Low wage workers "encouraged" to use payroll debit cards instead of checks or direct deposit

[thewayne]

A lot of employees at Walgreens, Taco Bell, McDonalds, etc. don't make a lot of money. Banks have invented a new tool to make more money: payroll credit cards. The employer credits the money to the account, the employee has immediate access to their money without the hassle and fees of depositing or cashing their checks. The only problem is that pretty much anything they do with the card results in a fee being charged against their fairly small take-home pay.

And because the cards are a recent invention, there's pretty much no regulations against it.

The employers frequently offer direct deposit, but put a mountain of paperwork in the way to avoid the card. The other problem is that low-wage workers frequently have no credit history or too many bounced checks to open a real bank account.

I guess there's nothing more fun than exploiting the poor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/business/as-pay-cards-replace-paychecks-bank-fees-hurt-workers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Comments

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, fees seem to vary from provider to provider, which is easy to do since it's largely unregulated. I found it pretty shocking, especially since it's likely that when I get back in the job market that it will definitely be in the shallow end. But one thing is for sure, I'll fight tooth and nail for direct deposit.