I would consider myself a skeptic, so when the woman from H&R Block urged me to get the Emerald card I asked her how would it benefit me when could easily deposit the money into my bank account. She said I could get the money in less than a week and not pay the fee for depositing it in my bank account. Thus, it seemed like a fair choice.
Turns out, I did NOT get the money any sooner and, even though I didn't pay the nominal upfront fee of $30, I am now stuck paying $3.50 every time I withdraw my money. Since you can not draw more than $500 from most ATMs, you are stuck paying almost $50 in ATM fees. Also, be warned: unlike what they suggested, THE CARD DOES NOT WORK EVERYWHERE. As a matter of fact, my card never worked anywhere so I always needed to go to the ATM if I wanted to spend my money.
I know I am not the only one effected because I saw a couple at the car wash yesterday trying to use their card and it didn't work either. It always comes up as declined. I know from working in retail that Mastercard isn't accepted everywhere. I'm not sure if that is the reason why it works at some places and not others but, heed my warning: put the money in a bank account if you can unless you want to be inconvenienced with constantly stopping at ATMs and paying upwards to $75 in withdraw fees.
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