It was the Kardashian sisters a few days ago. Now it’s cartoon characters who are promoting prepaid cards.
Myplash.com has begun selling Teen Prepaid MasterCards with images that include So So Happy, Skelanimals, Paul Frank, and Emily the Strange, according to a report issued Wednesday by Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of Lowcards.com, a credit-card comparison Web site.
On Nov. 17, Hardekopf wrote about how the Kardashian Kard was a bad deal because of the high fees that came with the card.
Myplash.com also sells prepaid cards featuring various artists, and earlier this year began marketing one featuring characters from the Twilight movie saga.
“There is nothing illegal about using cartoon characters to promote a financial product to teens, but it sure bothers me as a parent and seems to cross over the line of what is good taste,” said Hardekopf, also author of The Credit Card Guidebook.
Fees for the Myplash cards are lower than fees for the Kardashian Kard but they still add up, Hardekopf said.
The activation fee is $6.95. The monthly fee $4.95 and the reload fee from a credit or debit card is $4.95 (there is no fee for direct deposit reloads). The ATM transaction fee is $1.50 per withdrawal. There is a $1.95 fee for inactive accounts and $2.00 fee for a paper statement. Disputing a transaction costs $15 per transaction.
Electronic bill pay costs $0.50 per transaction. Contacting a customer service agent will cost $1.50 by email and $1.95 to speak with a live customer service agent (free for first three minutes). Transferring money to another Myplash card costs $0.50 per transfer. Text message and email alerts are free.
Myplash requires teenagers ages 13-17 to have parental consent and agreement to the terms and conditions.
Hello Kitty, however, came under attack in 2004 when the smiling feline was put on prepaid cards.
Today’s prepaid cards are trying to fill the void for credit cards for teenagers and young adults that was created by the new federal credit card regulations that make it difficult for anyone under 21 to get a credit card.
“It is much easier for teenagers to get a prepaid reloadable card,” Hardekopf said.
“But you may be much better off getting a debit card with your checking account because the fees are much lower,” he said. “If you get a prepaid card, make sure you compare the fees and find a card that reports to credit agencies.”
Prepaid cards are primarily marketed to people with little or no credit, damaged credit, or young adults. Prepaid reloadable cards look and act like a credit or debit card, including personalization with the name of the user.
The credit limit is set by the amount of the deposit.
“While reloadable prepaid cards may sound like a good alternative to debit and credit cards, the fees make them very costly,” Hardekopf said. “The regulations that restrict fees for credit and debit cards do not apply to prepaid reloadable cards.”
Those who print cartoon characters on prepaid cards for teens are just not thinking straight.
Prepaid cards should be a way for teens to emancipate into responsible spenders; rather than borrow their parents’ credit cards to buy things online, or carry lose cash around, teens with the right type of prepaid cards can manage their own budget with the safety net of parental supervision.
Guess what: teens seeking ways to be considered as responsible adults don’t want to be marketed to as kids. They don’t want to be perceived as using cards with training wheels.
Marketing cards with cartoon-ish gimmicks to teens is not only upsetting to parents, it is also putting off the teens themselves.
After several years distributing a range of prepaid cards for teenagers under the UPside Visa brand, I keep being amazed (and reassured) at how clueless some of our competition seems to be.
Financial literacy is important to teach at a young age. Unfortunately using high priced cards is not a great start. Parents are better off using their bank and a savings account. If they want to get a prepaid card they should try money manager card. You have to get them through employers but I here if you write them you can get a card.
I think prepaid cards are great. we looked at them all from VIsa and MasterCard. Our teens ended up getting a card called Myplash. My husband and i checked them all out (Upside, Visa Buxx and the card we chose, among about 5 others. They all do the same thing and it came down to fees and what card our teens wanted. the mastercard product myplash had the least amount of cost for us and our kids got to choose their favorite image from i think about 200. i also saw the cards are sold at my local Vons which tells me they were a legitimate company and i wasnt sure about the Upside card or this card called Facecard. If a big grocery store like Vons carried the card i knew it could be trusted.
We think these products are great. I dont have to give my son or daughter my credit card to shop online and i dont have to open a checking account that is attached to mine either. just check the fees and i would suggest only buy a card for your teen sold at retail and can be loaded there too. I only know of the myplash product and the one at Walmart.