Complaint Review: Wired Card Wired Plastic - Bountiful Nevada

I have mixed feeling about this company. I've been a customer with wired plastic since January of 2007 and I don't pay a monthly fee on my card. The only fees I pay are the $1.95 atm withdraw fee, $0.95 click n pay fee if I want a check sent on my behalf from wired plastic and a $0.95 pin transaction fee if I choose debit and get cash back. There customer service reps are not all that smart. In July of 2007 I got hit with double transactions and it took wired plastic a week to finally figure out that it was on their end. And recently I was scheduled to move to a new apartment and I had to renew my 30 day move out notice because these people didn't fax the needed information to the apartment place I applied for and they would lie and say no one was their to answer the fax when no one has to be their to answer it. But overall I say it's better than a regular bank account because with wired plastic if you spend some money the new balance is available instantly unlike a regular bank that runs a day behind on updating balances.

I had a problem with fraud on a checking account I had a couple of years ago. I closed it and decided to do without one for a while. I researched a few stored value cards, and Wired Plastic had the lowest fees and didn't seem to do things like offer cash advances and all that which to me was a plus in their favor. I never had trouble putting my paycheck on it direct deposit, and the only place I couldn't use it was the money order machines at 7-11 stores. Yes, there were (and are) some issues with it. 1) you can't write checks on it; 2) you can't deposit items such as checks written to you on it (and this was a problem for me because my employer underpaid me at least three times this past year and had to issue me a separate check from my DD to make up what they owed me. 3) you'd not supposed to do regular payments from it, such as setting up monthly payments to your utility company, etc (though I did do this anyway). But there are a lot of good things about it. It does serve it's purpose, and the monthly fee is less than half of what a lot of similar cards charge. It's good for a lot of people who either can't get, or don't want, a checking account. It is, however, not for everyone. I recently had a few problems with Wired Plastic. I bought some gas, or tried to, and eve though I had about $600 on my account at the time, the transaction was declined, and despite calling WP and doing a conference call with the merchant, WP refused to release the $50 reserve the take out for gas sales for 30 days. Then I started having issues at a couple of merchants with the card working that I had not had before, even when there were more than enough funds available. I decided to open a checking account again, and have switched my DD over to that account. I am cancelling my Wired Plastic card. End of story for me. However, I still think it is a decent card for people wishing to have a debit card but can't get or don't want, a checking account.

Never did I think for a second Wired Plastic could rebuild credit! I'm sure some commission-hungry affiliates will lie though and should be reported as breaking their agreement with Wired Plastic. I've had a pretty good experience with Wired Plastic. I hate banks and their insane fees, so I moved to prepaid, and for the most part Wired Plastic has been good--low fees and easy to manage. However be careful! They are under the impression that because they "are not a bank" that they can flout federal laws and regulations on electronic transactions. Their fraud department is worthless, and complaints are often sent to the wrong department--but you won't find that out for weeks. My issue was with an ATM that ate $130 of my money, and Wired Plastic has offered ZERO help in getting it back. The ATM owner only wanted a report from Wired Plastic concerning the error, and after 2 months, that has been impossible to get. Federal law gives any card issuer only 10 days to investigate and 3 more to return my money or prove I don't deserve it. They've done neither. So be careful. You have NO ONE on your side with Wired Plastic and likely other prepaid cards. They think they are above the law. If someone somehow wipes out your account, you probably will NOT get your money back. Trust me. If there is a dispute, you probably will NOT get your money back. If there's an ATM error, you most certainly will not get your money back. These baffoons didn't know how to even handle this problem, much less the federal regulations governing ATM errors. And by signing up for the card, you agreed to arbitration instead of the legal system. How worried do you think they are when problems arise? So if you CAN, I'd say stick to real bank accounts where you can see a person face to face when there's a problem. Companies like Wired Plastic simply don't give a crap about you or YOUR money--as long as they get THEIRS.

I must assume too that Bryon can pick and choose his credit cards but there are alot of us out here who do not have that option. I used to have fantastic credit but fell on very hard times due to illness which has resulted in my credit being destroyed and no checking account. Thank God for wired plastic ! The fees are no worse to me than any other credit card and certainly better than secured credit cards with their hidden fees. I had one of those and cancelled it. When I signed up with wired plastic I understood exactly what I was doing. I think they made it very clear what they offered. It has made it so much easier for me to pay my bills by phone since I am disabled and cannot get out to do this. Also I can shop online with my card. I have had no problem with wired plastic, they have been fantastic and made my life easier. I hope to build my credit back by paying off debits ( which WILL report to credit agencies) and this card is helping me to do that! So, Bryon , we are not dummies that are unable to read, we are just grateful for companies that understand our plight. Bryon please LEAVE them alone!! Oh, and I am in no way connected to or affliated with wired plastic or anyone connected to them.

I am writing as far as the comments written about the wired plastic mastercard and visa. I have had both cards and they are very good. I have my social security check direct deposited into my account. Thier customer service is second to none, you are never left on hold and they are very helpful. If you cannot get a regular bank debit or credit card, this is for you. Some people just want to see the bad in everything. Perhaps there are different wired plastic cards, but I cannot complain about the one I have and have nothing bad to say about them.

I don't see what the big dealis on Wired Plastic, weather a debut or credit card. It works the same way. You need it for car rental, and on line purchases. What makes it good, it can be in place of a checking account, and it can not run over the amount on the card. So, no late fees, overlimit fees, etc. Just one monthly charge, so it is chesper to maintain then another bank card. What is the problem with that.

Ok we all know that the internet is huge. Anybody can copy a picture of the Wiredplastic card and say what they want about it. I know that any company that is marketing the wireplastic card and is a direct affiliate of this pre-paid card will post the truth about how it works and what it does and doesn't do for you. So lets think about it. If your going to be siging up for anything on the internet and you dont' check it out on the homepage before you buy it you could be throwing your money away. Again anyone can advertise what they want about anything.

First I agree with Gregg that "stored value" cards are a useful product for those who are otherwise "unbanked." They should cost less compared to the alternative of using a currency exchange or check cashing store, as we call them here. Taking a paycheck to its original bank may be the least expensive of all, but it may not be allowed or possible. And it just gives you cash, which isn't very useful for paying utility bills, buying online, etc. But Byron is exactly right that the Wired Plastic is often being marketed deceptively by third parties who get a commission. The parent company appears to be allowing it. He concludes that they are willing to "let our marketing partners say whatever they want as long as it sells cards" and I agree with him. This is bad business practice. I found two common claims about Wired Plastic when I looked at a few third party marketer's sites today. The first is "Rebuild Your Credit". This is completely false. Use of the Wired Plastic card or other stored value card will not put any good reports in a consumer's credit bureau files. These cards may look like credit cards, but they do not allow the holder to use credit, i.e. spend money that they don't have now and repay it later. So there is no credit involved and there is nothing of meaning to report to a credit bureau. The other claim I found often about Wired Plastic is "NO Annual Fee." This is a half-truth, or as some more strident advocates would say, a lie. There is a monthly fee of $6.95, which is equivalent to a rather steep $83.40 per year. But all these cards have various fees, and the fees for other activities such as making purchases or cash withdrawls are less with Wired Plastic than others. So the consumer should compare the total fees given his typical use of the card, and choose the one that is overall the best deal.

I am not an employee or in any way associated with the Wired Plastic card. But I have one in my wallet. And I've fairly thoroughly researched not only Wired Plastic in particular, but a wide variety of personalized, pre-paid cards bearing either the VISA or MasterCard logo, generally, as part of some research I'm doing regarding an ATM-related product I'm developing for potential use in the fast food industry and, later, in a number of other industries. Other than the Wired Plastic card I'm carrying in my wallet, I am not doing business with Wired Plastic nor have I any special loyalty or allegiance to them. That having been said, I may very well select them as the default debit card provider for the product I'm developing... but that's a ways down the road. I haven't even approached Wired Plastic with the idea yet. My point in disclosing all this is that I want the reader to understand that I'm not any sort of paid or in any other way self-interested apologist for Wired Plastic. I don't know the self-described "consumer advocate" Bryon, from Atlanta, GA, who has posted his anti-Wired Plastic rhetoric here. But I'm a little concerned about -- and, frankly, a bit unimpressed with -- the overall tenor, sarcasm and shrill of his writings. Don't get me wrong, I respect his desire to warn people about credit/debit card rip-offs. And I'm the first to agree that there are plenty of them out there that are quite worthy of Bryon's kind of emotional red flag waving. But implicit in the style of his writing is a jaded and highly judgmental presupposition that Wired Plastic is just like or no better than all the other debit card providers out there -- including ones that really *have* been shown to be quite disreputable. I've read fairly carefully Wired Plastic's various advertising claims over time, as well as the terms set forth on its web site and in its user agreement. To be candid, I am hard-pressed to find the kind of language in any of it that is deserving of Bryon's kind of commentary. The advertising claim that Wired Plastic is "better than a secured credit card" is not the kind of definitive language that consumer advocate groups typically seize upon. I know because I'm a member of several of them, along with being a card-carrying member of the ACLU which, as you probably have noticed, doesn't usually let people get away with too much activity which ultimately hurts people. I, too, am always angered by misleading advertising claims. But "better than a secured credit card" is inherently a statement of opinion. Had Wired Plastic said "better than... because" and then stated reasons which were patently untrue, then that would be another matter altogether. But merely stating that the Wired Plastic card is "better (for unspecified reasons) than a secured credit card" is hardly worthy of the kind of complaint that Bryon has lodged here. In our lifetimes, hundreds of thousands of companies have claimed in their advertising that their products were "better" somehow than their competition's. Some of them proceeded to explain why and how in their advertising, and other didn't. But none of them, by virtue of that claim alone, has been viewed by consumer advocate groups, or by the Federal Trade Commission, or by their respective state Attorney Generals Office's Consumer Protection Divisions as fundamentally misleading or fraudulent. Whether one product is "better" than another is a highly subjective thing, the determination of which depends in largest measure on the personal circumstances and needs of person who will ultimately use the product. And it's all very relative. One man's ceiling, after all, is another man's floor. It just depends on one's situation. Cards like that offered by Wired Plastic are aimed, primarily, at what the industry calls the "unbanked" or the "under-banked" -- people who cannot qualify for a traditional checking or savings account at a regular FDIC-insured bank because, for example, they may have bounced a few checks or somehow became overdrawn without remediation at a previous bank and are now, therefore, listed in the ChexSystems or the SCAN databases (which most banks check and rely on before allowing a person to open a new savings or checking account); or who can't qualify for a normal credit card bearing either the VISA or MasterCard logos because of their poor credit rating, generally. The ability to obtain a plastic card with a properly-encoded magnetic stripe on its back, and a VISA or MasterCard logo on its front, and which can then be used to make purchases in stores or on the Internet, or which can even be used for identification occasionally, is indescribably valuable to the "unbanked" and/or the "under-banked." Such cards as the Wired Plastic card are typically less expensive (in terms of up-front cash required to get the card working) than secured credit cards which require security deposits of, typically, from around $200 to as much as $5,000 before the secured card may be used. In addition, secured credit cards usually have much higher application fees, huge one-time administrative fees, exorbitant interest rates, and much higher annual fees and/or monthly fees than the Wired Plastic card charges. Stated another way, secured credit card providers are notorious for effectively gouging their applicants because they know said applicants pretty much have no other choices. As high as Bryon may feel the Wired Plastic card's fees are (and, yes, they're a little higher -- but not much higher -- than most true banks typically charges for the same types of services), what Wired Plastic charges is tremendously less, typically, than most secured credit card providers charge. So, strictly from an up-front and then, later, a monthly cash-flow perspective, the Wired Plastic card really *can* be said to be inherently "better" than most secured credit cards, can't it? Nowhere in anything I've ever read about the Wired Plastic card -- at least nothing I've ever read that was either written or approved by the folks at Wired Plastic -- have I seen a claim that the Wired Plastic card is, or is just like, a true bank checking account. Go back and read the words carefully. There is nothing confusing or misleading about them. There is full disclosure for anyone who bothers to read everything before they sign anything -- which is the oldest piece of sage advice that any of use has ever been given... and we've all been given that advice. Granted, I've seen the words "virtual banking/checking account privileges" associated with the Wired Plastic card in advertising. But that phrase means exactly what it says and not one thing more. There is nothing deceptive about it. The dictionary definition of the word "virtual" means "being actually such in almost every respect" or "being such in essence or effect though not in actual fact." And there is no doubt that the functional capabilities of Wired Plastic cardholders are very similar indeed to those of traditional bank checking account holders -- similar enough, I would say, that the word "virtual" is certainly appropriate in this case. It's at least accurate. Yes, it's true that a Wired Plastic cardholder cannot deposit checks written to him/her (aka, "third party" checks) directly into his/her Wired Plastic account. A Wired Plastic cardholder would first need to get that check cashed somehow -- perhaps at a currency exchange or, better yet, at the check maker's bank -- before he/she could deposit the proceeds from it into his/her Wired Plastic account. And, yes, it's true that the Wired Plastic terms of service agreement clearly states that, though a true FDIC-insured bank is involved in the processing of certain kinds of Wired Plastic transactions (such as wire transfers or payroll direct deposits, for example), no actual "checking" or "savings" account is opened in the cardholder's name by mere virtue of the fact that he/she has opened a Wired Plastic cardholder account. And it is also fully disclosed and made clear that funds deposited into one's Wired Plastic account are not FDIC insured (as funds deposited into a true bank checking account would be). But Wired Plastic cardholders *can* use their cards just exactly like the debit check cards that banks usually issue in conjunction with their checking accounts. And, just like banks which offer online "billpay" services associated with their checking accounts, Wired Plastic cardholders can login to their accounts on the www.mywiredplastic.com website and they can pay their bills or, in effect, issue checks -- on a recurring or on a one-time basis -- to pretty much anyone on the planet. Like a true bank checking account, Wired Plastic cardholders may also have their paychecks direct-deposited into their Wired Plastic accounts -- for free, I might add -- making it highly valuable to those who cannot obtain a true bank checking account through normal means, but who nevertheless require a means of receiving their paychecks and converting it into cash which they can use to pay their bills, buy food, pay the rent, etc. Such often include persons of color who live in economically downtrodden or otherwise "low-income" neighborhoods; or may include recent immigrants to this country -- who, granted, may or may not be "legal" -- but who, nevertheless earned their paychecks fair and square and need a way to convert them into cold, hard cash. If such persons don't have real bank checking accounts into which they may deposit their paychecks, or if they have no checking accounts into which their employers may direct-deposit them, then those unfortunate people end-up at the mercy of neighborhood currency exchanges which charge outrageous fees to cash paychecks. I wouldn't wish *that* on anyone... would you? Even if the aforementioned person of color or immigrant worker hand-carries their paychecks to their employer's banks (i.e., the "maker's" banks) for cashing, he or she may be asked by the tellers therein for several forms of identification -- including a current (i.e., an unexpired) credit or debit card bearing a VISA or MasterCard logo, with their name imprinted thereon -- before they will cash said checks. And sometimes said banks also charge a fee (albeit usually lower than a currency exchange's fee) because said person-of-color or immigrant employee doesn't have an account there. Wired Plastic's free employer direct-deposit capability helps resolve the above-described check-cashing problem. And it's worthy of note that most (certainly not all, but at least most) secured credit cards have no payroll direct deposit capability like Wired Plastic does. Of course I realize that the Wired Plastic payroll method is not a perfect solution, in part because once the money is in the employee's Wired Plastic account, said employee must incur ATM fees in order to withdraw any of it in cash. But if all he/she ever withdraws in cash each month is a little pocket money, and then if he/she uses the Wired Plastic equivalent of a bank's "online billpay" service and/or actual presentation of the card bearing the MasterCard logo for all other payments and purchases, then his/her accumulated fees in a typical month will almost certainly be less than what a currency exchange would have charged him/her to cash his/her original paycheck in the first place. From the viewpoint of someone who is "unbanked" or "under-banked," I ask you: Who is Bryon (or anyone else, for that matter) to say that the Wired Plastic method, under those circumstances, isn't inherently "better" than either a true bank checking account or a secured credit card? Wired Plastic's features are actually very much like a true bank checking account in many (but certainly not all) ways. Of course it's not a true bank checking account... no one ever said it was. Wired Plastic carefully chose the words "virtual banking/checking account privileges" in its advertising. That was no accident. And, in my opinion, that's wholly appropriate. Now, I admit that consumer-advocate-Bryon makes at least one point that is quite valid, and that is that the Wired Plastic card (or any other card of its type) is not really going to be very useful as a tool for rebuilding credit. And any claims by Wired Plastic or anyone else marketing such an instrument would be wrong. Though I've never seen such claims anywhere by Wired Plastic, if Bryon has seen them, then I would agree with him that that's not a good thing. But, I repeat: I have never seen Wired Plastic make such claims. Secured credit cards are better for credit rebuilding because they (most of them, at least) really do report the cardholder's timely payments (or late payments, if that's the case) to the national credit bureaus. In time, a long and consistent track record of timely payments on one's secured credit card account could be worth some serious positive credit score points on one's credit record. While it's not an ideal solution, it's certainly one that is useful and potentially valuable to those who have some serious credit problems in their past, who have since mended their ways and have become more generally responsible individuals, and who now need to somehow claw their way back to fundamental creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders. For that purpose, a secured credit card is clearly "better" than something like the Wired Plastic card. No question about it. But for the "unbanked" and/or "under-banked" in America today, what the Wired Plastic card can provide is invaluable. Consumer-advocate-Bryon may believe otherwise, but perhaps he's viewing the situation through the eyes of someone who's white, economically empowered, and who, therefore, may freely choose between secured credit cards, true bank accounts, or pre-paid cards such as Wired Plastic. If so, that's nice and I'm happy for him. But those of us who have spent a good deal of time working with persons who have no such choices because they have, for whatever reason, fallen on hard times or are recent immigrants -- those who banks and lenders refer to as the "unbanked" and/or "under-banked" -- have observed that such persons have some real and unnecessary problems transacting business in our high-tech, increasingly "cashless" society. Those of us who are economically empowered and who have choices sometimes take for granted the transaction tools and methods we use every day. But they are not "granted" to those who have fallen on hard times (for reasons which are really none of our business), or who are hard-working recent arrivals to this country. Instruments such as the Wired Plastic card (which, admittedly charge a bit more than most banks) are, for those people, a very practical and reasonable alternative -- at least until they are able to effectively raise their socio-economic standing, generally, and can then avail themselves of more traditional financial vehicles... ...such as empowered people, like Bryon, enjoy. Respectfully submitted,

Hi! Well...I'm glad that after all the fees they charge, they're at least doing their part of keeping customers happy. Fine. I wish them all the luck in the world. I am happy to report that newcheckingaccount.com has changed the fraudulent page in question...but only after much work and complaints on my part. I cannot recommend this card...of all the cards out there...not one has taken more of my time exposing false claims than this one.. Their policy of "let's_let_out_marketing_partners_say_ anything_they_want_as_long_as_it_sells_cards is just plain unacceptable. They ignore all my email requests... and if they respond at all...they pretend they knew nothing about the false claims. They've done this at least five times with me. Will there be a next time? Of course. I will continue to do what I can since this is standard-operating-procedure for them. :(

I would like to respond to the above comments about wired plastic. I have had my wired plastic card for about 6 months and love it. I had a lot of problems with banks and the wired plastic card has been a life saver. My check is direct deposted into my wired plastic account and it has never been late. I think wired plastic is better than a bank, any questions I have ever had they were answered promply by wired plastic and to my satisfaction, I would recommend them to anyone. The only thing I would like to say about the above complaint is you can't please everyone all of the time.

Hi again, Sadly, this company and/or it's partners believe that in order to sell enough of these cards, we going to have to misrepresent this card in one or many ways. Well...here's the latest...it's a checking account. Only thing is: No it's not. Hi! Check this out: http://newcheckingaccount.com Go ahead and send the first email...then respond to the second one and get a UN and password within seconds. It prolly is the same one I was given: UN: 10978 and PW: 3737. There it is: ..complete banking/checking account privileges...uhh. Nope. From the "Wired Plastic" agreement: "The value stored on the Card is not held in a checking or other consumer asset account at the Issuer" located here: https://secure1.galileoprocessing.com/apply/terms.html Oh...ops! In this agreement we learn: 1. Not a checking account 2. Can't write checks if it's not a checking account 3. Can't make deposits of checks written to you. 4. Can't make deposits of money orders either. Nope, you have to add value @ Western Union and other places.