T-Mobile Launches Prepaid Card

The phone company is the latest merchant to jump into the banking world with a prepaid card.

January 24, 2014

BELLEVUE, Wash. – T-Mobile is joining Walmart, Target, and Walgreens, among other retailers, to offer consumers its own prepaid card, the Washington Post reports. The number of Americans using prepaid cards has exploded in recent years as more consumers eschew traditional banks.

Consumers will be able to use T-Mobile’s Visa-branded card to deposit checks via smartphone camera, buy things, and pay bills. The card can be used at 42,000 ATMs around the United States without charge, and there’s no minimum balance requirement. The company said charges for using the card will be for “non-typical use,” such as at ATMs not in its network.

“There is a significant portion of Americans, 68 million adults, that rely on alternative financial services or don’t have traditional accounts, and this product will help free them in terms of time savings and cost savings,” said Michael Goo, vice president of marketing. “Our product is incredibly consumer-friendly.”

T-Mobile wireless customers will not have to pay monthly fees. Analysts view T-Mobile’s entrance into prepaid debit cards as a good move. “Prepaid wireless customers usually fall into a few categories: very budget-conscious, young or credit issues prevent them from getting a [traditional] wireless plan,” said Terrence P. Maher, corporate counsel at the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association. “These demographics also may be interested in a general-purpose, reloadable card, for the very same reasons.”

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