Exactly who gave government the power to open bank accounts for us that we didn’t ask for, don’t want and don’t need?
A New Jersey couple expecting their first child contacted us after the wife filed for temporary disability benefits under the state’s Family Leave Act.
She was told that she wouldn’t get a check, nor would the funds be directly deposited into their bank account.
Instead she was told that she will be paid through a pre-paid debit card account at Bank of America.
They have two big problems with this.
First, they don’t like Bank of America, and swore off using their products for life. But now the state of New Jersey is opening a Bank of America account in their name without their consent.
Second, they are obligated to pay all of the fees associated with this unwanted Bank of America account.
Those charges include a $1.50 monthly maintenance fee and $1.50 transfer fee each time they move money from the Bank of America prepaid debit card account into one of the existing bank accounts they use to pay their bills online.
They must continue to pay those fees after they’re no longer receiving family benefits for up to four years unless they go to the trouble of closing the account.
The dad-to-be’s sister also signed up for the program and accidentally threw her debit card away because it came in a Bank of America envelope. She assumed it was junk mail.
Offering us the option of receiving government benefits on a prepaid debit card is one thing.
Forcing us to receive those benefits through a bank account we don’t want and that diverts a portion of our money to a private bank against our will is something else entirely.
In June the National Consumer Law Center blasted the prepaid debit cards states are using to pay unemployment benefits instead of sending out paper checks.
It criticized those cards for charging high fees that literally takes money from jobless citizens who desperately need it and gives it to the big banks that a growing number of states’ have contracted to provide those accounts.
Are we really OK with this?
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