NetSpend Launches Prepaid Card With BET Network

Published March 30, 2012, 12:30 p.m. EDT

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Updated March 30, 2012, 11:30 a.m. EDT

1 Min Read

NetSpend Holdings Inc. has launched a prepaid MasterCard developed with entertainment conglomerate BET Network, the companies announced.

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The companies said last May they were working together to create a new prepaid product (see story). On March 29, NetSpend and BET announced the Control Card, which provides users with a $10 “purchase cushion” for overdrafts and a direct-deposit option that the companies say is faster than conventional bank polices allow. The cushion is provided at no fee and is paid back automatically with funds from the user's next deposit.

"Millions of African Americans are unable to access banking services, which are a staple of most Americans' lives,” Scott Mills, BET Networks' president and chief executive, said in a press release. "The Control Card has a combination of the best features available today and is specifically designed to address the needs of [the] African American underbanked or underbanked consumers."

Other cards, including UniRush's RushCard and PreCash's Reach Visa, are also marketed to black consumers.

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