Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under attack by the rich banks CEOs; You must act to protect consumers everywhere

  CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND WORKPLACE

AlterNet / By Dave Johnson

6 Unbelievable Ways the Big Banks Are Scamming You

Five years since the crash, the big banks continue to screw over their customers.
June 19, 2013  |

It is going on five years since the financial crash and three years since President Obama signed the meager Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the big banks are still scamming and conning and ripping off their customers. What a huge surprise.

After the financial crash, we heard about a laundry list of abuses and frauds that ranged from small things, like hidden fees, to pushing minorities into subprime loans and then switching them into more expensive mortgages at signing time, to huge things like selling trillions of dollars in complicated CDO schemes and making bets on derivatives of derivatives without having the reserves to pay off what they owed when the bets went bad.

Of course, no one at the top was prosecuted and the banks were allowed to settle a host of charges (which meant that their shareholders, not the executives who made the decisions, paid the fines). The bad behavior gave these giants a competitive advantage, driving out what good companies there were. So the costly and destructive bad behavior, schemes, cons and scams continue.

1. Falsifying Paperwork, Blitzing, Lying About Payments to Force Homeowners Into Foreclosure

This week, ProPublica released a report detailing the shocking ways that Bank of America has been pushing homeowners into foreclosure. Employees lied about documentation and falsified paperwork to force families out of their homes when these customers thought they were getting a loan modification under the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). To make matters worse, the bank gave bonuses to employees who were able to reach monthly quotas of people they forced into foreclosure.

According to a lawsuit against Bank of America, the bank used “blitzing” twice a month to deny HAMP applications even when the homeowner had fully complied with the program’s requirements; it gave employees $500 bonuses each month they forced 10 or more homeowners into foreclosure; it intentionally ignored applications for 30 days, then declared them late and forced homeowners to reapply; it closed applications even when they knew the homeowner had met all criteria; and it canceled loan modifications because of “late payments” when the bank’s records shows that payments had been made on time.

Of course, as long as the government refuses to prosecute banks and bankers for violating laws, and instead negotiating “settlements”  that require bank shareholders to pay fines, bankers will see no reason to stop this kind of activity.

2. Bank Protection “Service” Puts Consumers at “Greater Risk Of Harm”

Last week  a report from the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that the big banks are still scamming their customers with ridiculous fees that are hugely profitable for the big banks.

Three years ago the government required banks to ask their customers if it is okay (this is called “opt-in”) before they charge them for “overdraft protection” service. CFRB has been studying how this is working out, and its report shows that customers who do not opt-in to this heavily marketed “protection” service pay much, much less in fees than those who do. In other words, agreeing to use the “protection” actually puts you at a much greater risk of incurring expenses than those who are not “protected.”

According to  a McClatchy News report on a call with CFPB director Richard Cordray to discuss the report, Cordray said, “What is marketed as overdraft protection can, in some instances, put consumers at greater risk of harm.”

How much risk? People who are “heavy overdrafters” but still opt out of this service save on average more than $900 a year. But it isn’t just heavy overdrafters who are saving. According to the CFPB report “… the reduction in fees for those who did not opt in was $347 greater, on average, than for those who did opt in.” People who opt in are also more likely to lose their bank accounts, with the bank “involuntarily” closing it.

Banks have made $32 billion from these fees. So maybe this isn’t about providing a “protection” to consumers at all. As  NPR puts it, “Overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees accounted for 61 percent of total consumer deposit account service charges in 2011 among the banks in the CFPB report.”

3. Transaction Ordering

Not only do customers who opt-in pay more for this “protection service,” but the banks are still scamming them by causing the overdrafts that generate these fees. The CFPB report says that some banks still use “transaction ordering” to cheat customers out of additional fees. These banks post checks or debit transactions from large to small to trigger these fees. In other words if you write several small checks (or make debit card transactions) and then a big one that overdraws your account, they credit the large one first so each of the smaller transactions causes its own fee to be charged, even though those transactions occurred before the account ran out of money.

From the report, “The earlier in a sequence that an account becomes negative, the more overdraft or NSF transactions may occur.”

4. Forced Arbitration

Another big-bank scam on consumers is “forced arbitration” clauses in bank account, credit card, mortgage and other financial-service agreements. Forced arbitration clauses – also called mandatory arbitration or binding arbitration – require you to give up your legal right to take a big bank to court if it cheats or harms you. And if you don’t agree (which requires reading the entire agreement) you can’t get the account.

They way this works is that instead of being able to pursue your legal rights, you have to take your complaint to an arbitrator, and then must accept the arbitrator’s decision. The catch is that the bank gets to pick the arbitrator, and the arbitrators naturally know they’ll never work in this town again if they ever rule against the banks. So there is an inherent conflict of interest working in favor of these companies.

How is that conflict of interest working out for us? A 2007 Public Citizen report revealed that arbitrators working for the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) had ruled against consumers 94 percent of the time.

In another blow to the big banks, the CFPB is beginning to take steps to reign in forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts.

The five-year-old Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act authorizes the CFPB and the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate mandatory arbitration. The SEC is resisting implementing their part of this law, but the CFPB is conducting a survey to determine consumer awareness of forced arbitration clauses in credit card agreements.  On its blog, the CFPB said the study will “explore consumer awareness of dispute resolution terms in credit card agreements. The survey will gather information about consumers’ perceptions, preferences, and assumptions related to arbitration proceedings.”

5. Marketing Refinancing That Costs People

Thom Hartmann has exposed yet another banker scheme. This time banks are marketing a mortgage refinancing that promises annual savings of more than $4,000. But the scheme really just adds more than $37,000 to the cost of a loan.

Basically, the mailer focuses on lowering monthly mortgage payments, while neglecting to mention that the borrower would end up paying a higher overall interest rate, and would be adding 10 more years to the overall length of their loan. Hartmann  writes,

Back in November of 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent warning letters to around a dozen of America’s largest mortgage lenders and brokers, advising them to “clean up” potentially misleading advertisements, especially those targeting veterans and older Americans.

At the time of the CFPB’s announcement, CFPB director Richard Cordray said that, “Misrepresentations in mortgage products can deprive consumers of important information while making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.”

And, as we also know, deceptive mortgage advertisements like this can cause consumers to bite off more than they can chew, ultimately leading to a nationwide financial meltdown.

6. Banks Trying To Kill the CFPB

Over the years, scam after scam is exposed, and nothing has been done about it. But there is a new cop on the beat, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB’s job is to police the big banks, and protect financial consumers. Of course the big banks are trying to head this agency off at the pass.

The Republican Party and its conservative infrastructure have basically been contracted by Wall Street’s big banks to obstruct and even kill this agency. Senate Republicans have been blocking the confirmation and are still trying to obstruct the nominee to head up the agency. Republicans have been filibustering the nomination of Richard Cordray to be its director and even vowing to filibuster to keep any nominee from being confirmed to head the agency. President Obama finally  made a recess appointment of Cordray in January 2012. But this recess appointment runs out at the end of the year with no end to Republican obstruction in sight.

Republicans are also  trying to defund the agency. Republicans and the (billionaire, Wall Street, oil and tobacco-financed) conservative movement have also launched a propaganda campaign against the agency. Recently, at the Senate Republican Policy Committee website, “CFPB: Unaccountable and Unrestrained,” claims, “A recent action by the CFPB to monitor consumer credit cards and the spending habits of millions of Americans is raising new concerns in a government suffering from a trust deficit.” In an example of how the right’s echo machine works, the Heritage Foundation echoes this attack, alleging that CFPB gathering data for reports like this one is an example of government “surveillance” on consumers, “amassing an Orwell-worthy database on all manner of spending, including … overdrafts …”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren – the person most credited with the creation of the CFPB – spoke at a Senate hearing on the CFPB last March on the role of the CFPB and Republican obstruction of the agency:

“I see nothing here but a filibuster threat against Director Cordray as an attempt to weaken the consumer agency,” Warren said. “I think the delay in getting him confirmed is bad for consumers, it’s bad for small banks, bad for credit unions, for anyone trying to offer an honest product in an honest market.”

“The American people deserve a Congress that worries less about helping big banks,” she added, “and more about helping regular people who have been cheated on mortgages, on credit cards, on student loans and on credit reports.”

Don’t expect much to change until we have a government that is willing to take on these financial giants. As long as we keep seeing “settlements” with these giants instead of prosecutions, and as long as we allow big money to buy influence over our government, nothing will change.

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But the banks’ CEOs have huge incomes and the power that comes with being super rich. The rich banks and corporations run  the USA and form all of the policies. Citizens must speak up and vote appropriately.

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Bank Reforms are needed – METABANK thrives at the expense of the unbanked, i.e. those people living from pay check to pay check

METABANK serves the unbanked and underbanked in the United States, but fails to provide the most vulnerable citizens with any genuine kind of a solution for the long term.

METABANK uses publicity to promote false and misleading information just to hook in new customers.

METABANK fails to contribute in a genuine and viable way for the on-going prosperity of the United States. Childhood poverty rates for the USA when compared to other developed countries indicates that we have failed to create viable solutions for the families of those children.

More than one in five American children live in poverty, less than half the national income median. These children will be the future of the USA.

We are asking that the current false advertising and misleading promises of METABANK which is no more than a collections agency be better regulated because to the present time, METABANK has failed to self regulate in any kind of an honorable way that actually serves to allow the poorest among us to find a way to actually be able to set aside money, to save for that proverbial rainy day.

 

–    –      –     –        –

A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund, on the well-being of children in 35 developed nations, turned up some alarming statistics about child poverty. More than one in five American children fall below a relative poverty line, which UNICEF defines as living in a household that earns less than half of the national median. The United States ranks 34th of the 35 countries surveyed, above only Romania and below virtually all of Europe plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The above map gives a comparative sense of the data. The blue countries have less than 10 percent of its children below UNICEF’s relative poverty line, with the red countries approaching 25 percent. Southern European countries, among the most effected by the euro crisis, have some of the worst rates, although none as low as the United States. Former Soviet countries also score poorly. Northern European countries score the highest. English-speaking countries tend to fall somewhere in the middle.

The poor U.S. showing in this data may reflect growing income inequality. According to one metric of inequality, a statistical measurement called the gini coefficient, the U.S. economy is one of the most unequal in the developed world. This would explain why the United States, on child poverty, is ranked between Bulgaria and Romania, though Americans are on average six times richer than Bulgarians and Romanians.

Here, from the UNICEF report, is the chart of relative child poverty rates (the grey countries are marked separately because they could not provide data for all other indices and are thus not included in the final rankings):

Source: UNICEF

Source: UNICEF

To be clear, this data only reflects developed countries; it tells us nothing about how children in the United States or Europe compare to, for example, children in sub-Saharan Africa. But looking at how developed economies compare can help give us a rough approximation of how these countries are doing at child welfare. And UNICEF is using its own “poverty line” here; the more typical international definition is a family that lives on less than $1.25 or $2 per day. Almost no Americans qualify for this definition. Internally, the United States defines the poverty line as a family living on less than about $22,000 per year, which includes about 15 percent of Americans.

Still, UNICEF’s data is important for measuring the share of children who are substantively poorer than their national average, which has important implications for the cost of food, housing, health care and other essentials. Its research shows that children are more likely to fall below this relative poverty line in the United States than in almost any other developed country.

But the picture looks even worse when you examine just how far below the relative poverty line these children tend to fall. The UNICEF report looks at something it calls the “child poverty gap,” which measures how far the average poor child falls below the relative poverty line. It does this by measuring the gap between the relative poverty line and the average income of poor families.

Alarmingly, the United States also scores second-to-last on this measurement, with the average poor child living in a home that makes 36 percent less than the relative poverty line. Only Italy has a wider gap. Here’s the chart for child poverty gaps:

Source: UNICEF

Source: UNICEF

We’ll have more on the UNICEF report and what it means for the world’s children later on, so please check back.

Max Fisher
Max Fisher is the Post’s foreign affairs blogger. He has a master’s degree in security studies from Johns Hopkins University. Sign up for his daily newsletter here. Also, follow him on Twitteror Facebook.

 

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Proper Bank Reforms that Protect Consumers Needed for the Genuine Growth of our Economic Future

Barry wrote:

MetaBank and Bancorp Bank are two different banks, but they each issue the PayPower Visa card for Blackhawk.

Issuers of a Visa or MasterCard card must be a bank (Visa & MasterCard rules).

Thank you, Barry for sharing this information. 

The prepaid bank card that we had was issued by METABANK.

METABANK has been giving seminars to share their strategies once they got the US Congress to allow the open sale of PREPAID Bank Cards perhaps back in 2009, using Rupli and Associates, the D.C. Lobbyists.

METABANK is a bank.

METABANK is most astute in getting their own interests taken care of in efficient ways. METABANK’s Brad Hansen helped to create the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association as a non-profit advocacy group.

META BANK and the NPBCA paid huge amounts in 2009 to get their agenda for getting the prepaid cards out legally and in place everywhere. They paid more than any other entity to push this bill in the US House and the US Senate.

When we were scammed, the METABANK Prepaid Card was issued by VISA. METABANK toook our $5,000.00 in cash and failed to load the travel card. The METABANK representative did ask when we would be out of the country and they failed to load the card during that entire time period.

We had no cash with us because the cash had been put on the METABANK PREPAID CARD. The trip of a lifetime that we had saved for made us live like homeless people in another country. We only bought the METABANK VISA Travel Card because it was being issued by a company with whom we had done business for many years.

Using what little funds we had, I contacted the person who sold me the METABANK PREPAID CARD via an internet cafe. I was told that the problem had been corrected, but it wasn’t and we had no extra money on hand.

(METABANK Phone Representatives would criticize us because we hadn’t kept calling them from Europe….We had no money. How would we have kept phoning them or emailing someone to phone METABANK. This is what we mean by horrible customer service when the customer is always wrong, and this fact is what alerted us to the fraudulent practices within METABANK itself.)

What it amounted to was that we had given METABANK an interest free loan when they were going through all that legal fight over the fraudulent CDs they had been issuing.

When I got back to the USA, METABANK lied to us about why the card hadn’t been ever loaded. METABANK spent all of their energy on trying to push the blame off onto someone else. Once METABANK/METAPAYMENT SYSTEMS has your cash money, they can lie to you and change all of the rules. There is nothing to stop them.

Later that year, we met someone who encountered the same problems with the METABANK VISA PREPAID CARD.

We wrote to VISA to complain. Visa wrote back immediately to tell us that we would have to deal with META BANK directly because METABANK was in control of the process and they had simply used the VISA Name…… This is another area then that needs better regulations. Had VISA not been the most prominent feature on the card, we do not believe that we would have trusted the product even though it was being sold by a company where we had done business for perhaps 30 + years.

We have severed all ties with that company. Yes, we understand that their own CEOs had been wined and dined by META BANK so that they would allow METABANK/METAPAYMENT SYSTEMS to have access to their customer base and so that they would even promote the META BANK product for them as their partner company.

The partner company has lost all of our business after so many years.

We have shared other people’s experience using products that are produced by METABANK or any other bank that may operate using similar tactics because we do not wish any other person to be taken advantage of the way we were.

METABANK does training seminars for other banks. This may make it appear like what METABANK does is a legitimate thing, simply because other banks are now using the same scam.

We are asking for proper bank reforms that protect consumers.

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2013 Consumer Complaints Regarding METABANK Still Pouring In


Submitted: Fri, September 20, 2013

  • Reported in Arizona 
  • Meta Bank, Texas

 

Meta Bank Ace Elite Card blocking card poor customer service Texas

 Beware of cards issued by Meta Bank.  They will put a block on your card and not even tell you.

I just moved and got the card to have my job paycheck put on it.

They put a block on my card and did not even tell me and will not remove the block because I just moved and do not have any bills put in my name yet.

They said they put a block on it because I used the direct deposit.

Beware they put blocks on it for alot of reasons and you may go to use your card and it will not work.

(That pretty much explains everything. Need we say more??!!!)

  • Submitted: Mon, February 11, 2013
  • Updated:  Tue, March 12, 2013
  • Reported By: S. T. — Cicero Illinois United States of America
Netspend

InternetUnited States of America

  • Credit Card Fraud

Netspend Meta Bank ILLEGAL Forced Transaction Allowed – REFUSING to Refund! Internet

 

First off let me start by saying that my home has 3 disabled people in it and our 3 checks are direct deposited to one netspend card and it is our ONLY income.    That being said…

January 27th a “Budget Rental” put through a forced transaction on an old transaction that WAS SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETED back in December! They put it through for $4,852.20!

My home ONLY has an income of a whopping $2,100/mo!!!!!

I have NEVER made a transaction THAT large EVER.

I called in and put in a transaction dispute RIGHT AWAY the second the transaction showed up on my phone, THEN I ALSO submitted it online as a double back up… They told me 3-5 days, 3 days later I called they said 7-10 business days and it would be a waste of my time to call before the 11th of February… So here it is the 11th of February, we are now homeless thanks to this ONE ILLEGAL transaction and they tell me THEY HAVE NO UPDATE and that they will call me back when they know something… My family will be once again in the street on Valentine’s day…

and they are still not sure whether or not they are going to reverse an ILLEGAL TRANSACTION… Ummmmmm hello the fact that my account ISN’T supposed to be ABLE to be overdrawn by more than $10 and the fact that it came through on a lost/stolen card AFTER it was reported lost/stolen and the fact that it was done as a FORCED Transaction which AGAIN… is ILLEGAL…

OBVIOUSLY it wasn’t authorized!!!!!!!!!!! Being that they are SUPPOSEDLY FDIC INSURED They SHOULD have been able to reverse the charge within a day or two!

(Meta Bank isn’t looking out for the best interests of their customer base as seen here. META BANK has not acted as a friend nor as a good neighbor. Please do not do business with METABANK for your own good. These two stories should be adequate warning in and of themselves…. Each took place in 2013. Our objection is that METABANK fails to take responsibility for the problems they cause. We find it odd that METABANK never takes responsibility for problems with their service and that METABANK fails to protect their customer base as consumers. Why would any company partner with META BANK to sell their prepaid cards for them? When customers are abused in this way, they will be forced to move along.)

More followed in that discussion:

SUBMITTED: Monday, April 22, 2013

We apologize again for the problems you have experienced. We are happy to inform you that this should be taken care of now. Thank you again for your patience. NetSpend ( This turned out to be empty talk, no problems had been resolved!!! The problem was reported on March 12, 2013 and Netspend made an empty, weak answer on on April 22, 2013)

Consumer Comments

BUDGET – AUTHOR: chickpainter – (United States of America)

Consumer Suggestion

SUBMITTED: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Why on earth didn’t you contact Budget and raise wholly hell. I would have called everyone
and anyone who would listen including the police, FBI you make enough noise you get results.
Good luck, next time anyone plays dirty do the same. (by making noise lots of noise)

EFTA – AUTHOR: chestercheetah – (United States of America)

 Consumer Suggestion

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Read the Electronic Funds Transfer Act  (EFTA) – it spells out what your rights are under Federal law regarding disputed electronic debit transactions.It tells what the bank’s responsibilites are and the time frames they have to respond to the problem.  If they fail to meet these guidelines, the claimant can sue them for 3x the disputed amount.

#2 Author of original report
Update: 4/22
AUTHOR: S. T.  –
SUBMITTED: Monday, April 22, 2013

To chickpainter: I tried that and they denied ANY and ALL knowledge of such a transaction being put through on their end at the office in which I did the actual rental at. The return location is at a repair shop and they never answered ANY calls so that makes it VERY difficult to raise hell with them.

To chestercheetah – thank you for that tidbit of information they have actually exceeded the limits and today we will be calling our lawyer… I’d like to see just how quickly they decide to return our stolen funds when being faced with needing to pay 3 times the initial amount!!! And just for kicks I’ll be asking him to toss in psi and suffering for my son who went through seizures and multiple infections due to the BS games they have been playing.

And to Netspend we sent letters in 3 different times before you FINALLY acknowledged receiving even one and today is the day you CLAIMED we would get our refund… And oops it’s STILL not there… So yeah you can deal with our lawyer at this point cause I have had it with the games your playing with our life.

NetSpend
AUTHOR: NetSpend Corporation – (United States of America)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, February 19, 2013

We are very sorry to hear about the problems you experienced with your transaction with Budget Rental. (It took three months and most likely an attorney just to get Netspend to respond.)

Since you initially provided them with your card number in December, Budget was given authorization to charge your account. Because this was an overcharge, we can assist you with getting the funds returned through our dispute process. Please fax the requested letter to 512-531-8770 and we will provide you with an update as soon as possible.

Also, the FDIC protects depositors of insured banks located in the United States against the loss of their deposits if an insured bank fails. This does not cover regular transactions. (It took three months and most likely an attorney just to get Netspend to respond. It really doesn’t matter what any law says, but more in how corporate entities treat their customer base….. If people treated each other decently there wouldn’t be any need for laws….. Because METABANK has abused their customer base so often, it has become apparent that more laws are needed to govern and over see how banking is done.)

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We hope the problems you have experienced will not bear any reflection on our company and the services we provide.

Thank you,

NetSpend

 ($4,852.20 is a very large amount for NETSPEND To allow through without calling their customer to alert them.

In one place we see, METABANK putting a hold on a customer’s funds because according to METABANK they had perceived Terroristic activity on that account, but here an extremely large amount is put on the card and METABANK lets it go through….. Where do consumer interests factor in at METABANK? Are we just a convenient source of an interest free loan or are we people? Netspend/Metabank was far too slow in responding to this consumer’s needs.)

*********************

netspend   Wed, February 20, 2013 

  • Reported By: M G — Houston Texas United States of America NETSPEND – Internet United States of America
 
  • netspend meta bank, netspend, prepaid debit card/ alternative banking Internet

*UPDATE Employee: NetSpend

I’m writing this report to let consumers know to not use netspend. This card seems decent on the service but beware.

(SERVICE?!!! That is the major complaint against using Meta Bank and any prepaid bank cards. and this kind of complaint has ocurred over a period now of what is amounting to many years)

They do not release funds as soon as there are received they are held for a day up to three to make interest. (METABANK held all of my money for one month. It was a large amount of money. It was on a travel card and the money would have been spent in increments. To get a Prepaid Card METABANK will only accept cash money; I had given METABANK cash money and they never allowed me access to my own money for the month I would be on the trip of a lifetime in Paris. I ended up living like a homeless person in Paris, in a place where English isn’t the first language and American isn’t the cultural reference point. I hadn’t worked all of my life to live in Paris as a homeless person… who would?)

You can not reach a live person because they give no option when you call the automated system you have to try multiple avenues to reach someone.

Every time I have called the representative was hard to understand and they charge you.50 cents.

The online customer service is no better it takes literally 48 hours for a reply.

(NETSPEND and METABANK are one in the same. The concept of a prepaid bank card is that a consumer hands over their own cash money for an anonymous corporate and likely rich entity to get an interest free loan from you as their customer. In return, you the customer get abused.  Once they have your cash money, they have all the power over your access to your own cash money. False advertising, false and misleading promises of services that simply don’t exist, and outright lies, hooks in customers. METABANK gets a partner company to market their prepaid bank cards for them. The partner company basically gives  METABANK full access to their customer list. The partner company’s customer may feel comfortable buying the PREPAID CARD because they have done business with that entity for many years. The partner company has been mislead by METABANK too. However, Meta Bank does make some money for the partner entity and appears to treat them well. The partner entities’ CEOs are basically courted by METABANK’s CEOs so their guard is down too. In the long term, the partner company will lose long term customers.)

AUTHOR: NetSpend Corporation – (United States of America)

SUBMITTED: Wednesday, February 20, 2013

We certainly hate to hear feedback like this, but we do understand your concerns.

We can assure you that deposits are posted as soon as we receive them.  The only time a deposit may not be available right away is if we need to verify some information.  This verification is only meant to protect your account and your money. ( Please note that META BANK only accepts CASH MONEY to load or re-load their prepaid bank cards. Cash money is required because it is negotiable currency right away!!!)

Also, the only time a balance inquiry fee will be charged is if you are contacting us to check your balance or to see if a deposit posted.  We offer free services. such as text message alerts, to avoid this fee.

(METABANK has full control of all of the money you hand over to them and they lie. On top of that they charge you money to ask about your own balance while METABANK/NETSPEND is getting an interest free loan from you as their customer. Text message alerts implies that you must have a cell phone to be able to bank with NETSPEND/METABANK. METABANK is a thrift bank that seeks out the most economically/finally vulnerable people in our society. Who can afford a fancy cell phone???? Think about this. METABANK/NETSPEND is not customer oriented.)

We strive to achieve a high level of customer service and continually look into ways of improving our products and service.  We hope that the problems you experienced will not bear any reflection on our company or the services we provide.

(This final paragraph seems to be overtly fawning and rather condescending because the problem has been repeated time after time. Therefore it seems to be an empty statement made in 2013…. We began following the actions of METABANK in 2009 during that CD fraud trial. That is 4 years or longer of scamming the consumer, and that is far too long and too much for the general public to bear.)

Thank you,
NetSpend

************************

Submitted: Thu, October 24, 2013

Updated: Thu, October 24, 2013
Reported By: E. C. — Vermilion Ohio
Giant Eagle
4453 Liberty Ave.
Vermilion, Ohio

Category: Grocery Stores
Giant Eagle Metabank, Visa, PayPower Visa prepaid card Vermilion Ohio  

(MetaBank relies on corporate entities to sell their PREPAID CARD for them. METABANK basically courts the CEOs of the corporate entity to get them to sign on to METABANK’s collections program.) 

My neighbor gave me a Giant Eagle reloadable prepaid Visa card for $20 as a gift for some work I did for them. They just gave me the card, removed from it’s packaging, which I later read when looking at 1 in the store after the problem we encountered. The package the card came in states fees on the back, including a $6.95/mo. maintenance fee, and states it is not a gift card, although the receipt for purchase of the card, which my neighbor still had and I saw after I told them of the problem, states

“Gift card activation” and “Gift card $20.00”.

(This is fraudulent and misleading on the part of METABANK. It can’t be stated any clearer than what is written above.)

My wife went to use the card 6 weeks after we got it, as usual, we had shopped at the store many times, always forgetting to use it. When she went to use it, it would not register. the clerk said that it had to be activated. My wife got out of line, called PayPower to activate it. when she went back to pay for the purchases with the card, $13.05 was credited from the card.

(This was then not a $20 gift card, was it? So this is misleading and predatory practices on the part of METABANK.)

When she asked the clerk why not the $20, the clerk said she didn’t know. My wife said she would go to the customer service desk and inquire, another clerk came over and told her she would have to call the number on the card. My wife asked if other’s had the same problem, and the clerk said yes.

(We have also seen other consumers struggle with prepaid cards at gas stations and in all the places where people would expect to pay using them. This was a gift card for a specific grocery store that fell for the pitch that METABANK had given them.)

After calling PayPower later, she was told of the $6.95 monthly maintenance fee deducted as it was over a month the card was used after it was purchased.

(METABANK/PAYPOWER was getting an interest free loan for the gift card for over one month and then they want to charge the customer more…. what if the customer had tried to use the card too soon???!!!)

In short, my neighbor’s fault for buying a card with these fees, and mine for not using it sooner. But really, you give them free use of your money from the time of purchase of the card until the time you use it, people not using all of the money on the card and losing the card and forgetting to replace it, on top of the fees chipping away at your balance. And add in the potential for anyone to be able to get the numbers off of the cards hanging on the racks in the stores and accessing the accounts after they are purchased and money loaded on to them by someone else.

(Yes, it is a banking gimmick to keep the consumer confused so that the bank can make a huge profit. The person who was scammed here gets the full implication for why these cards are in reality a piece of crap for consumers.)

My only recourse, I’m not shopping at Giant Eagle anymore (Go Meijer’s and Aldi!), and I have cancelled my Visa card.

( We also dropped all further contact with the partner corporate entity who sold us our prepaid bank cards. This is what I have been warning potential partner companies for a long time. Yes, I understand that your CEOs have been courted by the CEOs of METABANK PREPAID CARDS so that the partner entity was taken in too. I have warned you that our only recourse as consumers is to stop doing business with the entity who sold us the PREPAID CARD in the first place. This report only highlights the fact that in the short term the prepaid cards may seem to be a boon, but in the long term METABANK’s practices will cause you to lose customers.)

***********************

MetaBank and Social Security

 

    • Submitted: Mon, October 07, 2013
    • Updated: Mon, October 07, 2013
  • Reported by HC from— Acworth Georgia

 This past year my wife has had a terrible problem involving Social Security, MetaBank, and Fraud in regard to her Mother’s Social Security direct Deposit.

My wife’s mother suffers from Alzheimer’s.

There is a verified ring of individuals that are fraudulantly trying to move Social Security Direct Deposits from Wells Fargo to MetaBank.

We have filed numerous police reports to the aithorities local, state, and National.

Moreover, we have been to Social Security five times this year in regard to this matter.

At first, SS told us that she was ‘Auto enrolled.”

Next, SSA told us that her mother agreed to be enrolled.

Then we found out that farad was commitied in regard to opening an account with Metabank in regard to SSA direct deposit.

My wife has POA in her mother’s finacial and medical affairs.

She gave Social Securitiy Administration copies and we have discussed this matter with the same SS Representative several times.

Additionally, we had protocols set up with SS to alert us if anything was changed without authorization of the POA and yet it continues to happen.

My mother in law has had direct deposit of her SS for decades and somehow someone can get into SS and re-router her check to Metabank.

I cannot prove this, but I am starting to think someone within SS is involved. When we contact SS we get the usual runaround and denials that actions neccessary actions were taken.

(We are beginning to wonder about kickbacks!!!)

We watched the Repesentative input the data and information and have her name, contact number, and extension.

So guess what? We cannot get in contact with her on that number and extension she gave us and have left three messages for her to call us back.

I won’t hold my breath. No surprise at this point. The authorities have Identified and arrested a ring of individuals involved. Seems the ring leader is located in Jamaica and is untouchable.

My wife and I are so frustrated and angry because her mother depends on SS to live and survive monthly.

(Because METABANK basically runs a scam, their own internal policies seem to contribute to this success of this kind of a scam. There is a need for better regulation of our banking system. In recent years, we have been inundated with phony phone calls out of Jamaica and from other toll free callers. No one seems to be watching out for consumers’ interests in the USA, but the time has come and it is now!!!)

SSA always acts as if this is the first time they have heard such a thing.

( Who heads up the SSA? They must be notified and this problem must be addressed immediately. Please contact all of your elected officials to make them aware of this new twist by METABANK or using METABANK…. this is totally unacceptable!!!)

I wonder how many elderly individuals this is happening to in regard to SSA and Meatbank. It would suffice to say that this has been a nightmare and SSA is involved to some degree. We need help in this matter with the media and legal advice.

(Do contact the media immediately!!! This needs to be stopped and corrected.)

******************************************

    • Submitted: Thu, October 25, 2012
    • Updated: Thu, October 25, 2012
  • Reported By: ns — Massachusetts United States of America
netspend

InternetUnited States of America

Netspend Meta Bank: they charge a transaction fee for swiping the card

Also, when I used it at a gas station, I had a $65 balance. Then I spent $15 and now my balance is $15.

(Please note that the amount left is the exact same amount that was spent. Is METABANK doing this purposely or are they hiring incompetent people who just happen to accidentally make money for METABANK? We have observed this situation at MetaBank before.)

50 bucks magically gone Netspend blamed the gas station. I bank using the Internet with MetaBank.

(Please note that METABANK also charges customers who phone to ask what their balance is. This is the biggest nightmare for consumers that we have ever seen.)

 

They charge a transaction fee for swiping the card also I used it at a gas station I had a $65 balance. I spent $15 and now my balance is $15.
50 bucks magically gone and  Netspend Meta Bank blamed the gas station.

I got the receipt and Netspend pretty much told me to screw off.  (This is the kind of customer service that we have encountered before and complained about over and over again.)

That’s not the first time they have pulled this and now I cant get my money back. I have been ripped off by Netspend Meta Bank as they have nickel and dimed me again.

(We sincerely hope that you will complain to every media outlet in your area and to every elected official for your area. May what happened to you never happen to another person)

 Marketing is basically Meta Bank’s major strength just behind collections. We find METABANK’s advertisement placement to be questionable.

When your boss asks you to do work that you perceive to be immoral…..

Exploring the Self-Esteem Related to “Having a Job” any job…. an immoral job may backfire

We have wondered how the METABANK employees who answer the phones as customer service representatives actually feel about what they do.

 

Certainly they must know they are lying to people, ordinary people who are just like them.

 

Statistics show that bank tellers in Storm Lake Iowa earn salaries that place them below poverty level.  How desperate can these phone representatives be? Have they been so mislead that they believe in what they are doing?

If they are ignorant of what they are doing, what will it take for them to realize that they are the ones who are making METABANK’s CEOS super rich while they still live below the poverty level?

Could they understand that by lying to the customers that this is dishonest? For how long can these customer representatives going on perpetuating this lie that makes their CEOs so rich? Certainly there must be something in it for these people to lie to other people who are so much like them at the other end of the phone? What kind of “UNTRUTHS” have these METABANK phone representatives been fed so that they carry out the dirtiest job on behalf of the METABANK CEOs?

At Work: Job, self-esteem tied tightly together

Andrea Kay, Gannett12:57 p.m. EDT August 31, 2013

Feedback on the job can be a buffer against depression.

Work means so much to us Americans that without it some people don’t want to get out of bed in the morning.

That is likely one reason unemployed adults and those not working as much as they would like are twice as likely to be depressed as Americans employed full time. [Feeling stuck in a dead-end job such as being a phone representative for METABANK…. This has got to be a pathetic and hopeless situation for those who are being required to do the dirty work that makes the METABANK CEOs rich and then richer yet.]

STORY: Who’s feeling stressed? Young adults
COLUMN: Workers’ happiness rubs off on profits [ Think about this!!!!!!]

That’s the conclusion of a Jan. 1-July 25 survey of more than 100,000 Americans conducted by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. It says 16.6% of unemployed Americans are depressed compared to 5.6% of those who work full time.

“Self-esteem and self-worth are closely aligned with working,” says psychotherapist Charles Allen, who estimates about 10% of his clients are out of work or worried about losing their job.

When you have a job, you have a continuous source of feedback that you are a contributing member of society, he says. That’s not to say you go to work thinking, “Hey, I’m a valued member of society.” The idea is largely subconscious.

[But what if you are asked to harm innocent people who are just like you whom you only encounter at the other end of the phone??? That can’t feel hopeful in anyway.]

“You feel it in the depths of your brain,” he says.

Being employed helps you feel wanted and that you’re contributing to your finances, says psychotherapist Elizabeth Lombardo. It also gives you social support — “a buffer against depression.”

In his practice, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert sees a lot of unemployed people who are depressed.

He describes them as usually feeling hopeless and helpless, their sense of identity greatly diminished.

“Employment provides a sense of purpose, … of belongingness,” he says. “Those who are unemployed lack that purpose.”

Some unemployed workers also lack structure, which leads to unhealthy habits like staying up until 3 a.m. then getting up late the next day. That “makes them feel even more different than the employed,” Alpert says.

Being depressed also can affect your ability to seek and keep a job.

Allen’s depressed clients who are unemployed “typically have tremendous difficulty in finding work because they lack energy and drive to engage in a job hunt,” he says. Their pessimism and feelings of worthlessness also contribute to the idea that they won’t find work.

When motivation plummets, you withdraw and “why bother?” prevails, Lombardo says.

A depressed person may not do well in interviews.

“Who wants to hire ‘Debbie Downer?’ ” she asks.

Some people who are depressed can have a tough time keeping a job: They take too much time off, have a lack of drive, don’t concentrate well and sometimes simply don’t care, Alpert says.

[ The term “SIMPLY DON’T CARE” highlights that some people may take a job as a phone representative at METABANK just to have a job. They may understand that what they are doing is immoral, but perceive that there aren’t many other options. This has got to be a sad state of affairs for these employees. If they could see a positive way forward, internally they may be able to ask for the right to treat others fairly…. This situation is predatory on so many levels…. Shame on METABANK CEOs who created this abhorent and offensive scenario.]

They also “often have a poor self-image and lack confidence, two factors that strongly impact job retention and performance,” he says.

Alpert says he also sees a lot of another type of depression — in people who are employed.

It “usually stems from high stress and feeling disenchanted with their job or simply unhappy with the direction their career has taken them,” he says.

Feeling stuck in a position “can bring about a sense you have no control over your situation,” Lombardo says. “Feeling powerless can cause depression. And depression can lead to getting demoted.”

Depression among those with jobs costs U.S. employers $23 billion annually in lost productivity, according to Gallup.

The survey found that depression decreases as income rises. It showed that Americans who earn less than $36,000 annually are nearly three times more likely to be depressed than those who earn more than $90,000 annually.

Depression takes a toll on a person — employed or jobless — as well as the economy.

[We find it impossible to believe that the METABANK Phone representatives who lie to customers can do this in the long term without having some feelings of remorse. We have, of course, made the assumption that they are human beings. How desperate are they that they can continue to lie to people who are a lot like them at the other end of the phone?]

It may be depressing to talk about depression. But the more we know about it and discuss it, the more likely the stigma associated with it will be reduced.  [We believe that America is a sick society at this time. It is imperative that as ordinary people that we insist on humane treatment of each other… this treatment goes both ways, you know… It is the “Golden Rule.”]

And perhaps the people who need help the most will get it.

Career consultant Andrea Kay is the author of This Is How To Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want.

 

Note:  Please notice carefully where METABANK and any other Prepaid Bank Card offered places their advertisements 

Solving Customer’s Problems Should Be of the Foremost Importance…. METABANK abused us while we were their customer

Customer Service Solves Problems To Create Loyal Clients

but NOT SO at METABANK

Make it easy for frustrated customers to contact you, get problems solved. You’ll create loyal clients.

In the past 30 days, I canceled service with three companies I’ve used for years.

Customer service was the reason. It was that bad.

 

But I kept my business with another company even though its actual service keeps messing up. That business’ customer service is that good.

Customer-service representatives are everywhere. Anyone with a phone, TV, computer, coffee maker, credit card or insurance; or who buys subscription services or makeup from shady companies advertising on TV has dealings with them.

And let’s not forget about business-to-business customer-service reps. [This is part of how METABANK performs their scam.]

Their numbers are growing by the minute. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the profession will expand 15.5% through 2020.

Call centers alone had almost 23,000 vacant jobs, more than a third listed in the past week, according to CallCenterCrossing, which calls itself the largest collection of call-center jobs. The company cites the health care law, holiday season and general economic expansion as the chief reasons for a rise in call-center hiring.

As long as companies offer things to buy and services to use, folks will need help.

[Customers have over a period of many years now indicated that METABANK and its affiliates, including the Network Branded Bank Card Association, fail when it comes to customer service. We, as former METABANK customers/clients believe, based on our own personal experience using METABANK et al., that METABANK by design treats their customers in an abusive manner. We have been scammed and lied to. We have been treated in an inhumane manner.

METABANK does not offer any kind of model that should be used as a guideline by any other entity…. METABANK relies on numbers and the population is growing rapidly.

METABANK relies on getting partner corporate entities to market their prepaid bank card  a relationship which is in fact one that will increase the rate of decline of that partner company. At first the partner company will experience an initial  spurt that may appear to be great and fabulous; this is the honeymoon, but it is a marriage that is doomed by design. METABANK only wants their partner companies’ list of customers whom METABANK will use for their own financial gain.

In establishing this partnership, METABANK promises to take care of all the collections for their partner. Collections is the dirtiest of dirty work so the partner company is happy to hand over this part of the operation to METABANK. METABANK, as we former customers have found, has an abusive customer service system by design.

When METABANK’s customer serivice representatives basically went through a list of standard lies they had been handed to use for all situation; the lies serve to blame the customer for the problems the customer had encountered using METABANK. However, by design, METABANK created a prepaid bank card which customers load with cash money, and then METABANK limits and controls when and even if a customer will be able to have access to their own money…. This scheme is predatory. It is based upon false and misleading promises.

METABANK is by design immoral. Only consumers can speak up to warn others so that METABANK can be stopped from doing this great scam on the people.]

Companies claim to know how important these front-line jobs are. They say they strive for a “customer-first mindset,” “transparency and accountability,” “positive customer relationships” and “consistent and efficient delivery of superior customer service.”

So why don’t more customer-service reps deliver? Is it the company or the employees?

Likely both.

Workers tell me they want these jobs because they like people. Yet too many companies do everything they can to not let their people talk to us.

Finding contact information can be like a game of hide-and-seek.

Some refuse to talk to you. Take Twitter: [This isn’t a model anyone should follow!!!!!]

My account has had a problem for four months. I’ve obediently followed Twitter’s directions and sent in a dozen requests for help.

I’m still waiting for an answer.

On the other hand, companies such as crowdSPRING help businesses and creative talent find each other and make it easy for customers to communicate with them.

[This concept is an old one that worked. It worked very well. This is what we as consumers expect, but this is not at all what METABANK provides. METABANK uses this concept to catch consumers and their partner companies off guard so that METABANK can get their foot in the door. What META BANK does is an IMMORAL ACT.]

This company posts its phone number on every page of its site. No doubt this springs from the philosophy of co-founder Mike Samson who tells his reps that the spoken word is better than the written word, to say “please” and “thank you” and always end with “much obliged.”

 

People who get into customer service tell me they love to solve problems.

Yet “I can’t help you with that” are the last words that a lot of people hear from a customer-service rep.

  • Those workers either don’t know how to think like a problem solver or don’t think they have the authority to help.
  • Some customer-service reps are plain mean. The other day I asked a one that I could barely hear if she might speak a little louder.   She snapped, “No, I can’t scream.”
  • When you keep getting bad customer service, you wonder why companies keep sending surveys asking how your customer-service experience went.
  • I also often wonder why companies insist that customer-service reps speak canned faux caring phrases like “Have a nice day” after they’ve been mean and obstructive.

Chief Operating Officer Zach Cusimano of Bizness Apps, which makes mobile apps for companies, says his business doesn’t coach reps to use particular phrases.

Company officials do encourage them to “throw in some love” and foster more interactions by saying, “I’m happy to help,” “Please let me know if you have any other questions,” and “Looking forward to hearing from you again.”

[However, if these statements are nothing but empty words with no real response and no action behind them then they are useless. It is our strong impression as former METABANK customers that the CEOs of METABANK have created all of the guidelines, which include a list of rote excuses for why it is always the customers’ fault for any problems they may have encountered. METABANK creates the problems by which they get rich and then richer; METABANK breaks with every expectation that any person would normally expect.

METABANK creates all the rules and retains the right to change all of the rules without notice. This is bad, but on top of that METABANK takes customer’s money and keeps us/them from having access to their own money while using the NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID BANK CARD.

The NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID BANK CARD amounts to being an interest free loan from customers to a very rich bank. The whole concept has been reversed. Potential customers are mislead into taking on such a card by the partner company who is in effect being used as a “PATSY” in this dynamic triangle of abuse of the consumer.]

I contend that more people would like their customer-service jobs and customers would be happier if they did what Jesse Richardson does.

“We love our customers,” Richardson says. She is conscious community officer for Conscious Box, a subscription service for eco-friendly products.

Seriously.

If you want a satisfying career helping solve problems for people who are frustrated, confused and sometimes angry, care for them no matter what.

Find a great company that values them and you.

In the 25 years I’ve counseled people with their careers, most tell me one thing: I want to be of service to others. Here’s your chance.

[As former customers of METABANK we had expected this kind of treatment, but METABANK and the NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID CARD ASSOCIATION act in a predatory manner so that they abuse their customers, only to move onto the next  person so they can dupe that person. The huge size of our population is how METABANK has been able to get away with this kind of scam for as long as they have. Only you can stop this kind of a scam.]

Career consultant Andrea Kay is the author of This Is How To Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want.

We Urge You Not To Invest in NASDAQ:CASH…..bankmeta

Meta Bank

MetaBank is one of the largest prepaid debit card issuers in the United States (more than 50% of the debit cards reviewed on GetDebit.com are issued by MetaBank). Through their premier Meta Payment Systems division, MetaBank services more than 500 prepaid card programs.

[Take Note of what you just read above:MetaBank services more than 500 prepaid card programs.

This is not an endorsement of METABANK or any of their affiliates.

We are consumers who were scammed while using MetaBank’s Prepaid Cards.

Above, please note that  METABANK is bragging about being the largest prepaid debit card issuer in the United States.

Bigger isn’t always better we have all learned in recent years!!!!]

MetaBank also serves as a traditional financial and lending institution providing a diverse product offering across several product lines including personal finance, commercial finance, mortgage services and agricultural services. MetaBank has 12 brick and mortar offices located in 4 distinct market areas. Offices include: Central and NW Iowa; Sioux Empire, South Dakota; and Brookings, South Dakota.

Meta’s subsidiary Meta Payment Systems (MPS) manages four business segments including: ATM Sponsorship, ACH Origination, Prepaid Debit Cards and other various Credit Products. The unique “Super Community” philosophy on banking has enabled MetaBank to realize continued growth, while in the same breath, keep its community banking roots. Inherent benefits to this mentality are streamlined efforts and rapid decision making at the local level and a more enhanced service package to the customer.

[Online banking has been problematic for many consumers. Customers feel abused and taken advantage of by Meta Bank/Meta Payment Systems. The prepaid card may say it was issued by Meta Bank, but Meta Payment System may then respond to your letters of inquiry so which are you actually dealing with?

Customers feel like they aren’t being heard, and METABANK isn’t listening to them nor is MetaBank actually addressing customers’ concerns and problems in any real way.   Customers complain that they have been passed from one customer service personnel to another and nothing ever gets satisfactorily resolved. The real issue is that MetaBank wishes to scam those others, the people they never see face to face.]

MetaBank’s “Money On The Move” platform is one of the many innovations [innovation or scam? For MetaBank former customers have found them to be one in the same]  created to enhance the customer experience.

[Why are customers still complaining then?]

There are four payment systems platforms:

Gift Card Platform

[Gift cards are often left with a certain amount of cash still on them…. Just give cash!!!! Avoid the middleman which is more often than not, META BANK. Why are you giving an interest free loan to Meta Bank???? Because that is really what you are doing along with most likely a small cash gift to METABANK too.  Think about this. Why give money to an unknown entity????]

  • Discover gift card purchase at bank
  • Electronic funds sent to Meta from bank [Direct access to your source of income.]
  • Gift card given to friend or family
  • Recipient spends at merchant [Not all merchants accept the prepaid card or consumers find that holds have been placed on the cards.]
  • Discover pays merchant and electronically moves money from Meta [How much control do you as a consumer have then over your own money assets?]

[This may actually be how Meta Bank categorizes what they do, but for consumers, many complain that they are shifted from phone MetaBank clerk to another one and their problem is discounted. Also customer service  clerks have lied to customers. It appears that the phone answerers have been given a list of reasons and ways to push the blame back off onto the consumer for a product that was never designed to actually meet the needs of the consumer.]

Rebate Card Platform

  • Product bought at merchant/rebate form filled out
  • Rebate processor electronically sends funds to MetaBank to hold
  • Meta sends Rebate MasterCard to customer in mail
  • Customer spends funds on card
  • MasterCard takes money from Meta to pay merchant

[MetaBank markets heavily to cultivate partner companies who market their product for MetaBank. To get money off of the rebate card, a consumer has to send their personal information to an unknown entity. In this time period, this kind of requirement is upsetting and of great concern. ]

Travel Card Platform

  • Visa travel card purchased at bank

[What bank? Oh Meta Bank controls all of the transaction from start to finish… that was our experience.]

  • MetaBank holds funds until needed [We couldn’t access any of our money]

[Meta Bank simply held all of my money, and I had put a lot of money on that card. Their clerk had asked when I would be leaving and for how long  I would be gone before I re-loaded it. However, Meta Bank never re-loaded the card. Meta Bank simply held my cash money for one full month as an interest free loan to them. Something is backwards in the thinking and practices within Meta Bank.      

Travel cards are issued in twos. One is the re-loadable card and the other has immediate access to the money. Meta Bank said they had loaded the wrong card because my spouse gave them the wrong number. The other card was in a drawer at home; it had never been issued to my spouse but to a child. The only number that my spouse had was the one that  I had emailed to my spouse from an internet cafe. It was the right number; why was Meta Bank trying to push blame off onto others rather than fix the problem?

The card was supposed to have been re-loaded, but it wasn’t. Meta Bank complained that I had never phoned them back to say that the card didn’t work. 

 Meta Bank accepted my cash money for the card and never loaded the card. I had no cash money to spend while I was on what was supposed to have been the trip of a lifetime in Europe. I was basically living as a homeless person in Paris. How could I have phoned Meta Bank or even emailed them.

That same year another traveler also couldn’t get the Meta Bank Card to work; no place would accept the card although it had been sold as a travel card. Meta Bank told this well-educated person that he hadn’t used the card properly.

Meta Bank always gets another entity to sell their product for them. This fact removes Meta Bank from having direct contact with the customer.

The other fact is that customers may be buying prepaid cards from an entity where they have been doing business for years so the customer has a sense of security in using the product presented by a place they have known and been known for years. 

Meta Bank courts the partner entity’s CEOs so that the CEO of the known company actually believes that what Meta Bank is selling may be a reliable product. On the second or third page, consumers may read that Meta Bank reserves the right to change all of the rules at any time without notice to their customers.  

Meta Bank told me that they had no contact information on file for me, but  this is a complete and outright lie.

Why did Meta Bank feel the need to lie? 

It was this need to lie to me as their former customer rather than to try to resolve the problem that Meta Bank had created that drew my attention. Then after that on-line, I saw that many, many other customers had complained about almost the same identical problem.] 

  • Customer uses card for travel expenses

[If only we could!!! We couldn’t get the travel cards to work. We were left with out access to our own cash money when we needed it the most.  This made us vulnerable. 

METABANK’s internal practices and policies have caused their customers great pain repeatedly; Meta Bank lies. It didn’t just happen to one person; the same thing happened to many customers over and over again.  

The way that Meta Bank handled the problem once it was brought to their attention was OUTRAGEOUS, abusive and offensive.]

  • Merchants paid by Visa as funds taken from Meta

[We suspect that the European places where our acquaintance couldn’t get anyone to accept his card in payment have been scammed by Meta Bank on the other end of the transaction.]

[The four highlighted items for  Meta Bank prepaid cards fail to assure consumers that they will be treated properly, fairly and with dignity by Meta Bank as their customers. In reality, Meta Bank’s travel cards, speaking from our real lived experience using it indicates that the card is designed to fail customers. This problem is compounded by the fact that Meta Bank has lied to consumers for why they can’t get the META BANK product to work. Therefore, from our experience even the four points above are lies along with being false and misleading empty promises.]

Reloadable Card Platform

  • Consumer buys card at retail merchant store
  • Consumer direct deposits employer paycheck on MetaBank card
  • Consumer buys groceries, clothing, gasoline and other goods and services on card
  • Visa pays merchants/service providers and transfers money to cover from MetaBank

[I couldn’t get Meta Bank to re-load our cards. Oh, Meta Bank took my cash money and kept it from me when I needed it the most, but I had no access to my own cash money.]

 [Therefore, we strongly urge any potential investors to seriously re-consider whether it is appropriate for them to invest in bankmeta.com or NASDAQ:CASH]

About MetaBank
Stock Symbol: NASDAQ:CASH
Website: http://www.bankmeta.com
Corporate Headquarters: Storm Lake, Iowa
Address: 121 East 5th Street, Storm Lake, IA, 50588-2339

On one of the links of the Meta Bank Website, we found the following which further highlights the fact that Meta Bank fails to address customers clearly expressed concerns with the METABANK PREPAID CARD. 

METABANK once again is talking down to customers as if we are an inconvenience but necessary source of income.

Prepaid Debit Card > Debit Card News > Prepaid Exaggerations

Prepaid Exaggerations

Dec 20, 2011 — As a larger and larger percentage of the population enters the prepaid debit card market, there are exaggerations and untruths perpetuated nationwide.

[Why would people speak out against a card that has failed to meet their needs!!!!? Oh yeah, the answer is obvious.]

When using any financial tool, there are methods that can financially benefit cardholders, while others that can be quite detrimental to the pocketbook.

[ None of us have found any merits to using a prepaid bank card now that we have given it a try. METABANK has created a prepaid bank card that they can manipulate internally so that they make even more than what the ordinary interest free loan would have given to them. Many, many former customers have complained about METABANK’s customer service over a period of many years.]

Below are a few prepaid card fallacies that we have outlined for you:

[fallacy is defined as 

fal·la·cy  noun.    plural. fal·la·cies

1. A false notion.

(Meta Bank is about to present statements which are fallacies because MetaBank uses their prepaid bank card to scam their customers so that METABANK can get access to even more money for themselves.)

2. A statement or an argument based on a false or invalid inference.

(Meta Bank is the master of inference that they use to hook in customers; this is how Meta Bank is able to hook in customers and what makes Meta Bank’s practices predatory.)
3. Incorrectness of reasoning or belief; erroneousness.

(We have wondered about the WHY that drives METABANK’s actions and practices. The need to win seems to factor in to the equation, but the practices of MetaBank are indicative of a very sick thought process. The need to lie to their own customer base is symptomatic of a very sick way of thinking.)
4. The quality of being deceptive.

(Meta Bank created the concept of Prepaid Bank Cards and then proceeded to push the very limits of the concept so that they abuse their own customers. This is very sick.]

Prepaid cards can solve all of your budgeting problems

– It’s true that cards like the KLS Prepaid Visa RushCard can be used as a tool to HELP you manage your money and most cards will just be declined if you try to spend past the amount loaded on the card. Still, financial responsibility comes with each person’s ability to plan, budget, save and control spending accordingly. There is no financial instrument that can solve all of your financial challenges for you. [KLS? Rush Card? … all METABANK products?]

 [Quite to the contrary, elsewhere on METABANK’s own pages, METABANK does say that by using their prepaid debit card and having it attached to the customer’s salary or government payments… then if they use the card often, they may be able to improve their credit history…. This has actually over a period of years been one of METABANK’s biggest selling points for their product…. I have seen it in print and complained about this marketing ploy frequently on this blog. METABANK may believe that they are glossing over this potential when they mention it in their publicity made to look like a page of bank information. However, the fact that it is clearly posted on METABANK’s websites and that it hasn’t been removed is a problem.] 

Prepaid cards have outrageous fees – While there are some prepaid cards that can accrue rather high fees, there are those like the Western Union MoneyWise MasterCard that have extremely competitive fees, not only with other prepaid cards, but traditional banks and check cashing services as well. Fee structures vary from card to card, so cardholders need to read the terms and conditions to determine most advantageous usage.

[In reading the terms listed above, we can see contradictions in what METABANK says. The word “outrageous” for example. Outrageous means: 

out·ra·geous

 

: very bad or wrong in a way that causes anger : too bad to be accepted or allowed

: very strange or unusual : surprising or shocking

Full Definition of OUTRAGEOUS

1  a :  exceeding the limits of what is usual   b  :  not conventional or matter-of-fact :  fantastic
2  :  violent, unrestrained
3  a :  going beyond all standards of what is right or decent<an outrageous disregard of human rights>
b :  deficient in propriety or good taste <outrageouslanguage> <outrageous manners>

Meta Bank takes their customer’s CASH MONEY UPFRONT so it is unthinkable that while METABANK gets what is basically an interest free loan from the customer and while Meta Bank limits what the customer can spend that they would also charge their customer any fee at all or even consider charging their customers a fee for using the META BANK PREPAID CARD. Because Meta Bank gets an interest free loan from their customers, charging a fee from that same customer for giving META BANK an interest free loan. META BANK has all of their customer’s  cash money upfront. According to the dictionary definition of what outrageous means then METABANK’s charging of any fee so that METABANK can get an interest free loan for their own benefit and use is in fact outrageous.

Check cashing fees????   People who struggle financially and who therefore have no bank account are often charged check cashing fees by banks.

METABANK takes an interest free loan when a customer puts money on a prepaid card. The mere thought that MetaBank would charge people who give them full control of their own cash money is more than outrageous; it is immoral. Rather than handing over their cash money to Meta Bank and giving up control of their own cash money, customers would be better served by paying in cash directly.

Prepaid cards will help you improve your credit score – This has been one of the biggest exaggerations of prepaid cards out there. The READYdebit Visa does provide a free “ScoreTracker” that allows you to track your credit score, credit attributes and debt over time. While that is a great feature, the three main credit bureaus do not recognize ANY prepaid card usage and user’s FICO scores will not be affected one way or the other.

Prepaid cards will help you improve your credit score” is what META BANK has actually posted on their own webpages over a period of years. It is therefore an exaggeration that METABANK makes regarding their own product. It would therefore appear that METABANK is far more dedicated to obfuscating their practices and policies than to providing a genuine service to customers…. Many METABANK customers have indicated that METABANK customer representatives have lied to them. This is the report of more than one former METABANK customer. In the statement above we see an example of the twisted thought patterns behind the actions we, as Meta Bank customers, have encountered. It wasn’t just one person, but many people who encountered the same problem with METABANK’s customer service.

Prepaid cards are ONLY for people with bad credit – A great many people with challenged credit do take advantage of prepaid cards so as not to live beyond their means. There is a significant amount of the population that use prepaid cards to save money on fees (bank, check cashing, overdraft, etc.), protect their identity or even enroll in programs like the BillMyParents Spend Smart MasterCard to assist their children in the art of financial management.

[The parents of college students, the college students themselves and others who appear to come from many socio-economic income brackets have equally complained about the poor and improper customer service that they have encountered at METABANK.]

Prepaid cards can only be loaded at retail stores – Green Dot MoneyPaks found at many retail stores are a very popular method for loading money on prepaid cards like the Mango MasterCard. Now, a large variety of prepaid debit cards can be purchased online and shipped directly to your home address in a matter of days. Mango actually delivers you a “Virtual” card the instant you are approved online for immediate purchasing transactions.

[Meta Bank gets retail stores to sell their prepaid cards. Some banks also sell the MetaBank Prepaid Cards. Other commercial enterprises have also sold the METABANK PREPAID CARD. It has become obvious that METABANK courts partner companies’ CEOs to get them to sell the MetaBank Prepaid Card card for them. It appears that METABANK is constantly looking for partner companies to market their product. METABANK needs partner companies and those companies’ customer list. This makes the above statement seem to be trivial and irrelevant.]

[Does the card work or will you be asked to give cash money up-front and then find you can’t access your own cash money? This is major customer complaint by former Meta Bank customer, including us. It is the abuse of the contract for the monetary gain by Meta Bank at the expense of the customer that irks us. The fact that Meta Bank retains the right to change the rules at any time without giving any notice to their customers is also immoral.]

[The anonymous on-line sale of the prepaid bank cards seems to be part of METABANK’s strategy. Meta Bank sells their product to a faceless public whom they treat as if they were completely devoid of humanity. Such treatment and abuse of customers by METABANK is immoral.]

These are few of the larger myths surrounding prepaid products that might have a little basis in truth, but not much. There are online information sources available to assist you in choosing the best prepaid card for you. Just take some time to investigate.

[As former MetaBank customers who were scammed, lied to and then abused by METABANK all that we can do is try to warn other consumers so that what happened to us never happens to another person…… This is a moral issue for the benefit of humanity because MetaBank failed us in the way that they treated not just one person, but many people in the past. Once the problem was brought to the attention of MetaBank, their customer service personnel consistently tried to push the blame for the problem back off onto the customer. This would indicate that the problems found within METABANK are by design and planned to fail the customers because no effort has ever been made to correct any of the reported problems for their customers on the part of Meta Bank.]

[Myths? This is a very curious take on the years and years of scams that METABANK has pushed off onto an unsuspecting public……  Is this just another form of publicity at which Meta Bank has shown itself to be masterful over and over again, just before their highly developed skill of being a collections agency via the Prepaid Bank Cards over which they manage 500.]

[If MetaBank hadn’t scammed us, lied to us and abused us, there wouldn’t have been any need to even create this blog site.

Bank reforms and far better banking regulations that are independently enforced are needed.

Meta Bank hasn’t acted as a friend to even their own customers. Metabank’s practices are counterintuitive so they have made a lot of money very fast almost as if no one was paying attention.

Those people who have been taken advantage of, lied to and abused by METABANK remember how they were treated. We want to protect other consumers.

Please do not  invest or encourage METABANK to continue to abuse consumers.]

Meta Bank offers Visa Prepaid Cards – A Warning to Potential Partner’s of Meta Bank

Visa Prepaid Card Programs

Need more Information?

Call 1-877-xxx-xxxx to speak with a sales representative.

There are many different categories for prepaid card programs.

[Meta Bank only really offers one product. Meta Bank uses many different names and diverse marketing techniques, but the product is always the same. Meta Bank is a collections agency and they are designed to operate as a strong arm collection agency. Your customer base will be driven away by how Meta Bank abuses them.]

We will work with you to tailor a custom prepaid card solution to meet your company’s needs.

[Meta Bank excels in marketing. We have observed that Meta Bank basically courts other companies’ CEOs promising to address that partner company’s real needs, but META BANK is like  “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”; Meta Bank will promise you and your company greater profits. At first, your bottom line may improve, but offended long term customers will discontinue to do business with you in the long haul. There is nothing new about what Meta Bank does but you will be led to believe that Meta Bank will improve your bottom line. It is a marketing gimmick that will appear to work at first, and then it will fail in the long term. META BANK is using your list of customer’s for their own financial gain; important data will be kept from you.  We have seen this before] 

We have broken down some of the more popular prepaid program types below.

Employee Rewards

When setting up a prepaid employee rewards program it is important to identify the goals the program is supposed to achieve, the determination of appropriate rewards and how the program will be communicated to your employees. We can provide you with a prepaid solution to fit your unique needs.

  • Employee Incentive & Recognition

[ Meta Bank uses this to get your employees to push their prepaid cards. Many consumers have complained about the horrible customer service they have gotten from META BANK.]

  • Sales Incentives

[The actual rewards for the income that META BANK CEOs will make is insignificant for the employees.]

  • Health & Wellness Programs  

[ This is a new kink and marketing gimmick by META BANK, but it actually highlights that the Affordable Health Care Act is greatly needed.]

  • Safety Programs

[ OSHA is still in place.]

Customer Incentives

Engage existing customers and draw in new ones with a prepaid customer incentive program. An effective customer incentive program will increase purchase frequency and provide unique customer data that can add valuable insight into the behavior of your customers.

[This is publicity and marketing. Customers are complaining about this product and how they have been treated.]

  • Customer Loyalty

[ Do not confuse “Customer Loyalty will real and improved customer service, but with gimmicks that will eventually put the partner company out of business.]

  • Customer Retention

[ The loyalty cards are designed to keep customers coming back to the same store. Every competitor is offering the same gimmick now. This idea has already reached its limits and full potential; customer retention on the long term will only work if it is based on quality customer service…. META BANK will never be able to provide you as their partner with anything but a fierce collections system based on lying to your existing customers. META BANK will destroy any sense of trust that you may have previously provided by way of service.]

  • Referral Programs

[MetaBank gets other corporate entities to market their cards]

  • Promotions

[These “Promotions” are also gimmicky ways to get your employees to sell the MetaBank product. As Meta Bank customers, we have found their customer service to be abusive and predatory. Partner companies will end up losing customers over the long haul.]

Cards are issued by MetaBank TM, Member FDIC, pursuant

to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

NOTE: If you have a problem using a VISA product that is offered by META BANK and you write to tell VISA that you are having a problem with their product, VISA will refer you back to META BANK and then META BANK’s Customer Abuse will begin in all earnest. Your life will become miserable. This was our experience using a VISA META BANK PREPAID CARD.