consumer – redesign

Finally, proposed protections on prepaid banking products

April 29, 2015November 20, 2024 Chuck Marshall

In November, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published proposed regulations seeking to protect consumers in a market that has mostly been ignored: prepaid banking products.

The prepaid product market has grown from a $1 billion business in 2003 to an estimated $100 billion in 2014, with no signs of slowing. About 8 percent of all U.S. households use prepaid card and accounts, representing the growing number of people without bank accounts. Typically, prepaid accounts provide a way to pay bills electronically or purchase items online for those without credit or debit cards.

What exactly are prepaid banking products? Mostly preloaded and reloadable debit cards, but the proposed regulations extend beyond any plastic in your wallet. The CFPB also seeks to regulate electronic code or any device designed to store prepaid funds or capable of being loaded with funds. That means the regulation would cover not only physical prepaid cards such as those issued by employers to pay wages or those provided to pay government benefits (such as unemployment), but also electronic wallets such as PayPal, Google Wallet or Venmo.

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redesign | legal: Corporations have the right to strip consumers of their rights. Sound fair to you?

April 28, 2015April 29, 2015 Chuck Marshall

Nearly four years ago, in a case called AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion¸ the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925 preempts any state law that prohibits a contract from barring class-wide arbitration. That dense bit of legalese essentially means that any corporation can take away your right to sue them in court, and instead force arbitration of your dispute. Not only that, but you can only arbitrate the dispute as to your claim alone — you cannot include any other people who may have been harmed by the same conduct.

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redesignQuiz: Why was this used car purchase a bad buy?

July 30, 2014 Chuck Marshall1 Comment

The image below is a CarFax report showing the title history of a used car recently purchased by an acquaintance. CarFax, in case you do not know, is the current industry leader providing auto title histories to consumers and dealers alike. CarFax markets itself as providing information that may impact the purchase decision of a car through a detailed VIN history.

For the purpose of this quiz, assume this car was sold at fair market value for a typical car of this make and model year. When I saw this CarFax report, I told my friend he should make all efforts to undo the deal immediately. There are at least two factors in this report that should have warned him away from purchasing this car for that price. List the factors and explain why this was a bad deal.

NOTE: I redacted the dealer’s name.