Prepaid phone cards accused of targeting Hispanics for higher fees

Prepaid phone cards accused of targeting Hispanics for higher fees
Tags: Bank / Credit Union, Debit / Credit, Latin America, North America, Prepaid / Stored Value / Gift Card, Trends / Statistics, Underbanked / Unbanked
October 30, 2008

MSNBC: Gus West uses prepaid calling cards to keep in touch with friends in Nicaragua. Other than the Internet, this is the cheapest way to call internationally. "But you never know how many minutes you'll get out of a card. Some don't even work," West said. As president of The Hispanic Institute, West and members of his team tested hundreds of phone cards and found that, on average, they deliver about half the minutes promised. West says international calling cards "swindle" Hispanics in the U.S. out of close to $1 million dollars a day.

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