When I first heard that Kim Kardashian was sponsoring her own prepaid card, I thought: What a ridiculous idea. Cosmetics, clothes, perfume, self-tanning gel, OK. But a MasterCard? But when I thought about it a little more, it made perfect sense: What better way to learn about profligate spending and wasting money than this card?
At $100 a year in fees - that's just for starters - this is one of the most expensive prepaid cards on the market. You get dinged $1.50 each time you withdraw funds at an ATM machine and $2.00 each time you pay a bill via bill pay. On the positive side, there's no activation fee and direct deposit is free, but that's true of most prepaid cards. There also doesn't appear to be a reload fee at retail outlets, but then retailers usually charge their own fees, usually $4.95.
With normal usage, I would estimate this card will cost you more than $200 a year, not $100. But hey, fame doesn't come cheap.
