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Prepaid Debit Card Making a Big Impact

The researchers from Javelin Strategy and Research were commissioned in October 2011 to interview over three thousand Americans regarding the change in the usage of prepaid debit cards over the last few years. During the interview process, the team that was commissioned for this purpose learned in detail about the usage of prepaid debit cards from an overwhelming number of consumers. The findings of this research were revealed by the director of payment research at Javelin, Beth Robertson.

Over half of the respondents told the research team from Javelin that they mainly used their prepaid debit cards for purchasing various products on the internet. The reloadable prepaid debit cards issued by financial majors such as Visa, American Express and MasterCard allow Americans to covert that cash in the card into online currency and prevents that traditional bank accounts fro ...

Banks making billions in the form of overdraft fees

The Federal Reserve has been regularly coming up with financial reforms at regular intervals of time to keep the profit making practices of banks in check. However, despite these reforms, banks do come up with ways in which they can rake in billions to appease their shareholders. One of the ways in which they are continuing this endeavor at the moment is through overdraft fees.

One of the customers with overdraft facilities, Sharon Drapeau, accepted overdraft protection assuming it would prevent her from being burdened with penalties in case she overdrew the balance in her checking account. However, she says, things have not panned out the way she has assumed it would. She said that despite the overdraft protection she was charged for the transfer and overdraft and in addition to it, she was also charged with the fee for the returned check.

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Nine banks under the scanner for overdraft fees

By the end of 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau intends to rewrite certain regulations that were brought into effect two years ago. To aid in this, this agency is currently reviewing the banking practices being followed by certain leading banks in the country such as JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Company and the Bank of America Corporation.

The current inquiry is aimed at finding out how banks persuade consumers to sign up overdraft protection programs. The executives on the evaluation panel are taking a closer look at marketing materials that have been mailed to customers and also that was sent online. The scripts that were being used by the customer service representatives are also being reviewed as a part of the evaluation process since they could be confusing and misguiding at times.

Jo Ann Barefoot from Treliant Risk Advisors b ...

Prepaid cards gaining prominence despite high fees

One of the most recent studies conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research has revealed that there was an increase of 18 percent in the usage of prepaid cards last year. In the year 2011 close to 13 percent of American households had at least one member using these cards. Despite the growing usage of prepaid cards, debit cards that are linked to checking accounts still continue to rule to roost and are the first choice. The result of the study conducted by Javelin has also revealed that prepaid cards are among the very few financial products that witnessed growth despite the trying market conditions last year. The number of consumers with checking accounts, debit cards and credit cards is consistently decreasing.

Payments research director at Javelin, Beth Robertson, said that the prepaid cards are no longer reserved only for consumers who do no ...

SmarterBank trying to woo students with checking accounts online

SmarterBank's online checking account loaded with features, called SmartBucks, offers a revolutionary rewards program and is exclusively designed for those who have student loan debts. The new rewards program offered by this online checking account from SmartBank automatically credits extra money towards the principal of student loans. This helps students save thousands of dollars that they would have had to pay as interest over the years. This rewards program also helps students reduce the repayment term of their loans.

The CEO and Co-Founder of SimpleTuition which works behind the scenes for SmarterBank, Kevin Walker, says that the current student loan debt in the country totals of $1 trillion and is consistently growing. Added to this, the growing unemployment rate is making it tougher for graduates to find a suita ...

Reduction in the Debit Fee Revenue Took Its Maximum Toll on BB&T Corporation

The enactment of the Durbin Amendment made the BB&T to lose about $ 145.2 million in the form of revenue in the fourth quarter. According to the SNL Financial the North Carolina based company lost the amount as some debit fee revenue, which made it a decrease of 70 % down the line. The loss incurred by the BB&T Corporation was one of the largest among all the companies which are related to the Durbin Amendment. This was supported by the report provided by the Winston-Salem Journal

BB&T officials have however blamed the SNL Financial to have been an inaccurate report. The bank from North Carolina reported that the revenue loss incurred would be around 46 % instead of the 70 % furnished buy the SNL Financial group. This record would make the bank the 2nd most affected corporate associ ...