The Green Sheet On The Web Edition
FTC redresses customers for prepaid credit card scam
The FTC stated Palo Alto, Calif.-based payday loan marketer Swish advertising Inc. caused San Clemente, Calif.-based debit card provider VirtualWorks LLC to develop the pay day loan application that, when completed on various websites, duped applicants into applying for Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide-branded prepaid debit cards.
A huge number of customers were charged an enrollment charge as high as $54.95, and several were additionally charged penalties and fees from their banking institutions as soon as the card that is prepaid had been overdrawn. An FTC spokesman said the banking institutions that issued the prepaid cards are not disclosed simply because they are not mentioned when you look at the litigation, making their identities perhaps maybe maybe not information that is public.
The FTC, which settled because of the defendants in August 2009, is mailing over 110,000 refund checks to consumers that are affected. The check that is average between ten dollars and $15.
Act spurs prepaid fraudulence
Terry Maher, General Counsel for the Network Branded prepaid credit card Association, stated it is hard to ascertain whether or not the payday loan-prepaid card scheme is just a prevalent one but so it could be the consequence of The charge card Accountability, duty and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the bank card Act), which restricted “harvester fees” on bank cards. […]