Cost For Loading Card At Walmart

[myrdale]

Today at Walmart, there was a guy in line in front of me at check out. My first impression of him was he was on drugs from his build and dress. He opened his wallet and started counting cash, about $150 to $200 in $20's. When it was his turn he told the chashier he needed to load $20 on a debt card. The cashier said there was a $3.50 charge and he said no problem. Who the heck would pay nearly a 20% surcharge to load a card. I understand not everyone excercises the discipline to maintain a $100 minimum in a checking account, but the why not buy a VISA gift card? What am I missing (other than drugs)?

[disneysteve]

People do this all the time, millions of times a day actually, when they go to a random ATM to withdraw $20 or $40 and pay a $3 (or higher) fee. Personally, I will only use an ATM from my bank because I don't believe in paying to access my own money, but it happens constantly. If it didn't, you wouldn't see all of those non-bank ATMs at gas stations, convenience stores, and other places.

As for VISA gift cards, I don't believe those are free, so that wouldn't have solved his problem.

So I don't think drugs necessarily have anything to do with this.

[Thrif-t]

Ya I can vouch that Visa gift cards are not free! I bought one and it included a 3.50 fee. Had I known I'd of not bought it, ggrrr

[disneysteve]

started counting cash, about $150 to $200 in $20's

By the way, that was a neat trick if he had $150 in $20s

[Smallsteps]

There is a large amount of people who are called "unbanked".
They buy money orders for everything. pay fees to cash their checks and such there is a big revenue in that.
When I worked at a store we set up extra cash for this especially around welfare payments.
Accessing cash off of our state cash cards, they would either buy stuff or pay fees to get cash to pay rent and buy money orders even started a bill paying service for a fee it was a fairly good amount each day.

It was an item I did not understand why they did not open an account etc.
Maybe it depends on the bank idea they have had in past. Maybe they had overdrafts etc or like many believe all accounts require big balances they do not have ideas from not comparing and find options. A local CU here in my opinion cater to low balances when I opened an account they were paying 6% for 500 and under after that then blended rate went to 2.55%

One lady told me she messed up when young and could not open an account ( maybe not at the bank she messed up at) … BUT, I told her did she try another bank?
She opened one the next week most of the things she used as an excuses were simply not there.

There are industries taking advantage of the poor like the pay day loan types. I never understood how they did not see all these fees and things ate up quite a bit.
One of the options for a friend was getting paid on some sort of cash card but it literally charged 50 cents each time you looked at your balance.

Walmart has been a leader in providing cash semi banking services for this group including the first type of bill pay etc.
it is very profitable for them according to a friend who works at one. the prepaid cards have a fee on them too.

I think people need to realize many situations like this exist and that is why many poor have trouble when they are paying fees to just access their small amount of money.
I wish more people understood how many businesses make a killing off these fees mostly to people who can least afford it
If we could find ways to educate and overcome what ever issues keep them using these types of blood sucking services we would all be better off.

[disneysteve]

why they did not open an account

One reason people don't open a bank account is because they really have no use for one. If you spend every penny you make soon after you receive it, what do you need a bank account for? A coffee can in your closet works just as well. Cash your paycheck (for a small fee). Use the cash to buy a few money orders to pay your bills (for a small fee). Use what's left to buy food, buy your bus pass for the week, and whatever else you can afford that week, and the coffee can is empty until your next paycheck. Most of us don't realize how very many people in this country live like that. Bank accounts are for people who save money. A great many people simply don't. They very literally live paycheck to paycheck. The money comes in and every penny of it goes out before the next check comes.

[Smallsteps]

Some sort of banking is more then just for savings even if it affords you the luxury of cashing check without costly fees also on every loan etc I have ever filled out asked if you had an account.

I used to work with a guy who drove in on payday (if he had it off) cashed his check ( no fee for employee) and drove all over town paying bills using gallons of gas.
I asked why it seemed like a waste and he said he truly did not think about it.

The reasons to be "unbanked" , I witnessed and had discussed with those whom I worked with, never included I have no use for one.

Many started an account when direct deposit got the money faster then waiting for a check. Some developed good habits/ some did not.

Many people live without but it is part of the reason think if they have 6 bills a month with money orders @ at least $2 a piece =$12.00 a month
Cashing checks depends on how often they are paid weekly 4 fees a month/ bi-weekly 2 fees
not to mention if they have checks from other sources. 4x (%) of paycheck could equal a bit.
Any need any other service your bank might have ( I have used notary at my bank) pay more fees.

I realize a bank may not be an answer for everyone but those small fees add up.
Money orders can be a couple dollars a piece / cashing checks can range from a set amount to a % of total check.

The "reasons" were varied from no valid ID to open account / worry about someone attaching their accounts ( I did not get further detail on that one) / worries about overdraft or low balance fees / and many misconceptions on banking rules and regulations.
I lived each day working with this type.... cash your check and put it in an apron pocket and then loosing it when you pull something out. The lady who each Friday cashed her check and put in trunk of car and then seemed surprised when the regulars saw the pattern and broke into her trunk.


As more and more items need a card it must be harder to use the coffee can method. Also most I knew lived in a situation where their roommates or someone had access to the coffee can.

Most of the cash on hand types have no respect for money as well. A person whom I worked with threw change on her car floor with garbage and seemed to lose some each falling out of car etc.
Suze Orman used to preach about showing your money respect and not treat it as something to be wasted.

[myrdale]

By the way, that was a neat trick if he had $150 in $20s

Yeah I did consider that as I typed, but $150 was a nice round number, I didn't think anyone would catch. Good eye

As for needing to use the ATM and not having one, you can always do cash back on a debt purchase, which is a $0 fee, with my bank atleast.

While I'd put the check cashing fees people pay in the mental column of "poor man's ways", I didn't have a column for what this guy did today.

I do work with a guy who for 10 years refused to have a bank account. Only in the last 3 did he get one once we went to direct deposit only, actually they made an exception for him for a year or two.

I believe most banks run your credit before starting a checking account, but I would have thought they would have some type of debt only account with a minimum, minimum deposit for these sort of cases.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Is it because poor people have no idea what a bank account is? I ask because my grandparents were terrible with money and poor and didn't have any. So my uncle who started working high school took my mom (the 2nd child) to the bank and opened a bank account when she started working at 15. He did it with his money and started paying the bills for my grandparents. He did that with each of his younger sisters and taught them how to balance a check book, pay bills, save, and be responsible. Who knows where he learned it but like my mom said it wasn't from my grandparents. My grandmother bless her was not bright and couldn't balance a check book or have any idea how money worked. And my grandfather spent it like water. So they were definitely the type of people who happened to cash their paychecks and spent it literally never saving a penny. Good thing they had nice family that never evicted them and allowed them to live for little rent and even then not always paying. Like my mom said they only bathed with a kerosene stove, 1 room for 6 people, and thank god my uncle got a job and started paying bills and taking the money from their parents. When the times were good (from gambling) then they bought food and celebrated. When the times were bad well they weren't great.

Funny all of my mom and her siblings are super responsible savers, generous, and responsible.

[rob62521]

I guess most folks prefer using cards instead of cash. The fees are just crazy. I had a procedure done at a local hospital two years ago and they overcharged me and sent me a VISA gift card for the refund. I had to pay $2.50 to get the money out of the ATM. Crazy.

As for the unbanked...many folks living in poverty don't understand the concept of using a bank or credit union. They live from day to day and if they have extra money, they figure they should spend it and reward themselves for their hard lives. I'm not being cynical, just a human study. Gone are the days when many save for a rainy day because for some of them, it seems like a downpour most days.

[Smallsteps]

As for the unbanked...many folks living in poverty don't understand the concept of using a bank or credit union. They live from day to day and if they have extra money, they figure they should spend it and reward themselves for their hard lives. I'm not being cynical, just a human study. Gone are the days when many save for a rainy day because for some of them, it seems like a downpour most days.

One of the reasons the paycheck to paycheck group does NOT want to change that or open accounts etc …… having zero to account for to apply for programs etc. Just like the group that gets rid of assets to have Medicaid pay for nursing homes etc.

I have known many types like this that seemed to think they were not qualified to apply at better jobs etc but they knew the whole ins and outs of how to apply and get .. name any program … fairly clever about it too.

It is not the lack of understanding but the reality that you cannot leave a paper trail when working the system. On a whole many of us that live lives with budgets and saving simply have no idea of the "game" unless you work in a job that has everyday contact.
I watched a person go to school for a decade as the welfare system told her to change majors based on what jobs they thought would be available upon graduation.
I have watched many examples that the Mr. and Mrs. middle class have NO idea what is happening. They think the system is doing checks on these applications or assets they are NOT.

I also knew people whom honestly applied during a crisis and were turn down because the hoops they had to jump through.
A friend had a bad time at Christmas and finally broke down in tears to go to a site where a church was handing out small gifts and candy for her kids..... and then she MET people in line.... had a list of all the sites to hit then sold the toys online never even had kids they outnumbered those in line for REAL reasons 2 to 1.

The only way people gaming the system get caught is someone turning them in or leaving a money trail to a bank etc.
Look at the fraud case ( Washington state) of a woman who collected welfare and food stamps ($ 9,000 in a year) was only caught because same year she deposited 80,000 in a bank. if she had kept it in a safe place NO one would have ever known. Many people live unbanked and no one is the wiser as they get benefits too. Only downfall is if a friend turns you in.... I watched that happen too.

To fix the fraud and help the poor we need to think like them, and not just make suggestions about compounding interest and credit scores.
Regardless of what MOST of these programs say they do not check up on people or check the application as long as all the right boxes on the forms are checked. Same with most any background check by government. It gives the general public a FALSE sense of the systems working.

[disneysteve]

There is definitely a lot of abuse of the system. I worked in a very poor area for 17 years and saw it all the time. Many of my patients worked full time jobs but got paid cash so the job was off the books. That way they still qualified for Medicaid, food stamps, bus passes, etc. And I'm sure that many of them didn't have bank accounts. They took steps to stay out of the system as much as possible.

[~bs]

walmart makes tons of money on these types of services. just go to their customer service counter and see what types of services they provide. they cash out paychecks for people without bank accounts, western union, money order, prepaid card service, etc etc. my guess is that much of these people are undocumented aliens, homeless, druggies, etc who dont have a normal bank to perform these services ---- with a minority of "normal people" simply liking the convenience.

[disneysteve]

my guess is that much of these people are undocumented aliens, homeless, druggies, etc who dont have a normal bank to perform these services ---- with a minority of "normal people" simply liking the convenience.

I'm sure there's some of that, but the reality is that a high percentage of low income people use these services. They can't afford normal banks or don't have easy access to them or don't trust them or, as I said earlier, simply don't see the point because they have no money. They get their paycheck, cash it, pay their bills, buy some food, and they're done until the next paycheck. There's nothing left over to keep in the bank so why bother with an account? Sure they spend some money every month for the check cashing service and some money orders but it meets their needs. And, as we discussed earlier, there are reasons why some keep their financial dealings off the books. If they're getting paid under the table in cash, they can't deposit that money because it could raise questions about where the money came from. Most people simply have no idea how the poor live. I got a taste of it working where I worked but even that only showed me the surface of it.

[Smallsteps]

Most people simply have no idea how the poor live. I got a taste of it working where I worked but even that only showed me the surface of it.

It is a real eye opener in many cases and like you ( although I was fascinated and l asked many questions) I probably only saw a portion of it as well.
I was probably much closer as I worked with many and saw a lot of eye opening things.

I truly think in order to make any progress helping, we would need to see their reality.