Unemployed Americans seeking to access their state benefits have had a hard time with the EPPICard debit card system in the past. With the ATM-styled EPPICard, welfare recipients can withdraw available state benefit funds on demand. But as numerous media sources have reported, there have been significant issues with the program. As outlined by the Fayetteville Observer, hidden fees plague the entire EPPICard system.
When EPPICard doesn’t amp up your spending budget
We already know that unscrupulous third parties have, in the recent past, exploited holes in the EPPICard debit card system to create a phishing scam to dupe uninformed consumers into revealing sensitive personal data for the purposes of identity theft. Many of these issues had supposedly been addressed already. 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 severe fees. EPPICard makes such potential fees apparent up front, but that certainly doesn’t make them right.
Making it even harder for welfare customers
Larry Parker, an official for the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina, told the Observer that you will find many methods to deal with getting a payday loan without being hit up with fees. What he failed to mention is why consumers should be subjected to fees within the first place. How is it that state governments failed to negotiate the consumer exploitation elements out of their contracts with big banks?
Do not even think of calling EPPICard if you dislike fees
Calling EPPICard, of courses produces an additional charge. That’s the kind of service welfare consumers in 19 states are currently receiving, to horrible reviews. As Personal Money Store has suggested before, perhaps a return to paper checks and direct deposit is indeed the way to go.
Discover more details:
Fayetteville Observer
fayobserver.com/articles/2010/06/20/1007753?sac=Home
