Hip hop mogul, Russell Simmons - or as he's known around these parts, 'Hustle Simmons' struck another victory for big banks against poor people. Hoorah for him! The debate on capitol hill that Russell Simmons and his new banking friends were having mostly involved so-called interchange fees, Interchange fees are incurred when a consumer uses their debit card at a retailer, the retailer's bank pays a 1 percent to 2 percent fee to the consumer's bank. The proposed bill was to allow retailers to cut the interchange fees, thereby allowing them to slash prices and pass on the savings to the consumer.
However, champion of the downtrodden, Russell Simmons - who, by the way, represents some of those banks being charged with his company UniRush, distributor of 'The Rush Card' - went on a campaign to make sure that interchange fees stay exactly the way they are.
Russell Simmons even went so far as to garner support on the web with a blog post with the headline, "Democrats, Don't Do This to the Poor!". Russell Simmons then wrote a plea to lawmakers suggesting that he represents the poor:
"I have worked all of my adult life as an advocate for the poor, the voiceless and the under-served," he wrote. "Debit cards are what keep the under-served -- including minorities, immigrants, the poor, soldiers, veterans and students -- from the claws of payday lenders and check cashers, from humiliating lines waiting to cash their paychecks and then more lines to pay their bills."
Meanwhile, the RushCard carries some of the highest fees in the industry. charging: monthly users are charged a $3 activation fee, plus $9.95 a month, $2.50 for an ATM withdrawal, $1 for a debit card transaction and 50 cents to check their balance at an ATM. "Prepaid cards like the RushCard have all the fees associated with the worst bank accounts but don't encourage you to develop a banking relationship that helps you develop assets," said Ed Mierzwinski, director of the consumer program at U.S. PIRG, a federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. "That particular card has practically a fee for looking at it."
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