The prepaid card is about to tackle one of the more challenging issues for prison re-entry. Continental Prison Systems (CPSZ:PK) , a $4.6 million start up in California, offers a banking system for inmates. They call it the E-Z Card & Kiosk. The company installs kiosks inside state prisons and then issue debit cards to inmates. They refer to the system as the “cashless jail.”

Prisons and their prisoners face some unique challenges. It costs a lot of money for prisons to write checks. According to CPSZ, it can cost as much as $17 per check. Hard to believe, but then again, who’s counting? It is easier to see why a debit card would help prisoners. Even though prisoners can live (more…)

I continue to find evidence that there is a fundamental shift going on in how low-income consumers access the payments system.  Earlier, I wrote at length about MetaBank and their prepaid debit card/line of credit platform developed in conjunction with NetSpend. I made some headway learning about the Emerald Advance and the Emerald Advance line of credit, both from Block.

Later, I made mention of the RushCard – a similiar product issued with funds from Bancorp Bank and M&T Bank.

Today, I see that Bancorp Bank (TBBK) has struck again.  Let’s look at their Eufora Card.  Eufora aims at the segment (more…)