That decision, the company said, was often left up to the
individual states.But JP Morgan doesn't just handle
food stamps. JP Morgan also issues child support debit cards in 15
states and unemployment insurance debit cards in 7 states.
Of course JP Morgan is not the only big bank involved in this kind of
business. Several others are also making money in massive quantities on
the backs of the poor.
The following example comes from
a Huffington Post article....
Shawana Busby does not seem like the sort of customer
who would be at the center of a major bank's business plan. Out of work
for much of the last three years, she depends upon a $264-a-week
unemployment check from the state of South Carolina. But the state has
contracted with Bank of America to administer its unemployment benefits,
and Busby has frequently found herself incurring bank fees to get her
money.
To withdraw her benefits, Busby, 33, uses a Bank of America prepaid
debit card on which the state deposits her funds. She could visit a Bank
of America ATM free of charge. But this small community in the state's
rural center, her hometown, does not have a Bank of America branch.
Neither do the surrounding towns where she drops off her kids at school
and attends church.
She could drive north to Columbia, the state capital, and use a Bank
of America ATM there. But that entails a 50 mile drive, cutting into
her gas budget. So Busby visits the ATMs in her area and begrudgingly
accepts the fees, which reach as high as five dollars per transaction.
She estimates that she has paid at least $350 in fees to tap her
unemployment benefits.
There is something about all of this that just seems very, very wrong.
When we have good jobs, the big banks hit us with
outrageous bank fees and they try to get us enslaved to credit card debt.
When we are down on our luck and become
dependent on the government, the big banks still find ways of making money at our expense.
Why do the
banksters always seem to win and we always seem to lose?
