SIMMONS WINS BATTLE OVER PRE-PAID RUSHCARD
RUSSELL SIMMONS is celebrating recent changes in the U.S. financial indus try - the hip-hop mogul’s prepaid debit card venture is now exempt from c redit card regulation fees.
The Def Jam Recordings founder sells the RushCard in a joint venture wi th a debt collection company.
After a customer pays cash for the card, Simmons charges a $3 (=C2=A32) activation fee, $9.95 (=C2=A36.60) per month, $2.50 (=C2=A31.70) for eac h automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawal, $1 (=C2=A30.67) for each car d transaction, and 50 cents (=C2=A30.30) to check the card’s balance at a n ATM.
Consumer advocates have claimed the card hurts low-income Americans, bu t Simmons dismissed the allegations and began fighting for changes in the U.S. financial services reform bill earlier this year (10).
In a letter to lawmakers, he wrote: "I have worked all of my adult life as an advocate for the poor, the voiceless and the under-served… Debit cards are what keep the under-served - including minorities, immigrants, the poor, soldiers, veterans and students - from the claws of payday len ders and check cashers, from humiliating lines waiting to cash their payc hecks and then more lines to pay their bills." Now the mogul has scored a surprise exemption on interchange fees.
In a statement celebrating his victory, he says: "We are grateful that the conferees worked to reduce any unintended consequences… on the poor , unbanked and under served… This will protect the fees on the most vul nerable, which is what I care about the most."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
