December 2, 2010

Kardashians Abandon Prepaid Kard Following Criticism

Kardashian Kard TV shows, retail stores, modeling, nabbing athletically-successful love interests—these are the fortes of the Kardashian family. But personal finance, really? Are you kidding me? Such was the tenor of the response to the unveiling of the Kardashian prepaid card on Nov. 10, leading the family to cut ties with the product—which bore both the Kardashian name and an image of Kim, Kourtney and Khloe—just 19 days later.

Initial reviews for the Kardashian Kard were scathing, largely reflecting the belief that the Kardashians’ popularity would negatively influence people’s financial decision making and have a particularly troubling impact on children. Such outcry reached a crescendo with Connecticut Attorney General and Senator-elect Richard Blumenthal’s Friday letter to University National Bank—the card’s issuer—criticizing the product and announcing that he would investigate whether it violated state laws protecting consumers from harmful credit issuer practices.

The Kardashian response: a letter sent Monday from their attorney requesting that the likeness of the sisters and the family name no longer be used in association with the card. It appears as if any potential financial gains garnered through affiliation with the card were not worth the bad press, and the Kardashians hope to simply distance themselves from the product and its issuer despite being partners in the venture from the start.
Was such criticism warranted though? Was the Kardashian Kard really as bad as people claimed it to be?

To find out, we at Card Hub compared it to the Green Dot® Gold Prepaid Visa® Card; one of the most popular prepaid cards on the market. The Kardashian Kard had higher fees pretty much across the board and charged for things like the payment of bills, withdrawal from ATMs and reloading money that were often free with the Green Dot card.

In answering the aforementioned questions it is also important to identify the target prepaid card demographic. Prepaid cards are best for people who either cannot get approved for a checking account (as a result of having overdrawn previous accounts too many times) or for those who do not meet the checking account requirements needed to avoid monthly fees. Such people are generally not the most informed consumers and thus run the risk of falling victim to predatory financial practices. Similarly, many critics worried that the Kardashians’ star power would blind consumers from the card’s high costs.

Therefore, the death of the Kardashian Kard should not be mourned. It was an inherently flawed product from the start, and it won’t be missed. Luckily, only 250 consumers got the card during its brief existence, according to University National Bank.

By Odysseas

1 Comment

Posted in Finance , World

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About the Author: Odysseas Papadimitriou

Odysseas Papadimitriou is the founder and CEO of Card Hub, a website that helps consumers compare credit cards and gift cards.

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One Comment on Kardashians Abandon Prepaid Kard Following Criticism / Add Your Comment

Rachelle says:

March 8, 2011 at 7:49 am

It seems like it was rough for Kardashians. They tried to gain popularity by using their name and skyrocket high fees. This is a no go, especially when there is big competition on the market.
My favorite from all the reloadable credit cardsis Simmons prepaid card. I suggest people to look around for better opportunities ATM.

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