A computer error, which caused thousands of prepaid RushCard holders to lose access to their own money, has still not been fixed after many days. As a result, angry customers are venting their feelings on social media and complaining to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The problem started on Oct.12 when Russell Simmons' RushCard changed to a new payment processor. The switch was badly botched and resulted in hundreds of thousands of RushCard users being unable to use their cards to access funds.
RushCard is not a credit card, but a debit card that allows holders to load money into and use as they would a debit or credit card.
RushCard, along with other similar cards such as NetSpend and Green Dot, is aimed at the 58 million "underbanked" Americans who don't have bank accounts. That could be because they don't meet minimum deposit requirements, don't have proper paperwork, or have been denied access to bank accounts due to prior financial issues.
Many loadable cardholders have their salary and other funds loaded onto the cards via direct deposit. Therefore, lack of access to the funds on one's card is tantamount to lack of access to the money in one's checking account. The problems have persisted for some for well over a week, which means some families can't buy food and gas, or pay bills.
The plight of one cardholder, Derrell Ward, of Calumet City, Illinois, echoed that of many:
"My card was inactive for seven complete days with no information, no calls, no notification, no nothing," he said. "My card was dead. I had over $500 on my card. It was a bad situation."
When Ward's card was finally reactivated on Monday, it had a balance of $5 instead of $500. Ward says he's done with RushCard and will switch to a traditional credit union. For now, though, there's still the matter of getting his proper balance back and resolving the issues of others who have had similar problems.
Simmons claims that most of those affected have had their situations resolved, and that he and the company will work until every card is back in order.
Fees on the cards have been waived for all customers for the months of November through February.
Meanwhile, angry customers just want access to their money, and complaints about the ironically named company are now flowing into the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
