Most of us have done it to save a little time, used an atm not from our bank and had to pay a a couple of bucks in a service fee. Imagine if you had to pay that same atm fee to get access to your unemployment benefits. Its not taking much imagination for some people, it is very much their reality. The folks who are out of work and are having to stretch their dollars may also have to hand some of them over just to get their payments.
Patricia Glandon was laid off in December of last year. Like a lot hardworking people who can be found these days at Michigan Works, Patricia knows how you view a dollar changes when they stop coming in the form of a paycheck. Pat says "you start watching your pennies when you are unemployed you want to buy you ask do I need or do I want it." Right now Pat wants to learn new skills to find a new job, what she needs is her bimonthly unemployment payments. Pat chose to have her unemployment payments direct deposited into her bank account. One of two new options for those collecting. She had the choice, because she has a savings account in which her check can be deposited, she says not everyone has that option, "people who don't have any banking facilities, they are stuck taking that card and paying to get their money."
That's right Pat says paying to get their money. Here's why! If you don't choose direct deposit, you can have your unemployment payments put on a debit card like this one issued by chase banks. It works just like a debit card but some complain about what they describe as high number of fees involved.
Pat says "I have been told by people who have the debit card there was a fee every time they got their money. Whoever thought of charging people to have a debit card and taking away some of what little money they get because they are unemployed, kind of a stinker."
So what kinds of fees are we talking about? Here is the break down...
Every two weeks you get:
Two free atm withdrawals after that, it costs you 1.50 per transaction.
One free bank teller withdraw after that its 4 dollars per visit.
Want to just check how much money you have in your account? its free once then a dollar per check.
There are more fees and they may not seem like much, but on a limited budget, where every dollar counts, Patricia says something about these debit cards just isn't right, "its your money you shouldn't have to pay anything because I am not paying anything with direct deposit. So I am getting my whole check people who are using the card aren't."
So why the fees? I contacted Chase headquarters. They tell me the fees are to cover their costs of processing transactions.
Chase says "if the unemployed make wise choices they can reduce the number of fees they have to pay." They went on to admit that not only are the collecting the fee from the unemployed, but they are also getting paid by the state to issue and oversee the cards.
Chase says they can do this type of banking for less money that the state, so they claim while the debit card may not save the unemployed money, it does save it for other taxpayers.
Phone calls to the State Unemployment Office to find out how money was being saved, and how much the state is paying to have Chase oversee the payments were not returned.
Do have any tips for surviving on unemployment? Dealing with the unemployment offices? Share them with your fellow viewer below!
