Report: Policies encourage fee-laden unemployment cards
Jan 29, 2013, 7:09 AM | Updated: 7:15 am
While some people are out looking for the job, a new report finds they are receiving their unemployment benefits on fee-laden cards. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
A new report from the National Consumer Law Center says millions of jobless Americans are paying needless fees to collect their unemployment benefits because state policies encourage the use of fee-laden payment cards.
“Forcing people to use a prepaid card and incur fees unnecessarily takes money from the jobless they need for food, for rent. They are struggling with really tough times,” Lauren Saunders, managing attorney for the National Consumer Law Center told CBS Radio.
The old paper check system used to cost states millions of dollars each year to print and mail the payments. Banks seized on that as a business opportunity and touted the cards as a win-win for states and recipients who had no bank accounts.
The Law Center’s report says state-issued bank cards require complicated paperwork or phone calls to set up direct deposit and fail to explain the card fees.
