Employees Now Being Paid By Debit Cards

More employees are getting paid via payroll debit cards issued through their employer these days. It sounds simple, but the reality is that these employees, usually minimum wage earners, get paid even less. Such cards can be packed with fees to withdraw money, meaning some employees can end up making less than the minimum wage once the charges are added. Depending on which bank the debit card comes from, the employee is charged fees for initiating activity, transferring the money to another account, checking the card to see your balance, and an inactivity charge. One worker in Milwaukee, who makes $7.25 an hour at a local McDonald's, said fees associated with his JPMorgan Chase payroll card take $40-$50 a month out of his paycheck. Who wins? The banks, of course! The use of payroll cards is rapidly growing. Nearly $43 billion will be loaded onto these cards this year, and up to $68 billion is projected to be loaded onto debit cards by 2017. Companies that use the payroll debit cards are typically companies where employees earn minimum wage. McDonald's Taco Bell, Walgreen and Wal-Mart are just some of the companies using debit cards. In some cases workers have a choice in how they want to get paid: check, direct deposit or payroll debit card. In many situations, the employee is automatically enrolled into the debit card plan, and if he wants to opt out, there is a great deal of paper work involved. In other words, the employers are trying their best to have their employees take the debit card as payment for their work. The problem is, they are getting much less then they have actually earned. Would you go to work and upon getting your weekly pay, turn over $5-$10 to your company just to get your paycheck? I think not. These fees are earning millions for the banks, so I don't know if this practice is going to change anytime soon. It seems that even though we all believe the banks' practices are at the very least immoral, very little is done to protect consumers. Remember how many years banks collected egregious interest fees on credit cards before anything was done? Some workers are speaking up. A young woman filed a law suit against her local McDonald's for not allowing her to get paid by check or direct deposit. They told her the only way she could be paid was by debit card. This is now a class action law suit, so we'll see what happens. Many of the employers offering the payroll debit card do offer other methods of payment, but they don't talk about it, and typically enroll everyone in the debit card plan. People have got to stand up for themselves and complain. This is just not right. The rich get richer (the banks) and the poor get poorer. (minimum wage employees). Thanks to all the investigative reporters and employees who have brought this to our attention. It is just plain wrong to have to pay to get your own money. I hope our inactive congress will look into this, and make this practice illegal. How long it will take is the big question.