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Consumer Banking and Payments Law
Covers checks, telechecks, electronic fund transfers including federal and state benefit payments, electronic check conversions, money orders, and credit, debit, payroll, and stored valuecards.
Prepaid Debit Cards
Policy Analysis
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
Press release: New Rules Kick In For Social Security And SSI On May 1, April 2011
Prepaid Cards for Unemployed Workers: Who Holds the Winning Hand? NCLC Reviews 40 States' Unemployment Compensation Prepaid Cards, May 2011
Press Release: Joint Payroll Card Principles, March 2011
Press Release Applauding Treasury Tax Refund Prepaid Card Pilot, January 2011
Issue Brief: Features of a Safe Basic Banking or Prepaid Card Account, December 2010
Testimony and Comments
Testimony of Lauren Saunders before the U.S. Senate Banking subcommittee on "Examining Issues in the Prepaid Card Market", Mar. 14, 2012 New 
Saunders 5-minute testimony begins at 21:00 minutes; Senators' questions to the witnesses begins at 47:30 minutes. Video
Comments on Interim Final Rule permitting direct deposit of Social Security and other federal payments to privately selected prepaid cards, Apr. 25, 2011
Comments on Proposed Interchange Fee Rules, Feb. 2011
Letters
Group letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) opposing Urban Trust Bank partnering with Community Choice Financial Inc. and its subsidiaries to facilitate payday loans on prepaid cards in circumvention of state law. Related materials: legal analysis, and press release.
NCLC, Consumer Union, NACHA, American Payroll Association and Association for Financial Professionals Joint Core Principles for Payroll Cards (February 2011); NCLC and CU Supplemental Principles
Letter Supporting Benefit Card Fairness Act, H.R. 4552, May 2010
Webinars
New Rules on Protection and Electronic Payment of Social Security, May 2011 (Margot Saunders, Lauren Saunders)
Presentation Recording
Webinar: The Next Frontier in Public Benefits: Prepaid Cards, January 2011
Public Benefits and Wages on Prepaid Cards(Power Point), November 2010Additional Resources
Consumer Facts: Your Right to Know - DIRECT EXPRESS® PREPAID DEBIT CARD FOR SOCIAL SECURITY, SSI AND OTHER FEDERAL PAYMENTS
Prepaid Cards: Second-Tier Bank Account Substitutes, Sept. 2010 with Fee Update
Consumers Union and NCLC Model State Payroll Card Law
7 Essentials for Consumer-Safe Prepaid Cards (presentation to Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia), April 2010
Direct Deposit of Federal Wages and Benefits to Prepaid and Stored Value Cards, July 2010
Protections Needed for Prepaid Payroll, Unemployment Benefits, Child Support, and Other Prepaid Payment Cards, March 2009
Bank Payday Loans... They're Baaaack: 650% APR Loans on Prepaid Cards and Bank Payday Advance Loans Flout State Interest Caps and Protection, June 2009