Prepaid, but Not Prepared for Debit Card Fees

The NY Times writes about a newer phenomenon: prepaid debit cards. Here are a few excepts:

...For many people who do not have bank accounts, or cannot get a credit card, the appeal is irresistible, making the reloadable cards among the consumer banking industry’s fastest-growing products. But their convenience comes with a catch: fees, often hidden in the fine print.

A cottage industry only 10 years ago, reloadable prepaid cards have tapped into the vast pool of about 80 million consumers (!) who have little or no access to bank accounts. The market includes college students who do not want to carry around wads of cash and consumers who do not want to type their credit card number into the Internet...

You would need to accumulate massive overdraft fees on your bank account, if you have one, for this to be a good deal. To learn more about the prepaid debit card appeal, read the full article here.