News

Payroll cards may help reduce migrant muggings

June 16, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust of West Palm Beach hopes to reduce muggings of migrant workers by replacing their rolls of cash with ATM cards.

According to a Palm Beach Post report, the bank will try to persuade farmers and nurseries to replace paper paychecks with electronic deposits onto ATM cards issued to workers.

Migrant workers frequently are robbery victims because thieves know they carry cash. Guatemalans are mugged so often that the crime has earned its own name: "Guat-bashing."

"As long as they carry so much cash with them, they're going to have people jumping them and robbing them," said Frank More, a Fidelity Federal assistant vice president.

No employers have yet agreed to issue the cards, but More said the concept could help beleaguered workers.

Guatemalan and Mexican workers avoid banks for a variety of reasons, according to the Post.Many come from villages without banks, and others have had unpleasant experiences with the unstable banking systems in their countries. Illegal workers fear banks will report them to immigration officials.

As a result, many workers take their paychecks to check-cashing stores that charge high fees. When they walk away from the stores carrying wads of cash, they are prime robbery targets. A spate of robberies in recent months has focused attention on the problem.

Fidelity Federal worked with area police and immigrant groups such as the Organización Guatemalteca Maya Quetzal to develop its payroll card concept.

The cards will be issued by Paychex Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., company that administers payroll cards for small and medium-size businesses throughout the country.

According to the Post, the cards can be used for free at Fidelity Federal ATMs and at supermarkets, drug stores and other merchants that accept debit cards. Workers would pay a $3 monthly fee for the cards and would have to pay convenience fees for using other banks' ATMs. Workers can't spend more than they have in their accounts, so there would be no overdraft fees, More said.

Although the cards would help some workers keep their money safe, the effort won't end the muggings altogether, said Lucio Perez-Reynozo, executive director of the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth.

"A lot of people are paid in cash, and they're paid by contractors," Perez-Reynozo said.