EPPICard is supposed to make it easy to claim unemployment or disability benefits, but it hasn’t always been so easy. With the ATM-styled EPPICard, welfare recipients can withdraw accessible state benefit funds on demand. But as numerous media sources have reported, there have been significant issues with the program. As outlined by the Fayetteville Observer, hidden fees plague the entire EPPICard system.
EPPICard separates the unemployed from their money, thanks to fees
The EPPICard debit card system has had trouble with a phishing scam or two within the past, and identity theft has been a concern. EPPICard officials have claimed phishing is a thing of the past, but not all welfare recipients agree. It is all good unless you mistype your EPPICard PIN or have to go for quick cash today multiple times. Wachovia, reports the Observer, charges $ 1.50 per incidence for excess use at its ATMs, while they charge a comparatively affordable 50 cents for instances of forgotten EPPICard PIN numbers. In reality, those are severe fees. EPPICard makes such potential fees apparent up front, but that certainly doesn’t make them right.
Squeezing the wallets of the unemployed
Larry Parker of North Carolina’s Employment Security Commission told the Observer that there are “plenty of ways” to use EPPICard without being charged additional fees for a quick cash. What he failed to mention is why consumers should be subjected to fees in the first place. Could state governments and big banks negotiated in better faith for the consumer here?
Don’t call EPPICard on the phone, either
Yet another fee is generated when a customer calls EPPICard with a question. That’s the case in all 19 states where EPPICard is used. Personal Money Store and numerous other financial news outlets have suggested before that simpler, less expensive methods like check distribution and direct deposit would be better.
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Fayetteville Observer
fayobserver.com/articles/2010/06/20/1007753?sac=Home
