Times on Prepaid Debit Card Fees and Blogger Disclosure Rules

by Jeff Sovern

Today's Times includes two interesting consumer law pieces.  First, Prepaid, but Not Prepared for Debit Card Fees lists some of the amazing fees charged for prepaid debit cards, including application fees (up to $99), activation fees ($9.95), ATM withdrawal fees, balance inquiry fees, fees for using the card for a purchase, monthly maintenance fees (what's that? do they clean the card for you?), a fee for inactivity (so you pay a fee for using the card and for not using the card), customer service fees, a "shortage fee" in case you use more money than you've loaded onto the card, and others.  This sounds like an area ripe for regulation.  I predict something like this: the industry resists regulation, but as regulation becomes inevitable, calls for disclosures.  Disclosing all these fees proves useless to consumers--too much information--and so consumers continue to incur the fees.

The second article reports on the FTC's new Guides requiring that bloggers disclose whether they were paid by advertisers or received free products.  The Guides also address testimonials and endorsements generally.

Comments

[Ace Cash Express' Prepaid Debit Card]

Lol, those fees are very ridiculous! There are a lot of other prepaid debit cards in the market that still charge minimal fees. One of the reason why it was branded "prepaid" is to market to those people who are pissed off with large overdraft fees from bank-issued debit cards. Prepaid debit cards should not be that expensive.

[pre paid credit cards]

I like your post and the thoughts of your blog. ^_^
You can discuss things without hesitation ;)