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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

#91

Post by kirykl »

fefesafaea wrote: post #13

Kind of fucked up that the article doesn't mention the fees associated with these cards until like 3/4 of the way into the article. These cards charge 5 bucks a month, plus like 3 dollars to deposit cash, 3 dollars to withdraw cash, in addition to the 5-10 dollars up front for the card itself. Because of this, a person using this type of card can easily spend $100+ a year on fees. Not exactly a great way to save mone…

Bluebird, a Walmart/Amex prepaid product has $0 fees for nearly everything (including even free foreign currency transactions). And offers free checking for the 'unbanked'. https://www.bluebird.com/#fee-chart

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

#92

Post by bpodgursky »

fefesafaea wrote: post #81
bpodgursky wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

That number isn't for ATMs in Wal-Marts, it's the general "at an ATM" fee. If you look below,

> Walmart Card Cashing / Withdraw cash without a fee at Walmart MoneyCenters and Customer Service desks. / No Fee

there's no fee for withdrawing cash in any Wal-Mart.

That seems to be the same as any other normal bank -- except for some credit unions that reimburse you, you don't get free withdrawals at random ATMs (I have BoA, and it's the same for me).

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

#93

Post by kevan »

morgante wrote: post #72
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 on…

Here are my various no-fee checking accounts: * http://content.schwab.com/web/retail/public/get-started/chec... - amazing checking account, reimburses all ATM fees * https://www.capitalone.com/bank/360checking-guide/ * https://www.aspiration.com/summit/ I do have a few other ones but they're based on relationship banking. All of the above have no fee and no minimum.

Step 2 in this analysis: Would you be able to get any of those accounts with a low credit score? I'm pretty sure when I opened my Schwab checking account they ran a credit check.

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

#94

Post by kainolophobia »

>Walmart sells the card for $1, and Green Dot charges the usual associated fees: $5 a month if your balance is less than $1,000; $2.50 for ATM withdrawals; etc.

This is absolutely not how one should encourage people to save. This is Walmart trying to steal business from local banks/and or provide banking services to people in rural locations. Personally, I think Walmart should offer this at zero-cost to help their customers live with less financial vulnerability (and thus shop more at Walmart).

Full disclosure: I work at a startup that's using prize-linked savings to help encourage people to save money, but we don't charge a monthly-fee and we actually give our users interest on top of what they win.

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

#95

Post by moonman272 »

kainolophobia wrote: post #94

>Walmart sells the card for $1, and Green Dot charges the usual associated fees: $5 a month if your balance is less than $1,000; $2.50 for ATM withdrawals; etc. This is absolutely not how one should encourage people to save. This is Walmart trying to steal business from local banks/and or provide banking services to people in rural locations. Personally, I think Walmart should offer this at zero-cost to help their cu…

Whats the company?

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

#96

Post by morgante »

kevan wrote: post #93
morgante wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are my various no-fee checking accounts: * http://content.schwab.com/web/retail/public/get-started/chec... - amazing checking account, reimburses all ATM fees * https://www.capitalone.com/bank/360checking-guide/ * https://www.aspiration.com/summit/ I do have a few other ones but they're based on relationship banking. All of the above have no fee and no minimum.

Step 2 in this analysis: Would you be able to get any of those accounts with a low credit score? I'm pretty sure when I opened my Schwab checking account they ran a credit check.

I've had most of those accounts since I had virtually no credit (and a low/nonexistent credit score). That being said, if you have a negative Chexsystems report they'll be hard to get.

I'm not trying to say the unbanked don't have barriers. I just didn't like the assertion that free checking is impossible, since that's what leads to even people on HN paying needless maintenance fees.

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

#97

Post by rjeli »

moonman272 wrote: post #95
kainolophobia wrote: post #94

>Walmart sells the card for $1, and Green Dot charges the usual associated fees: $5 a month if your balance is less than $1,000; $2.50 for ATM withdrawals; etc. This is absolutely not how one should encourage people to save. This is Walmart trying to steal business from local banks/and or provide banking services to people in rural locations. Personally, I think Walmart should offer this at zero-cost to help their cu…

Whats the company?

longgame.co according to history

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

#98

Post by fefesafaea »

morgante wrote: post #55
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. 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.

It's important to note that many large banks actively discourage customers from opting out of overdrafts. So much so that they even have scripts they make their tellers recite.

For example, if you attempt to opt out, the teller might say, "but what if you are at the gas pump and can't get gas because you have opted out of overdrafts?" The subtext being, "wouldn't it be better to get enough gas to get home and in the process incur a 40 dollar fee."

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

#99

Post by nxc18 »

bpodgursky wrote: post #24
fefesafaea wrote: post #13

Kind of fucked up that the article doesn't mention the fees associated with these cards until like 3/4 of the way into the article. These cards charge 5 bucks a month, plus like 3 dollars to deposit cash, 3 dollars to withdraw cash, in addition to the 5-10 dollars up front for the card itself. Because of this, a person using this type of card can easily spend $100+ a year on fees. Not exactly a great way to save mone…

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.

Skip the bank. Credit Unions are where its at: nation-wide shared branches, fee-free checking, sane overdraft policies, no minimum balances, reasonable interest payments, and in my experience, not a single instance of them blatantly trying to screw customers.

I just checked and my CU has a $30 overdraft fee, which can be disabled if you're willing to let things bounce.

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

#100

Post by jmts »

_m8fo wrote: post #20
jmts wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A paltry sum of money is the first step to a reasonable sum of money. An interest in saving a paltry sum of money is arguably a useful skill for people earning paltry sums of money, as I'd hazard a guess that it should encourage them to spend less on useless garbage they don't really need. Gamifying this to the benefit of both parties is capitalism at work. Any comparison to slavery is beyond ridiculous.

> Loretta Taylor, who lives in the southern-Illinois town of Mount Vernon, started using a Walmart MoneyCard when her local bank branch closed late last year, forcing her to drive 45 minutes to make a deposit. A registered nurse, she has lately been working as an in-home caregiver, and sometimes gets paid in cash, which she can put onto the card (for a $3 fee) at a nearby Walmart. “I’m not making much money right now…

I'm not 100% clear on your point. Where does this dependence on megacorp come in? Granted I haven't read the terms and conditions for one of these cards, but I would be surprised if anybody's savings should be held at ransom if they decide to leave. A preliminary search certainly doesn't suggest that you can only spend vault money at Walmart [1].

So, you've listed her two options. One is a bank that is far, far away. The other is Walmart. She's chosen Walmart. So what are the downsides to the Walmart thing? There are no fees for most things you might care to do with it [2]. The money stowed in the vault does not accrue interest [1]. How about the upsides? She may be encouraged to save more. She may learn more about managing her money. And when she learns enough about the fees to realise that the $25 prize only covers 5 months worth of fees, she may reconsider. But in the meantime, she's learned more about managing her money, and that's useful. The alternative is that perhaps the prizes may play to an addictive personality, in which case there are bigger issues anyway.

So, she's made a silly decision. But she's made one none-the-less. Walmart is most definitely making more money out of this than she is. But everyone makes decisions based on what they know and what is available to them. If this is her best option now, at least it may be a driver to find a better one in the future.

[1] https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/faqs [2] https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/legal-info-page?pro...

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