The Kardashian sisters recently teamed up with MasterCard to release a new pre-paid “credit card” designed to help girls with their spending. Instead of learning the hard lesson of minding your credit score with a real credit card, you can enjoy the benefits of a cash-free world while only spending exactly what you have… Except now we’re learning that there’s some major flaws in the system in the form of huge fees.
From CNN:
While regular bank debit cards are typically free and don’t charge any fees, a 12-month Kardashian Kard costs $99.95 just to own, including a card purchase fee of $9.95 and 12 monthly fees of $7.95. After the first year, consumers must continue to pay the $7.95 monthly fee.
On top of these initial fees, it costs Kardashian Kard users $1 every time they add money to their card, and it costs $1.50 to speak with a live operator. If they want to pay their bills automatically using the card, they’ll be charged $2 per transaction.
In exchange, consumers can make payments online, over the phone or in stores without racking up credit card debt or overspending their checking accounts. That had made them increasingly popular among consumers who don’t qualify for credit cards, are fed up with skyrocketing interest rates or are young and just entering the world of plastic.
Uh, I can’t really see the practicality of a card like this unless you’re a rich person giving it to your 14-year old who probably doesn’t need to learn proper spending skills in the first place. Between the fees and the fact that no credit is being earned, it seems like the only perk you get is padding the Kardashian’s bank accounts.
This is retarded. Why not get a normal debit card? From now on this will be added to me friendship criterion — if you’re a Kardashian Kard holder or member of PETA, I don’t want to be your friend.
They should call this the triple-douche debit card, not only for the picture front, but because you’d have to be a douche three times over to even consider signing up for it. I hear now that the K’s have backed out after learning about all of these fees. The whole thing sounds like a publicity scam from the get-go.