Unemployed Americans looking to access their state benefits have had a hard time with the EPPICard debit card system in the past. Intended like an ATM card, EPPICard makes it possible for individuals to withdraw state benefits from ATM machines. Yet numerous problems easily emerged with EPPICard. As outlined by the Fayetteville Observer, hidden fees plague the entire EPPICard system.
Article source: EPPICard - Less phishing, more administrative fees
When EPPICard doesn't amp up your budget
The EPPICard debit card system has had trouble with a phishing scam or two within the past, and identity theft has been a concern. Those issues were supposedly addressed by state agencies and EPPICard officials. It's safe – unless you've to use your EPPICard in multiple rounds or forget your ATM. Wachovia, reports the Observer, charges $ 1.50 per incidence for excess use at its ATMs, when they charge a comparatively affordable 50 cents for instances of forgotten EPPICard PIN numbers. In reality, those are serious fees. Literature spells out these fees in advance, but that does not make it OK for EPPICard to charge the fees in the first place.
Squeezing the wallets of the unemployed
Larry Parker of North Carolina's Employment Security Commission told the Observer that you will find "plenty of ways" to use EPPICard without being charged additional fees for a fast cash loans. What he failed to mention is why consumers should be subjected to fees within the first place. Could state governments and big banks negotiated in better faith for the consumer here?
And EPPICard phone calls will cost you, too
Yet an additional fee is generated when a customer calls EPPICard with a question. That's the case in all 19 states where EPPICard is used. As numerous sources – Personal Money Store incorporated – have suggested, perhaps EPPICard should go back to the future with paper checks and direct deposit, instead of ATM cards that charge consumers excessively.
More information available at these websites:
Fayetteville Observer
fayobserver.com/articles/2010/06/20/1007753?sac=Home
