In fact, this is one of the rare cases when the platitudes surrounding a new product launch provide an accurate reflection of the reality. But that is not the objective of either American Express or Wal-Mart. In fact, I remember a prepaid issuer commenting that the only way to make a prepaid program profitable is to charge a monthly fee. So the joint issuers are not making money from the prepaid program itself, that much is certain.
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Users can get their first book of 50 checks at no charge.īluebird is virtually fee-free - the only fees that can be applied are the $26 charge for ordering a check book, after using the original free set of checks, and the $2 fee for using the card at an ATM that doesn’t belong to the 22,000-strong MoneyPass network.
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The account holder can obtain an authorization approval online, over the phone or through the Bluebird mobile app and will then write the authorization code on the check, before giving it to the payee. The pre-authorization process serves the purpose of verifying the availability of sufficient funds in the Bluebird account to cover the check amount and it’s a fairly straightforward procedure. Once the permanent card has been activated, all funds placed into the Bluebird account are insured.Īnd here is what AmEx has to say about Bluebird’s new check feature:īluebird Members will have the ability to order Bluebird checks that they can use to pay bills and make purchases without worrying about insufficient funds or incurring overdraft fees because a Member’s funds are set aside during the pre-authorization process.
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During the registration process, the cardholder provides American Express with her personal information and, once her email address has been verified, the issuer will send her a permanent Bluebird card, with the cardholder’s name on it, to take the place of the starter card. In order for her to use all Bluebird features, the cardholder needs to register her account. When a consumer purchases a “Bluebird Account Set Up Kit” for $5 at a Wal-Mart, she can deposit up to $500 into it and start using the temporary prepaid card at any merchant that accepts American Express cards. Temporary are Bluebird accounts that have not been registered with American Express. Temporary account funds will not be FDIC insured. First, the FDIC insurance coverage:įunds in all permanent Bluebird Accounts will now be eligible for FDIC insurance, which allows members to arrange for direct deposit of U.S. Here is what American Express is telling us about Bluebird’s new features. So the upshot is that many unbanked consumers, who are prepaid cards’ most avid users, may now have a better checking account than their “banked” counterparts who are still relying on the more traditional option. Oh, and whereas checking accounts are not an option for consumers whose names are on the ChexSystems, Bluebird is available to everyone. Moreover, Bluebird accounts are now eligible for FDIC insurance.
Well, the checking account caveat no longer applies - last week American Express announced that Bluebird customers can now add checks to their prepaid accounts, into which they can deposit funds of up to $100,000 annually. So my advice was that, “unless you still write paper checks to pay your bills, you should seriously consider replacing - or supplementing - your existing checking account with Bluebird”. Back when I initially reviewed Bluebird - the prepaid card issued jointly by American Express and Wal-Mart - in October of last year, I noted the obvious - that is was by far the best prepaid card ever offered to American consumers which, unlike any of its predecessors, was a real alternative to checking accounts.
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