These days you’re not really famous until they put your name in plastic. Everyone from Suze Orman to Elvis Presley has a prepaid debit card bearing their image. Although hers isn’t the most expensive card on the market, Orman was criticized for being paid to endorse one. But their fame might cost you a fortune in fees, especially in the case of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, whose card has the highest fees of any of his celebrity counterparts, a new survey finds.
Some celebrity prepaid cards turned into a train wreck of bad publicity for their endorsers. In November 2010, the Kardashian sisters — Kim, Chloe and Kourtney — canceled their University National Bank MasterCard-branded prepaid debit card less than a month after launching it. The card cost $99.95 in the first year, including a one-off card purchase of $9.95, monthly fees of $7.95, and a preloaded deposit of $5.00. Only 250 people had purchased the card at the time of its termination and they had their fees refunded.
Not all the star cards are bad deals, experts say, but the cost of celebrity endorsements must also be factored into these fees. Here’s how the celebrity plastic stacks up
Russell Simmons: RushCard Monthly Plan
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TWCThe Phat Fees on Russell Simmons’ RushCard are double the average prepaid card fee, according to the survey by financial website BestPaidCreditCards.com. The RushCard costs $9.95 per month, some 104% more than the $4.88 average monthly fee charged by prepaid cards. “Is he really that cool?” says Curtis Arnold, CEO of BestPaidCreditCards. A spokeswoman for RushCard says there are other cards available with fees of $5.95 and $7.95 a month, and a pay-as-you-go card with no monthly fee.
* Monthly fee: $9.95
* Activation fees: Free (one-time card fees to first load money onto the card: $3.95 to $9.95)
* Cash reload fees: can vary from $3.74 (Wal-Mart) to $4.95 (MoneyPak) charged by third-party vendors.
* ATM fee: $2.50 out of network after two free withdrawals; 50 cents for balance inquiry out-of-network; free in-network
* Replacement fee: $4.95 per card after 12 months
* Monthly statement: $1 for paper statement
* Purchase fee: Free online purchase; $1 for PIN purchase
