Is Your Pre-Paid Debit Card Costing More Than You Bargained For?

Do you know exactly what your pre-paid debit or credit card is costing you, and is it costing you even more than you put on it? One local Jefferson County woman found out the hard way.

According to Channel 6 (WATE TV) News a Jefferson County Tennessee woman found out just what a pre-paid debit card really costs to use. She got a pre-paid Visa card (from Direct Vision), but had to pay a "load fee" (or a fee just to put money on the card) of $3.00. Now if she went somewhere other than Direct Vision to load money she had to pay a $3.50 "load fee". Plus she had to pay another .95 cents for Direct Vision to even acknowledge you have put money on the card. Then there is a $1.00 a week fee just to use the card. And then, before all of this, she even had to pay $9.95 to buy the card. This charge was supposed to be given back as a rebate but was never put on the card.

If those fees are not bad enough, if she just called Direct Vision to ask them a question she was charged $1.95. So in other words, she was charged a fee just for someone to talk to her.

Now the thing is, none of these extra fees were even mentioned in the sales pitches for these cards.

Upon examining the website for Direct Vision it was found out that as long as you have supernatural vision or a magnifying glass and can stand to read eight full length pages of terms and conditions, you might (and "might" being the key word) be able to read about the extra fees.

Another fee the woman was charged was a "decline fee". This meant that any time the card was declined, she was charged $1.00. The thing is she had just loaded the card but there were still decline fees on there.

Now since it was found that Direct Vision does actually mention the fees (in the smallest print possible and the most "legal" language possible...so that not even a lawyer could understand it) they are not actually doing anything wrong. So, of course, the lady in Jefferson County could do nothing except stop using the card all together.

The lady is now recommending that if someone wants to get a pre-paid debit card get a Wal-Mart card. Otherwise you had better do a lot of reading and research on any others. Also beware of the fees they charge you to use an ATM machine. These can really rack up since some cards charge you to withdraw money from and ATM as well as the ATM company charging fees to use their machine.

So, if you are a person who likes these pre-paid debit cards, please beware and read everything before getting one. Direct Vision is a pre-paid debit card offered through Direct General Insurance when you purchase a policy with them. If you have recently taken out an insurance policy with Direct General Insurance, please do not get their pre-paid debit card. Or if you do, please make sure you read all terms and conditions and about the extra fees.

For more information about this lady and and what she went through, go to www.wate.com.

For more information about Direct Vision pre-paid cards go to www.directvisioncard.com.

Source:

www.wate.com May 2, 2009

www.directvision.com May 2, 2009