Inclusion For Unbanked Americans ) (NAPSA)—According to a ters, The card users can swipe their recent Federal Deposit Insurance cards in stores to make purchases Corporation (FDIC) survey, more andshopandpaybills online. than 68 million Americans live For some people, going from day to day in a cash-only economy. cash to electronic payments will They pay their bills and buy gro- take somegetting used to. Short ceries with cash and what money of using prepaid gift cards, many they save is stuffed under the unbanked Americans have never proverbial mattress. madeelectronic payments. Master They are classified as un- Your Card, a public education probanked or underbanked, meaning gram sponsored by MasterCard, is they havelittle to no accessto tra- working with these groupsto eduditional bankingservices. cate them on how they can get the For decades, the financially most for their money. underserved have had to make The company has added new their payments and access their consumer-protection standardsfor money the hard way. Now, how- all MasterCard-branded employee ever, that’s changing with the payroll cards for the benefit of growing use of payroll cards. those without bank accounts who Employers are increasingly mov- otherwise are at the whim of paying away from issuing paper day lenders and check cashers. checks to paying their unbanked Under these new rules, employers workers with prepaid payroll and payroll card providers must cards. In 2012 alone, more than offer consumers at least onefee$34 billion was loaded onto 4.6 million active payroll cards, according to the Aite Group. By 2017, it is expected that $69 billion will be loaded onto 10.8 million cards. Unbanked workers today can enjoy the same conveniences and protections with their payroll cards that most people experience with their credit and debit cards. Funds are available immediately, which eliminatesthe need to visit and pay exorbitant fees at check-cashing cen- free cash withdrawal per pay period, free access to accountinformation online, and protection and zeroliability if the cardis lost or stolen. These standards were developed in consultation with customers and community organizations through the Master Your Card and Master Your Card: Oportunidad public education programs. Learn More For more information, visit www.masteryourcardusa.org.
