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

theatlantic.com

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

#81

Post by fefesafaea »

bpodgursky wrote: post #73
fefesafaea wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The FAQs ( https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/faqs ) say > You can withdraw cash from your card at any Walmart register or MoneyCenter. This service is free for the Walmart MoneyCard product with Cash-Back Rewards. Where are you looking?

Alright, start on the page you just linked https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/faqs

now click on the fees tab https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/faqs#fees

then click on the 'fee plan' link https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/legal-info#feeplan

then click on the 'view the Wal-mart money card fee plan' link https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/legal-info#feeplan

and you will arrive at the fee plan I linked earlier.

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

#82

Post by protomyth »

morgante wrote: post #57
protomyth wrote: post #28

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).

No credit is different than bad credit. They do claim they stopped using Chexsystems as an additional check but they still check credit.

A lot of financial institutions like to offer products to 18 year olds. Ask about credit cards issued to college students.

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

#83

Post by froindt »

qntty wrote: post #9
jmvoodoo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how a win-win works. If Wal-Mart can make a profit by getting people to save money there's nothing wrong with that. Especially when compared to the banks that make significant money fining you for being broke.

Except that by giving walmart money that could be invested conservatively, you've actually losing money to inflation. True, this is exactly what most people do with their banks, but banks aren't win-win either, they're both businesses that offer these services because it makes them money.

Your first $1000 should be considered an emergency fund much more than an investment. Everyone should have or work towards having $1000 to their name, but way too many are living paycheck to paycheck and saving literally nothing.

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

#84

Post by maxerickson »

batiudrami wrote: post #79
bpodgursky wrote: post #24

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. What? It costs money to lend your money to the bank in the US?

At lots of places, yes. They usually wave the fees for modest account minimums or accounts that regularly deposit paychecks.

There are enough banks/credit unions that don't charge fees that it is more of a way of asking people not to open an account than it is a problem with access to banking.

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

#85

Post by pilom »

johnm1019 wrote: post #80
asafira wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

A great example is Ally Bank (happy customer here!) https://www.ally.com/bank/interest-checking-account/#fees

Seconded! Been a customer for 10 years and I'm still extremely happy. I can't say that about any other business I've ever worked with.

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

#86

Post by Torwald »

bane wrote: post #61
_m8fo wrote: 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 t…

Also, it is pretty arrogant to think you know what somebody else needs are. Furthermore, it can become an attack on the other party's freedom of choice (self-actualization).

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

#87

Post by astrange »

ricardonunez wrote: post #39
asafira wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

A lot of banks got rid of their free or low cost checking accounts. Hard to find anything less than $12 per month when the balance is below $1500.

If you never have to make cash deposits:

https://www.capitalone.com/checking-accounts/online-checking...

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

#88

Post by fefesafaea »

kefka wrote: post #68
fefesafaea wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Hey thanks for the support. While I don't think making sweeping generalizations about HN readers is necessarily constructive, I would definitely agree some of us are working from very different assumptions here.

I guess the main thing I was attempting to communicate is that the facts on the ground are very different from the facts as presented in this article and elsewhere online. While it's definitely difficult to convey this in brief internet comments, I do feel there's a worthwhile discussion going on, so thanks to all involved as well as those reading. :)

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

#89

Post by kevan »

spking wrote: post #29

Some may not realize this, but there is a YC backstory here. Sam Altman's startup (Loopt) was acquired by Green Dot (the company behind the WMT Money Card) back in 2012. Many of the GoBank features mentioned in the article (Stash/Vault, Fortune Teller) came directly from Steve Streit (Green Dot CEO), acqui-hired Loopt employees, backed up by IDEO research that was commissioned by Steve several months before the acqui…

>these prepaid cards are a very convenient lifeline to many people who would otherwise be shut out of the system.

On that subject, an interesting result of that lack of access is the existence of subprime retail, Bluestem Brands being a big example. Companies like this were able to coexist with Amazon because they're willing to extend credit to people who can't get a debit/credit card to pay at Amazon. The tradeoff is, of course, higher prices (~30% price difference compared to Amazon in many cases). The increasing prevalence of prepaid cards is definitely a net positive in my opinion. It's reducing an artificial inefficiency in the market and helping those on the most precarious rungs of the economic ladder.

Disclosure: I currently work with Amazon and used to work with Bluestem. I don't speak for either.

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

#90

Post by pacaro »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #64
asafira wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

It grates for me when I withdraw cash. The most convenient ATM for me charges $3 when I withdraw money. My approach to this is to never pull less than $300, so the fee is 1% or less. But for people who are pulling $20 because that's what they have right now, this is a 15% tax. It's a perfect example of regressive taxation. For me it's a minor inconvenience, for most Americans it's a significant burden.
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