The Plus Side of Prepaid Cards

Don’t believe everything you hear when it comes to prepaid cards. Taking advantage of customer outrage over new monthly fees at some of the nation’s largest banks, many providers of general purpose reloadable cards have been touting them as a low-cost alternative to a traditional checking account.

But despite aggressive marketing to promote them, Bankrate’s Prepaid Debit Cards Survey found many prepaid debit cards carry a fusillade of fees that make them pricier overall than traditional checking, says Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

“Two-thirds do in fact have a monthly fee, and that’s not the only fee they charge. So they can very quickly eclipse the cost of a low-cost checking account,” McBride says. “A lot of people who may be confronting fees on their checking accounts for the first time would be better served by looking to credit unions, community banks and online banks, many of which still offer free checking accounts or accounts where fees can be avoided with something as simple as direct deposit.”

Still, the market for prepaid debit cards is experiencing massive…………………continues on Fox Business
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In Spotlight: NetSpend Holdings Gaining More Customers For Its Reloadable Pre …
Article from The Mumbai Times:

NetSpend Holdings (NTSP) isn’t just a provider of pre-paid credit cards anymore. The Texas-based company has grown into a broader financial-service enterprise that serves a number of the credit and money needs of some 60 million consumers in the U.S., who either don’t have bank accounts or don’t qualify for the traditional credit cards like Visa (V), MasterCard (MC) or American Express (AXP).

NetSpend in some ways operate somewhat like a bank for the non-bankng crowd, without the burden of having to comply, so far, with a mountain of costly federal banking rules and regulations. And NetSpend’s revenues and profits, as well as its shares, have surprised Wall Street — on the upside. Analysts forecast profits and revenues will gain accelerated momentum this year and next.

In the first quarter of 2012, NetSpend exceeded revenue expectations, while profits met the Street’s forecasts. The first quarter results were “an excellent start to 2012,” says John Kraft, analyst at investment firm D.A. Davidson, who rates the stock a buy. One area of business that has helped is direct deposits from customers using its “reloadable prepaid credit cards.”

NetSpend leads…………………continues on The Mumbai Times
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SHAIN GERMANER AND ANNA COX

A PRICE war is on as two cellphone providers have announced large cuts to their prepaid rates – offering a lower charge than contract prices for the first time in 18 years.

On Wednesday, Cell C said it would cut its prepaid rate to 99c a minute, applicable at all times of the day and to any network. Soon after, Vodacom said it, too, would offer the 99c charge to prepaid clients.

MTN, which says it won’t join the fray by offering the 99c option, claims its prepaid packages already have numerous perks that are competitive with this new pricing.

Cell C and Vodacom say the idea is to simplify the process for customers, who no longer need to worry about different pricing for on- and off-peak calls and to other networks. This has led to an outcry b…………………continues on Independent Online
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The $ 1000 vacation cellphone bill
Article from Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Using my cellphone to check e-mail while traveling internationally has always made life easier – until my last trip, that is.

I returned from a relaxing weekend to find $ 1,000 of extra charges on my phone bill. Experts call this ‘Bill Shock,’ and that’s how I felt after my two-day trip from Dubai, where I was living at the time, to Oman, a neighboring country. It turns out that the global data-roaming package I purchased before relocating to Dubai didn’t cover Oman.

Others likely will make the same mistake. Americans are expected to spend 11 percent more on travel this summer than in 2011, with nearly half of all travelers going abroad or taking a cruise, according to American Express’ Spending and Saving Tracker.

International calls can cost up to $ 5…………………continues on Reuters
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Pre-Owned Kyocera K9 Cell Phone For Virgin Wireless

No phone plan subscription is required. This pre-owned Kyocera K9 cell phone has some scratches from normal use. It is in normal working condition. Works for Virgin Wireless services. Call your wireless company and confirm that this type of phone will be compatible on your wireless account. (below you will find a complete list of wireless carrier customer service phone numbers) Customer Service Phone Numbers : AT&T Wireless: 1-800-888-7600 NEXTEL: 1-800-639-8359 Sprint PCS: 1-888-211-4727 Verizon Wireless: 1-800-922-0204 Cingular wireless: 1-800-331-0500 US Cellular: 1-888-944-9400 Cricket: 1-800-274-2538 Alltel: 1-800-255-8351 Qwest: 1-877-879-0611 Virgin Mobile: 1-888-322-1122 Cellular One: 1-800-235-5663 Features : 2-way text messaging. 1-touch and voice dialing. Polyphonic (MIDI) ringers. Built-in flashlight. Backlit navigation key. Phone book with up to 100 contacts. Vibrate alert. Wallpaper. Predictive text-input. Alarm clock. Calculator. Countdown timer. Stopwatch. Headset jack. 3 pre-loaded games :- Tetris, Brick Attack, Doodler. Interchangeable faceplate. Multiple language options. Specifications: Weighs : 3.5 ounces. Size : 4.4 x 1.9 x 0.9 inches Stub Antenna. Service : Virgin Wireless Network.
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Addicted to your cell phone? Tired of paying a fat bill for it each month? Join the club.

Approximately 87 percent of the U.S. population has a mobile phone, according to a recent survey by the Federal Reserve. The average individual’s cell phone bill is also up to $ 71 a month, reports J.D. Power & Associates. And with all of the options available to customers, you’re probably having a hard time finding the best plan for your buck.

Fortunately, there are a number of changes you can make to lower your monthly bill. Industry experts offer these tips:

Reduce your data plan. If your data needs are none or minimal but you like to text, a number of phones offer a good feature set, including a physical QWERTY keyboard, without an operating system. “These phones don’t require a data plan, so that cost can be eliminated,” says Allan Keiter, president of MyRatePlan.com, a website that compares cell phones and rate plans. To determine how much data you’ll need, use MyRatePlan.com’s U.S. News & World Report
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Millennials use alternative financial services
Article from USA TODAY:

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S. Africa’s Cell C Cuts Prepaid Mobile-Phone Rates More Than 34%
Article from Bloomberg:

Cell C (Pty) Ltd., South Africa’s third mobile-phone operator, said it will cut prepaid tariffs by more than 34 percent to 99 cents a minute from May 20.

The new price applies to all calls at any time to any local network, the Johannesburg-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

The price for multimedia messaging is 99 cents per MMS and data transfer will cost 99 cents per megabit, the company said. The cost of a text message remains 50 cents to any network, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hilton Shone in Johannesburg at hshone@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net

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As state universities prepare to raise tuition by double digits again this year, many families are looking to the state’s prepaid college-tuition plan to blunt the impact.

But because tuition has gone up so dramatically in such a short period of time, the price of Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) units has risen sharply, as well.

Financial experts say families should weigh the high price of GET units carefully against other college-tuition investments, because the gap between the value of the units and the cost to purchase them has grown. And some financial experts don’t recommend GET at all.

The prepaid college-tuition plan typically sees most of its sales toward the end of May. The deadline to create a new account is May 31.

This year, the cost of a GET unit increased by more than at any time in the history of the 14-year-old program, jumping from $ 117 in 2010-11 to $ 163 this year. GET director Betty Lochner said the price was raised to build up reserves because GET is underfunded; if everyone tried to cash in at the same time, it would be able to pay out only about 83 percent of benefits.

Under the program, 100 units pay for the equi…………………continues on The Seattle Times
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Mesirow, state agency wrangling over College Illinois investments
Article from Crain’s Chicago Business:

(Crain’s) — The state agency running the beleaguered College Illinois prepaid tuition program and Chicago-based financial services heavyweight Mesirow Financial are at odds over money the state owes for Mesirow’s review of three investments made in 2010 and 2011.

Mesirow has the potential to earn as much as $ 1.4 million from its investment review for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, according to a recent in-depth management audit of College Illinois by Illinois Auditor General William Holland. To date, Mesirow says, it’s been paid $ 271,875.

In an email, Mesirow declined to say how much in total it believes ISAC owes, but said the sum includes at least another $ 170,000 for completed due diligence reports.

“Discussions with ISAC to resolve the remaining unpaid fees have not resulted in a settlement to date,” a Mesirow spokeswoman said in the email.

An ISAC spokesman declined to comment other than to say the two sides were in talks. Mesirow’s due d…………………continues on Crain’s Chicago Business
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This post comes from Miranda Marquit at partner blog Bargaineering.

In recent months, there’s been a lot of discussion about prepaid debit cards. From the introduction of Suze Orman’s prepaid debit card to suggestions that you don’t need a bank account if you have a prepaid card, to a general push by issuers to encourage parents to use prepaid cards as learning…………………continues on MSN Money
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Industry Analysts Watching BillMyParents as Firm Targets Substantial Teen …
Article from Reuters:

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HolidayPhone is now launching its unique concept of cheap calls including flat rate prepaid mobile internet abroad on the North American market.

(PRWEB) May 15, 2012

As summer travel season approaches, many tourists will return home unaware of the phone bill waiting for them for roaming with their US cell phone abroad.

HolidayPhone is a temporary prepaid SIM card for travelers. The consumer is reached on his regular US cell phone number, yet the user can make calls and use Internet from abroad as cheap as at home. Once back home again the consumer retains the US carrier. With our unique concept, a traveler can save $ 1000 or more in roaming charges.

Example:
A HolidayPhone Spain package for the fixed price of $ 49.90 includes:
3 hours receiving calls on the consumer’s ordinary US number – while being in Spain.
2 hours making calls to US landlines
1000MB Mobile internet data usage in Spain.
Compared to AT&Ts optional World Traveler plan, the calls above would cost $ 297.00 and even using the Data Global Add-On plan, the data cost would be $ 199.99 for the first 800MB and…………………continues on With Flat Rate Data – Virtual-Strategy Magazine
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NYU Senior’s Cellphone Startup Faces ‘Malicious Network Attack’ on Launch Day
Article from Betabeat:
Some NYU students pay for their own cellphone bill. Who knew?

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