Perhaps an Amazon branded version of the Walmart prepaid card.

Reader comment on: Amazon Bank Postscript

Submitted by Lyle (United States), Mar 9, 2018 17:37

Wal Mart already has a prepaid either visa or master card that you can refill at most locations. https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/
A prepaid card makes sense compared to a checking acocunt for the demographic in question because it can stop working when the balance gets to zero, no overdrafts possible, since the account is continuously up to date versus being updated essentially once a day. In fact the big thing Amazon would have to do is what Walmart does and allow direct deposit of paychecks into the accounts. The walmart card does allow checkwriting also, so then other than the possibility of being sold other products it is not clear for an unbanked person what the advantage of a traditional checking account is: (essentially using the duck test here if it walks like and talks like x it is x) The main difference is the issue of FDIC insurance, and the possiblity of a branch.

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