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Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

theatlantic.com

61–70 of 222 posts

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#61
post #4

tricking people to save paltry sums of money meanwhile using the gains in interest to fund your company's most recent marketing campaign to trick people into buying more useless garbage they don't really need . what's wrong with this picture? in any case, i suppose this is good -- in the same way a slave owner providing food and shelter is good for the slave. you even have to pay to deposit and withdraw money.

I really hate arguments that derive from what a person "needs". Humans need amazingly little. Even when I was living below the poverty line I was bathed in the riches of my civilization, had high-speed internet, ate plentiful food, was clothed and had sheltered.

I've also worked in conditions where I lived in a 1/4th of a trailer with a half-height locker and whatever I could keep in my top bunk with me -- I shared the space with another adult. I had a few sets of clothes, a jacket, no internet or useful entertainment and 3 shipped in boxed cold, marginally nutritious meals per day. I didn't die and I'm sure I could lose many of those "luxuries" and still not die.

Once when my parents made some bad financial bets, we ended up homeless and living in a motel. It turns out a family of four really can live in space not much bigger than a foldaway bed, a small bathroom and a hotplate. Amazingly, even after months of this, none of us died. I'm sure we could have gone even more spartan if we had needed -- maybe share the bathroom with a few other rooms? Combined instant noodle hotplate cooking area with some of our neighbors? Why do we need heat, just wear more clothes! Don't need a/c, just wear less! Don't need heat or a/c, don't need electricity then, use a butane stove instead of a hotplate! I guarantee, we wouldn't die.

Humans need remarkably little. Most humans would get along just fine with two sets of clothes, a marginal blanket and a decent cold meal of daily calories every day. And yes, they'd get along for quite a long time like that. It would be a wretched, terrible existence, but "need" doesn't leave room for pleasantries.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Capital One 360 is for people with better credit than the folks in the article have. If you have means then you get better investments. Heck, a lot of the people in the article are rejected just trying to open a bank account. AmEx allow direct deposit to their Bluebird card which is another Walmart card.

> Capital One 360 is for people with better credit than the folks in the article have. They don't pull your credit to open an account, so I don't see how that's true. I've had one since I was 18 (and had no credit history to speak of).

I'm sure they pull chexsystems.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#64
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just read the article. It's $1 for the card and free cash withdrawal at a Wal-Mart banking center. It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank. More importantly, they aren't pulling the overdraft scams that banks are. The example right here is that the customer in question pulled $100 in overdraft fees over a $4 purchase, with a traditional bank card.

What do you mean by "It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank."? Aren't there lots of banks that charge nothing even if you only have <$1000?

Not really. It's very expensive to be poor (in the U.S. at least).

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/legal-info-page?pro... As I said, there are a variety of cards on offer, from a variety of sources, but they all seem to fall within the same range cost-wise, even if the fees are structured differently. It's as if we are arguing about cars, and you want to debate whether the pinto in question had power-windows or not, while ignoring the fact that it will explode in a routine…

Dude, you really need to think carefully about whether you are approaching this topic honestly, or if you are hunting for reasons to reinforce your belief that this card is a scam. The precise things you claimed about this card are _not true_. Those are facts. If you want to debate, use _facts_. Nobody is denying that WalMart _could_, if they wanted to, offer a savings card which is a scam. But also consider their mo…

Not sure why you are accusing me of intellectual dishonesty, unless the goal is to derail the conversation.

You are right to say that a few of the specifics I gave were not correct. I was clearly not arguing that. However, the specifics you gave were not 100% correct either. For instance, if you go to an atm machine in a wal-mart and attempt to withdraw cash, you will be charged 3 dollars. The fee breakdown I linked bears this out. A fee breakdown, I might add, that is several pages removed from the main page describing the class of card in question.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just read the article. It's $1 for the card and free cash withdrawal at a Wal-Mart banking center. It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank. More importantly, they aren't pulling the overdraft scams that banks are. The example right here is that the customer in question pulled $100 in overdraft fees over a $4 purchase, with a traditional bank card.

> It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank. Sure you are. I have many accounts with less than that. Don't spread FUD. Overdraft fees are easy to avoid if you just tell them to decline overdrafts.

Your comment would have been better if you had linked to examples rather than accusing the parent of spreading FUD.

Maybe you're a student or have multiple products (different types of accounts, credit cards, home loans, term deposits) with your bank?

I can't get a $0 / month account for everyday banking from my bank because I have a special rate home loan. They have a savings account that's $0 / month but you can only transfer from / to it via a regular $4 / month account.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, you really need to think carefully about whether you are approaching this topic honestly, or if you are hunting for reasons to reinforce your belief that this card is a scam. The precise things you claimed about this card are _not true_. Those are facts. If you want to debate, use _facts_. Nobody is denying that WalMart _could_, if they wanted to, offer a savings card which is a scam. But also consider their mo…

Not sure why you are accusing me of intellectual dishonesty, unless the goal is to derail the conversation. You are right to say that a few of the specifics I gave were not correct. I was clearly not arguing that. However, the specifics you gave were not 100% correct either. For instance, if you go to an atm machine in a wal-mart and attempt to withdraw cash, you will be charged 3 dollars. The fee breakdown I linked…

You do realize you're talking to people who've never had to use these services, never made under $40K (except when living at home), and are many steps removed from ever having to go through this?

Yeah. I have. I did the Green Dot. Pile of shit, with hidden service fees, usage fees, loading fees, fee fees. Oh yeah, YC.

Ive been on food stamps. I've been on unemployment. Even been homeless for a time. Right now, I have a significantly better job... But I still live in a trailer.... err, "Tiny House".

But anyways, good luck explaining what you mean. These people don't get it, and their societal structure means that they won't get it, even if you linked the very documents to them. It's out of their worldview.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just read the article. It's $1 for the card and free cash withdrawal at a Wal-Mart banking center. It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank. More importantly, they aren't pulling the overdraft scams that banks are. The example right here is that the customer in question pulled $100 in overdraft fees over a $4 purchase, with a traditional bank card.

> It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank. Sure you are. I have many accounts with less than that. Don't spread FUD. Overdraft fees are easy to avoid if you just tell them to decline overdrafts.

I am willing to wager that those accounts have requirements for automated deposits into them and or are tied to other accounts that have similar balance/deposit requirements.

Re: Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

#70
The reason I have trouble saving is not because I am a weak-willed low-life as implied by this article. The reason is because there is not enough money to pay for things that I need, so I have to make difficult choices about what to go without. And choosing to save usually seems unwise when it means neglecting some other need.
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