UniRush Lowers Prepaid Card Fees, Makes Bill-Pay Free

UniRush LLC said Thursday that it is eliminating a string of fees for its reloadable prepaid RushCard and also launching a new pricing plan for customers.

Beginning in February, the company will end fees for bill pay enrollment, individual bill pay transactions, plan changes and replacement cards across all RushCard products.

The company also said that it would lower fees on card-to-card transfers between its cards from $2.95 to 99 cents.

This is the second price cut for the RushCard within a year. In January 2011, UniRush established card-activation fees of $3.95 and $14.95 depending on the product. Its earlier activation fee was $19.95.

The company also recently launched a program where customers who maintain an averaged balance of at least $500 across all accounts receive a $2 monthly rebate.

Under the new RushUnlimited Plan, which will be available in March, customers will be able to make unlimited signature and PIN transactions for a monthly fee. Customers who use direct deposit for their paychecks will be charged $5.95 a month while other customers will pay $7.95 per month. UniRush's earlier offered two monthly fee options: a flat $9.95 or a fee of $1 per transaction, which would be capped at $10 a month.

UniRush's new pricing puts it in line with Green Dot Corp., which charges $5.95 a month on most products (Green Dot's fee can be waived under certain conditions).

Prepaid card companies have been feeling the pressure to lower fees as newer and less pricey competitors have entered the marketplace. Finance guru Suze Orman introduced this month a prepaid card that charges $3 a month. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also charges $3 a month for its prepaid card. American Express Co. launched in June a prepaid card that has almost no fees.

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