Prepaid card regulations called into question by CFPB
The government is looking to extend more benefits and protections to consumers using prepaid cards at retail point-of-sale (POS) terminals, a payment type the Huffington Post dubs a "Wild West" compared to other means.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently met to take action in creating user protections for prepaid cards, making these payment types more consumer friendly, like checking accounts.
"Right now prepaid cards have far fewer regulatory protections than bank accounts or debit or credit cards," Richard Cordray, the director of the CFPB, said in a prepared statement. "That's why we are [making rules] to promote safety and transparency in this emerging market."
Corday and the rest of the bureau are hoping the public weighs in on the matter so better regulations and protections can be crafted for consumers.
Prepaid cards are riddled with a number of unfair practices, despite consumers dropping increasingly large amounts on these cards. Over the years, critics of the payment type have accused the industry for the lack of consistent fees, especially when they are levied on cards after a certain amount of time. The lack of any protections for lost or stolen cards has also been brought up as being consumer-unfriendly.
