someone open a bank account to have their money taken away? Isn’t the idea of opening a bank account to help you SAVE money?
— This frustrates me greatly since I work with people to help them better their lives. A lot of that involves learning money management. If they can’t open a bank account, it makes it that much more difficult for me to help them learn how to budget. “Cash in the drawers” is not a great way to save. Argh.
2) They don’t have the proper documentation to open a bank account… and it’s a pain, sometimes impossible for some people, to get all this proper documentation.
— I actually fall in this boat in many ways – I don’t have an original birth certificate, nor an original social security card (both were lost by my parents when I was a child), luckily I have a passport and drivers license so I don’t need them, and I already have bank accounts, but I recently tried to get a birth certificate and I was REPEATEDLY DENIED… because somehow my mother’s name was misspelled on my original birth certificate, so I can’t get it by mail. If I REALLY want it, I need to drive 3 hours away on a work day… yeah, I’m not gonna do that. And I cannot get a social security card without the original birth certificate… see how complicated this can get? Many of my clients just don’t have enough documentation to get that bank account (or the money for the fees to get this documentation).
3) If you’re undocumented, it’s dang hard to open a bank account.
— We are (nearly) all descendants of immigrants… what do we have against immigrants? Does anyone here have an ancestor that was a stowaway 100 years ago (do you know if you do)? People believe in the American Dream, and risk life and limb to better their lives, despite hardships that abound.
Then think about the people who technically CAN open a bank account, but who don’t know how to, or end up going to a bank that has a lot of monthly fees and they get fed up… a lot of people without bank accounts also do not have regular access to the internet or are not computer literate, so they cannot learn about banking from online resources. They cannot compare different banks’ types of accounts.
If their friends and family don’t use banks, it’s not such an easy thing to learn how to do.
People who are reading this blog have way more financial saavy than my clients do.
Sigh… my clients often have to resort to check-cashing places that gouge their money, can’t save their money somewhere safe, and go to sharks for loans at way more than 25% interest. It’s not easy being poor.
I have nothing against LEGAL immigrants. But if someone sneaks here illegally they are breaking the law and I have no sympathy for their inability to open a bank account.
I find this fascinating: your girlfriend works for New York City public schools, and they are giving her reimbursements in the form of a Visa prepaid debit card, offered by JPM-Chase Bank. Guess what happens if you work in NY and are laid off? “Paper checks are no longer issued. The Department of Labor uses Direct Payment Cards to issue Unemployment Insurance benefits payments…” The issuer is JPM-Chase Bank. There must be something going on between the state of NY and JPM Chase. (You are allowed to withdraw cash with the card at Chase and Allpoint ATMs in the US. Chase allows you only 2 no-transaction-fee withdrawals per month at ATMs not part of Chase or Allpoint.)
Not sure if this will show my colors or not, but maybe unemployment should only be on prepaid debit cards….since almost every legitmate business (I know not all don’t make the argument) accepts debit cards.
You can normally cash these gift cards out at your bank (or call around to see if other banks will do it). You can also buy a Walmart gift card with them, and then return that gift card for cash.
Frank
I’ve received these twice for phone rebates and twice for insurance, and had no problems using them at Walmart, Walgreens, and Sams. When the balance was insufficient to cover my purchase, I paid the rest with my regular debit card with no problem. Most recently, I used one from Blue Cross (a “reward” card for filling out a survey) at Sams in March 2009 and, aside from any minor annoyance of the cashier, there was no inconvenience on my part.
I don’t mind gift cards in general unless they have fees associated with them. I’m waiting on mine from Verizon and I knew ahead of time that it would be a gift card. Sure, I’d prefer a check but I’ll just use the card to buy groceries or something I’d already be buying. The cash can go into savings from my paycheck. It’s not that big a deal to me I guess. But then again I love gift cards and tend to always use them even if there’s only $0.01 left.
I received such a card from CITI after the purchase of Corsair memory modules. I didn’t have any problems using it but was put off by the “Agreement” that came with it. Written with a font size of 1 or 2 it can not be read without using a magnifying glass. It contained many fees that could be applied and CYA arbitration restrictions that always generate suspision in this household. I just spent it as quickly as I could and chopped it up. I don’t know if they are looking for people to starting funding and using these things or there’s some economic advantage for the issuer – either way, I for one, would prefer a check.
In Arizona, too, unemployment checks are issued on Chase bankcards. It’s one heckuva scam.
Just TRY to get the money out in cash so you can deposit it in your own bank account! The Chase teller cannot see how much cash is on the card, and so you have no way of knowing for sure what’s there, since our Department of Economic Security is uneven in payouts of unemployment insurance. One week it’ll be one amount; next week it’s another. They issued me a card, said they’d put the first payment on it, but in reality never did disburse any money to the debit card.
You can opt out of the debit card, with some hassle, by asking for direct deposit. At the outset, you’re informed that your first payment will default to the debit card, and you have zero choice about that. As it develops, this isn’t true; my first payment was direct-deposited despite DES’s representative stating four times that DES would not disburse the first payment to the client’s bank, period.
Your only choices are a Chase debit card or direct deposit: DES will not issue checks for unemployment insurance. The DES rep warned us to watch out for Chase’s many charges and fees, which, like CITI’s, are manifold and come with an onerous arbitration clause.
Something is decidedly rotten in Denmark…