[jmts]

A paltry sum of money is the first step to a reasonable sum of money. An interest in saving a paltry sum of money is arguably a useful skill for people earning paltry sums of money, as I'd hazard a guess that it should encourage them to spend less on useless garbage they don't really need. Gamifying this to the benefit of both parties is capitalism at work. Any comparison to slavery is beyond ridiculous.

[_m8fo]

> Loretta Taylor, who lives in the southern-Illinois town of Mount Vernon, started using a Walmart MoneyCard when her local bank branch closed late last year, forcing her to drive 45 minutes to make a deposit. A registered nurse, she has lately been working as an in-home caregiver, and sometimes gets paid in cash, which she can put onto the card (for a $3 fee) at a nearby Walmart. “I’m not making much money right now,” she told me recently. But in early January she decided to put $23 in the card’s Vault—and won a $25 prize. Taylor has kept her traditional bank account, and she sounds slightly skeptical of Walmart’s motives. Still, she has continued to use the Vault; she had saved $75 when we talked in early February, including the $25 prize.

EDIT: updated comment

one is forced to drive over an hour all in all, or pay $3 (not even counting $1 to get the card, $5 a month fee on low balances and $2.50 to even take money out of the card) and have further dependence on megacorp.

original comment, for integrity (thanks to the child posts, ajdlinux and greeneggs):

   a 45 minute drive and the associated time and money wasted (not to mention car depreciation), on top of a $3 fee. oh, drove 45 minutes? might as well buy something, lest that time be wasted. oh, and you're going to have to drive 45 minutes back. all in all, an hour and a half wasted in addition to $3 (not even counting $1 to get the card, $5 a month fee on low balances and $2.50 to even take money out of the card) and further dependence on megacorp. if you read this and your first thought is: 'hey, most people aren't 45 minutes away from walmart', then my point is already lost on you.

[greeneggs]

You are misreading the quote. Had she stayed with the same bank, she would have had to drive 45 minutes to get to a branch. There is a Walmart in Mount Vernon, so getting there is more like a 10-minute drive.

[ajdlinux]

The way I read it, it takes 45 minutes to drive to her old bank branch, whereas the nearby Walmart is much closer.

[tedmiston]

Another reasoning for joining a credit union — being able to deposit and withdraw from any nearby credit union whether it's your own or not for no fee.

[briandear]

Assuming there is a credit union nearby. The point of that snippet seemed to be that Wal Mart was much more convenient than a bank.

[tedmiston]

Well not much more convenient than one particular branch of one particular bank, yeah, but I don't think that cashing a check for free is something that other banks do for non-members (compared to credit unions).

[jmts]

I'm not 100% clear on your point. Where does this dependence on megacorp come in? Granted I haven't read the terms and conditions for one of these cards, but I would be surprised if anybody's savings should be held at ransom if they decide to leave. A preliminary search certainly doesn't suggest that you can only spend vault money at Walmart [1].

So, you've listed her two options. One is a bank that is far, far away. The other is Walmart. She's chosen Walmart. So what are the downsides to the Walmart thing? There are no fees for most things you might care to do with it [2]. The money stowed in the vault does not accrue interest [1]. How about the upsides? She may be encouraged to save more. She may learn more about managing her money. And when she learns enough about the fees to realise that the $25 prize only covers 5 months worth of fees, she may reconsider. But in the meantime, she's learned more about managing her money, and that's useful. The alternative is that perhaps the prizes may play to an addictive personality, in which case there are bigger issues anyway.

So, she's made a silly decision. But she's made one none-the-less. Walmart is most definitely making more money out of this than she is. But everyone makes decisions based on what they know and what is available to them. If this is her best option now, at least it may be a driver to find a better one in the future.

[1] https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/faqs [2] https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/account/legal-info-page?pro...

[thaumasiotes]

> $5 a month fee on low balances

The fee is not on low balances. It's on low loading volume.

[_m8fo]

Indeed you are right! Unfortunately, that's even worse.

[thaumasiotes]

If you regularly spend $1000+ / month at Walmart, it's better. Otherwise, yes, it's worse.