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This headline does not come as a surprise to me, given my one interaction with Wirecard. About a year ago, I had a bad experience with Verizon FIOS so I cancel

This headline does not come as a surprise to me, given my one interaction with Wirecard. About a year ago, I had a bad experience with Verizon FIOS so I cancelled my subscription with them. I was owed a refund and Verizon delivered my refund to me on a Wirecard debit card. They claimed it was cheaper to issue a plastic card than to refund me directly to my card or issue a paper check. I find this claim extremely hard to believe. A pre-paid debit card is certainly NOT easier for the customer than a check. There are strong business cases for prepaid debit cards, but this was not one of them. More likely, by issuing the refund via debit card, Wirecard and Verizon are able to extract every last possible penny by way of debit card fees and people who simply didn't bother to get their money off the debit card, by virtue of the friction they created for the customer with the debit card. Pretty scummy if you ask me.

gruez 6y ago
>More likely, by issuing the refund via debit card, Wirecard and Verizon are able to extract every last possible penny by way of debit card fees and people who simply didn't bother to get their money off the debit card, by virtue of the friction they created for the customer with the debit card. In my experience you don't get charged fees if you try to spend the money normally (eg. at a store). There's still the problem of spending every last cent on the card, but supermarkets and gas stations generally allow charging an arbitrary amount to a debit/credit card. I think they even have a free option to transfer the balance to your bank via ACH.
- chrismmay 6y ago
  So, to add insult to injury, they require that I provide them with my bank account number and my routing number just to get my refund that could have been simply credited back to the credit card I used to pay them originally or issued via a paper check. Just what the world needs. More plastic. Because it's "cheaper", and sharing more sensitive information, because they are sooooo trustworthy.
- greenyoda 6y ago
  I also got a refund from Verizon as a debit card, and thought about the easiest way to extract every cent of it. My solution was to use the debit card to buy an Amazon.com gift certificate for myself for the exact amount that was on the debit card. Amazon makes it easy to pay for all or part of any transaction using a gift certificate.

gruez 6y ago

>More likely, by issuing the refund via debit card, Wirecard and Verizon are able to extract every last possible penny by way of debit card fees and people who simply didn't bother to get their money off the debit card, by virtue of the friction they created for the customer with the debit card. In my experience you don't get charged fees if you try to spend the money normally (eg. at a store). There's still the problem of spending every last cent on the card, but supermarkets and gas stations generally allow charging an arbitrary amount to a debit/credit card. I think they even have a free option to transfer the balance to your bank via ACH.

chrismmay 6y ago
So, to add insult to injury, they require that I provide them with my bank account number and my routing number just to get my refund that could have been simply credited back to the credit card I used to pay them originally or issued via a paper check. Just what the world needs. More plastic. Because it's "cheaper", and sharing more sensitive information, because they are sooooo trustworthy.
greenyoda 6y ago
I also got a refund from Verizon as a debit card, and thought about the easiest way to extract every cent of it. My solution was to use the debit card to buy an Amazon.com gift certificate for myself for the exact amount that was on the debit card. Amazon makes it easy to pay for all or part of any transaction using a gift certificate.