Got unemployment insurance? You may want to load your monthly payments onto a Reliacard Visa, a prepaid, reloadable US Bank card through which the Department of Labor distributes insurance funds. Huliq has the details:
The Reliacard functions as a debit card and can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted. Consumers receive their funds directly to the card and avoid most of the common credit card fees. There is little risk of over-extending yourself because the funds go only so far as the money that you’ve allocated, though in some cases a charge may slip through and a $20 fee will be given. As long as customers utilize U.S. Bank ATMs there are no fees for balance inquiries or cash withdrawals; and the monthly fee of $2 only applies if the account is left inactive for more than 180 consecutive days.
Users cannot add additional funds to the account, as it is strictly for the depositing of unemployment insurance. Only the state can deposit funds to the Reliacard Visa. Also, in order to reduce fraud, U.S. Bank places daily limits on the amount of money that can be withdrawn from the card. If a consumer has to withdraw a large sum of money they will have to go straight to a bank teller.
Funds within the account do not accrue interest. Also, more than one card cannot be requested even for close family members. Still, in an unstable economy and with unemployment topping 7.2 percent in December the Reliacard Visa may be an option worth exploring.
How does the Reliacard visa beat getting unemployment funds deposited directly into your bank account? It doesn’t. But if you don’t have a bank account, and your state doesn’t offer a direct-deposit UI program, the ReliaCard system works well. Some more perks, from US Bank’s website:
* U.S. Bank provides government agencies with all of the necessary materials. Contact us today for more information.
* Cost savings – reduces disbursement expenses by replacing costly paper checks with an efficient electronic payment solution. Customers avoid the high cost of check-cashing facilities.
* Automatic approval – No customer credit approval or bank account is required.
In other words, the ReliaCard Visa targets those with horrible credit, no bank account, and who receive unemployment insurance benefits. They should have called it the HardUp Visa.
Reliacard is just one way for a company to take your money. There are fees that will chip away at your small unemployment funds. This is just another reason our economy has gone to crap. People who are just barely making things meet have fees when they use there money. Whats next are we going to start asking bums on the onramps to our freeways to start paying fees. What a ridiculous world this has turned into.
I was happy last year to recieve my little $126.00 check instead of a reliacard. I could cash the thing using my husbands bank account and not pay a dime. Now, I have to waste what little bit of money I’m getting to have access to it. What a rip off.
what are you people crying for I go to thier atm and draw all I can out as soon as it posts do’nt lose a dime
I did not receive my first Oregon unemployment check on time. When I called to ask about it. The first lady I had to talk with started firing questions at me like I was being interrogated for a crime. When I told her I was uncomfortable answering her questions she threatened to deny my unemployment. I asked to speak with someone else and she put me on hold for 30 minutes and denied my benefits before I got to speak to the next operator. Thank God I finaly get to speak to a nice person. She fixed my claim, but then she told me I had to use the reliacard until my direct deposit kicked in. I all read have to pay one overcharge.
I have paid over $200 in fees plus was robbed of $100 from my account through an ATM while I had my card in my purse. They are forcing this on me and this is my child’s money going down the drain. It’s hard enough to get these deadbeat parents to pay and now the bank is taking the childs’ money. People, we have got to stop taking anything that they try to choke down our throats!
This is how much fun I had with this piss-poor company today!
Called Marlene at 9:14 a.m. she told me that the
reason my card was showing a negative balance of
67.68 is because I went over my balance. When I did
the simple math it came up 33.95 not 68.67 before I
was able to tell her that she was incorrect about this simple math she transferred over to disputes.
(Now prior to this my card number was fraudulently used.
Thought this was all said, and done…..when one they issued the credit back onto my card…… and two they sent me a new card with the $72.21 ready, and willing to go!)
I was then speaking to Lee he gave me this little
song, and dance how 5-10% of the population does
not know how to send a fax, I have been sending
them for over a decade, I think that I know how to
do that. Then he proceeded to tell me that when
faxes come in sometimes that the ink is wrong so on
and so forth, rather than just telling me that he
will double check to see what happened to my fax. I
sent the fax twice on 5/27/09 the same day the
letter was dated from their office, also I received
confirmation twice that the fax was INDEED
RECEIVED. I kept trying to explain to him that I
did received confirmation twice, however he kept
being statistical with me. When I requested to
speak to a supervisor he told me that I could not,
then I asked could I speak to someone else he also
refused that option for me also. I since then
called back 4 times with both of them times
resulting in a hang-up in my face courtesy of Lee.
I have since then talked to customer service agent
and a supervisor twice, and received more
information about my option’s than I have from the
dispute department.
I called back one more time this time I spoke to
Marie lee’s buddy(in which she confirmed) I told
her the situation, I know that she informed Lee
that I was talking to one of his customer’s on the
phone because she was half listening to me.
I have worked in call center’s for most of my life,
I know all the trick’s of the trade, I have done,
and seen it all, in some cases at these call
center’s the customer is frowned down upon if they
are not nice enough to the person they are talking
to, and put at the bottom of the totem poll. Even
though this customer was put through the ringer has
done everything that was asked of them from the
company that they are trying to solve a problem
with, a quite frankly that is unfair however that
is the was the cookie crumbles in the call center
business.
Also good luck canceling the card, the just say let the balance run out, in other words they are going to nickel, and dime you to death until your balance is zero.
I hope USBank/ReiaCard burn in banking, and call center HELL!
“what are you people crying for I go to thier atm and draw all I can out as soon as it posts do’nt lose a dime”
Uh, the card issuer, US Bank, charges you to withdraw money from the account even from their ATMs. It’s incredible. Kick us while we’re down, won’t you?!
SVC CHG ATM WITHDRAW
US BANK PORTLAND
PORTLAND
Terminal: foobar -$ 1.50
I don’t understand why a government program such as unemployment would even deal with such a poor company like reliacard, when obviously it is so unreliable. Today my card has 300 dollars just sitting there, in my hand, goin to take the kids to the doc and stop for gas, use another card? Ok, try again, use another card this one is declined. Ok, call re lier card. Sorry we can’t take your call as we are experiencing high call volume, or in my language {we screwed something up keeping tons and tons of people from being able to access their money so we aren’t answering any phones} I think it is completely ridiculous. Either go back to checks that can actually be accessed or go with a company that doesn’t constantly have issues. Being a governmental issue that is approached by polotics, I can’t help but think, hey, is obama trying to prove something? Nah, its just the screwed up system screwing over its already screwed over people. I have worked all my life, hard serious work for the benefit of society, awesome the economy tears my job away, poof dealing with this crap.