RushCard Customers See The Money

The prepaid debit card company announced yesterday (Oct. 29) that it plans to reimburse customers who lost money during a technical glitch earlier this month that prevented thousands of users from accessing their funds, The New York Times reported.

RushCard is working with MetaBank and MasterCard to ensure the technical details are resolved.

According to NYT, over the Columbus Day weekend customers began experiencing issuers with their accounts as RushCard transitioned from one process technology provider to another.

RushCard confirmed it is in discussions with regulators to establish a reimbursement fund, with plans to distribute money to an estimated “hundred of thousands” of impacted customers. The amount that will be repaid to affected customers is estimated to be between $2 million to $3 million.

“While the reimbursement and review process will not occur overnight, we will act as quickly as regulators will allow, and are already doing so on a case-by-case basis,” Russell Simmons, RushCard’s co-founder, told NYT.

Last week, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray weighed in on the matter, noting “the CFPB is taking direct action to get to the bottom of this situation that may have harmed thousands of innocent consumers already.”

The executive noted that he had spoken with Rick Savard, the chief executive officer of UniRush, which issues and services the RushCards, in order “to make sure that action is being taken” to address the ongoing situation, including “the cascading financial effects” of the inability of funds to be withdrawn and used.

Further, stated Cordray, the CFPB stands ready to “use all appropriate tools at our disposal to help ensure that consumers obtain the relief that they deserve.”

As has been widely reported, a significant number of workers (though as of yet not clearly defined) were also impacted by a glitch in the RushCard system. That glitch made it impossible for cardholders to access their paychecks, which in turn had been loaded onto the cards.

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