junk debit card fees
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 28th, 2011
Good morning!
Readers: It’s been a crazy morning already, and it isn’t even 10:00 AM yet. So, Here’s today’s post. It’s kind of sucky if you live in one of these states, and have to put up with these fees. Another way the big banks rip us off.
States Shortchange The Unemployed With Junk Debit Card Fees: Study
WASHINGTON — Many states shortchange the jobless by distributing unemployment benefits on debit cards loaded with obnoxious fees, according to a new study by the National Consumer Law Center.
Of the 40 states that have switched from paper checks to prepaid debit cards, 22 states’ cards charge ATM fees, 24 charge balance inquiry fees, and 28 charge inactivity fees. The cards in Arkansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Ohio, and Oregon come with overdraft fees ranging from $10 to $20.
And in Connecticut, Iowa, Rhode Island, and Tennessee, cardholders “must pay for every ATM inquiry or pay a denied transaction fee if they request cash when their balance is insufficient,” the study says.
Tennessee stands out for having the card with the most “junk fees,” the study says. Tennessee’s card, provided by JPMorgan Chase, charges $1 for initial ATM withdrawals, 40 cents for balance inquiries, and 25 cents whenever someone swipes the card at checkout. It’s one of just four states that doesn’t provide even one free ATM withdrawal per deposit.
Tennessee doesn’t think its card’s fees are junk.
“I’m not sure calling them ‘junk fees’ is a fair statement,” said Jeff Hentschell, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Workforce Development, which distributes Tennessee Automated Payment cards for jobless benefits. “When you look at the context of where we were and where we are today, the fees are actually minimal compared to where people were going to cash paper checks before.”
Indeed: The NCLC study itself points out that for people without bank accounts, “getting cash from a UC prepaid card will usually be cheaper than paying a check casher to cash a paper check.”
Hentschell added his department has a handy website that lays out the fees.
As for Chase, the bank says it’s giving states a good deal on a valuable service.
“Each state negotiates its own contract and fee structure from numerous bidders,” a Chase spokeswoman said in an email. “To date, states have chosen card solutions that cost government nothing and save taxpayer dollars, selecting their card provider based on the best mix of fees and services to the consumer.”
The NCLC study says the Bank of America-issued cards in California and New Jersey are the best, since they offer “free and ample access to cash and transactions with no penalty fees.” The study says close runners-up are Chase’s card in Arizona and Citibank’s in Maryland.
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This is it for me today. Enjoy your Saturday!
xoxo
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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May 28th, 2011 at 10:08 am
I’m out and about on this long weekend – enjoy and I’ll catch you on the flip (Tuesday), Luv, Zen Lill
Luv the TAO story, I bet that red head had soommmeee fun for 341 years, hahaha, I want that! I better sharpen my baking skills ; )
May 28th, 2011 at 10:16 am
My brother tells me that tomorrow Gaddafi’s forces expects a full air attack by the Westerners. His major forces are hiding in the civilian neighborhoods, the schools and hospitals.
Most of the patients have been driven out except the areas where they are being used as shields.
Abra
May 28th, 2011 at 10:17 am
The rich of America prey upon the poor of America. And they never get enough.
May 28th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Michelle would you rerun that admonition you made about reading for understanding.
May 28th, 2011 at 10:24 am
IS IT SAFE TO HAVE PETS IN YOUR BED?
My mother often warned me that “if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”
Of course, she was speaking metaphorically about boyfriends, but Bruno Chomel, DVM, PHD, professor in the department of population health and reproduction at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, has a more literal reading of that phrase.
His recent research has shown that sleeping with pets puts you and your pet at risk for zoonoses, diseases transmitted between animal and human. “Pets in the bedroom are fine, but it’s better if they stay out of your bed,” Dr. Chomel told me.
In truth, it is rare that pet owners get sick from their cats or dogs, but it can and does happen. Illnesses you can acquire this way include…
Tickborne diseases (Lyme, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis). Your pet may be harboring diseased ticks in its coat. When you are in close proximity, there is a danger of the ticks crawling onto you and infecting you as well.
The risk is heightened if the pet is in your bed because you are spending long hours close together… plus the ticks can get into the bedding and then onto you even when the pet is not there.
Tickborne disease symptoms to watch for include aches, fever, rashes and fatigue. You are at risk for infection even if your pet is asymptomatic.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). A dangerous bacterial infection that is resistant to most antibiotics, MRSA can be transmitted when the bacterium enters the body through a cut or sore.
Pets can carry the infection on their skin or in their nostrils even when they don’t have symptoms of illness, and it can be transmitted to humans by skin-to-skin contact or face-licking and to pets by close contact with humans.
If you or your pet has painful, swollen sores that have pus or other drainage, seek medical help immediately. MRSA moves very fast and, if not caught early, can be lethal.
Cat Scratch Disease (also known as cat scratch fever) is carried by 15% to 30% of cats — and is more likely to be carried by kittens than adult felines.
This infection is caused by the Bartonella henselae bacterium, which is mainly transmitted by cat scratches. Within 10 days of exposure, you will experience a raised lump at the site of injury, followed by swollen lymph nodes, headaches and fatigue.
This is typically not a serious disease. In fact, it often needs no treatment, though some cases are severe enough to be treated with antibiotics. If your symptoms do not clear up within two to three weeks, or are continuing to worsen, check with your doctor.
Bacterial Meningitis affects the brain and spinal cord, causing high fever, headache and stiff neck. Some forms are contagious through exchange of respiratory or throat secretions — yet another reason not to let your pet lick your face. Bacterial meningitis is easy to treat with antibiotics if caught early. With no treatment, it can be deadly.
Bubonic Plague. Most associate this disease with the “Black Death” that ravaged 14th-century Europe. Today it is very rare, but it hasn’t been eliminated in the US.
Transmitted by infected fleas, bubonic plague is not just an historical issue — there were small outbreaks in the US in 1974 and 1983 and two cases in 2010. Studies have shown that the occurrences were probably caused by cats or dogs sleeping in the owners’ beds.
Symptoms include chills, high fever and muscle pain. Untreated, there is a 50% to 70% chance of death. Treated early with antibiotics, the risk for death falls to 10% to 15%. “This is an extremely rare event, but pet owners should be aware of the possibility,” said Dr. Chomel.
Infants, toddlers, the elderly, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised should never sleep with a pet.
The immune systems in these people are not as strong as those in healthy, younger adults, so there is a heightened risk of contracting infections. And the following precautions apply to everyone…
Do not kiss your pet, and do not let it lick you. (Keep a box of baby wipes or sanitizing gel by your bed to immediately wipe off saliva if you can’t bear that rule.)
Take your pet to a veterinarian for regular checkups.
Make sure your pet is up-to-date on all its shots.
Give your pet monthly heartworm and regular flea and tick preventives.
Cover any weeping or oozing abrasions (yours and the pet’s).
Keep your cat indoors.
Shampoo your dog monthly.
Also: Never sleep with exotic pets or wild animals. Not only can their behavior be dangerously unpredictable, they may easily be carrying bacteria, viruses or fungi that can infect you. Snakes, lizards and turtles, for example, can transmit salmonella.
Important: “If you have any unexplained symptoms, or if your pet has been diagnosed with a transmittable disease, see your health-care professional immediately,” warns Dr. Chomel.
Source(s):
Bruno Chomel, DVM, PHD, professor, population health and reproduction, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California.
May 28th, 2011 at 10:34 am
NASEC 3677
Check
May 28th, 2011 at 10:56 am
LLi is dead. Suggest you surrender or be driven to ground.
You are officially outlawed to be weather chased driven to ground and killed on site if found in 30-37 lat and 80 to 95 long.
May 28th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Rio
You were cute. Nice spending time with you.
Hope to see you again If that doesn’t happen good luck to you!
Paris
May 28th, 2011 at 11:53 am
My sentiments exactly. I was reading the blog about Ja and his non interest in attachments. That is not my feelings. I liked the warm closeness sleeping with you gave me. Perhaps every alien’s first time should be in bed.
Rio
May 28th, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Hafa adai
Once again those fucking racists white bastards are ripping off the people of Guam. If Obama wasn’t the President i would wish Al qaeda success in the senate. A new batch of those bastards couldn’t hurt.
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When the United States entered into compacts of free association, it knew the ability of citizens from the three Micronesian nations involved to migrate to the U.S. and its territories would have an impact on the communities to which they moved.
That’s why it promised to provide financial reimbursement for the costs associated with regional migrants from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau to the U.S. areas affected.
But the federal government has failed to meet that promise. In Guam, the compacts have cost the local government an estimated $324.5 million from fiscal 2004 to fiscal 2010 — or more than about $46.3 million per year. Yet over that same time frame, the U.S. “reimbursed” the island only about $112 million for compact-impact costs.
Even though the federal government has increased compact-impact reimbursement over the years, it still has fallen far short of paying our local government for the full impact of the compacts.
That means the local government has had to foot about $212.5 million over that time period — money that could have gone to addressing problems at the hospital and public health clinics, keeping schools maintained or building new campuses, or any number of other areas affected by the impact of regional migrants to Guam.
This grossly underfunded mandate has severely strained services as the local government has struggled with declining revenues. If the U.S. had lived up to its word, Guam would be a lot better off than it is now.
The United States must start living up to its promise to Guam and the other parts of the country affected by regional migration. That means it needs to start paying full reimbursement to territories and states for the impact caused by migrants from the freely associated states of Micronesia.
And it also should allow Guam to offset any money the island owes to the federal government for the shortfall in compact-impact reimbursements in recent years.
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If you are white you can afford to say violence doesn’t solve anything. As far as most OTWs in the US are concerned, a new batch of US Senators would be a step in the right direction. How the bastards meet their destiny is God’s will.
How can the hypocrites object? When they aren’t taking bribes from the corporations and any rich person with a request and a check, they are lying about their belief in God.
As far as I am concerned, all the racists, never-saw-a-bribe-they-would-say-no-to Senators claim they want to go to heaven, but they don’t want to die. Maybe Al Qaeda can help them reach a compromise.
God knows the people of the USA couldn’t lose.
Peter
Peter
June 4th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
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