An Update on the Suze Orman Prepaid Debit Card Fiasco
I’m late in updating this information, but I just got some new info (as of yesterday) so I thought a full recap was due.
After I posted my review of Suze Orman’s new Approved Card, Briana from 20 and Engaged retweeted my post saying she was disappointed in Suze. Suze then called me an “idiot” on Twitter which caused a bit of a stir.
Several others blogged about both the Approved Card and Suze’s odd reaction.
- Does Suze Orman’s Prepaid Debit Card Make Sense for You?
- Suze Orman Loses Her Sh*t on Twitter
- Sorry, Suze Orman’s New Prepaid Debit Card Won’t Rescue Your Credit
- Reputation Management: How Suze Orman Jeopardized Hers
- Suze Orman, WTF?
- Young, Gullible, and Broke: Suze Orman’s Debit Card Fail
- Suze Orman’s Approved Prepaid Debit Card: Bad for Consumers
- Suze Orman vs the Personal Finance Blogosphere
- How to Make Your Own Prepaid Debit Card
- Suze Orman Prepaid Debit Approved Card: Denied
- Suze Orman’s Card is Not Approved by Me
- Suze Orman’s New Prepaid Card Makes Questionable Claims
- Suze Orman Shows True Colors With Her Approved Prepaid Debit Card
Then, the Willis Report ran a segment (with Ryan Mack) citing the “idiot” tweet. Suze went on to say she would talk with Ryan, but to my knowledge that never happened.
The big media outlets started waking up from their slumber and you finally saw a few honest reviews pop up.
Later on, after of twist of her arm, Suze apologized to me.
In my opinion, she’s still not addressing the questions raised about her card. It’s as if she wants us all to just go away and give her a pass on this.
Suze Won’t Talk to Gerri Willis
I’ve heard through a source close to the matter that Gerri Willis has been repeatedly called and emailed with criticism from Suze Orman’s PR firm over the reports she’s done surrounding the issues with Orman’s new pre-paid credit card.
I’m no stranger to this approach as I was labeled the idiot and I’ve seen suspect comments on my original post. But all this denial without much backing makes me question, why not just go on a national platform and engage your critics?
If the card is really as great as Suze says it is, wouldn’t we all benefit from an explanation from her?
Apparently Gerri Willis asked this same question, but was denied. Willis also reached out to the parent company, Bankcorp for a comment on the card, which got back to the PR firm who hit Gerri again saying, “I guess you don’t want to hear the facts, huh.”
So, Willis took to Orman’s favorite communication medium, Twitter, to request an appearance on her show as well. Last I checked, there was only one quasi-response to Gerri.
Willis took to her show last night to explain why Orman has not appeared on the program to give her side of the story.
With so many consumer and finance reporters and bloggers now questioning the positives of the card, let alone the conflict of interest Orman now finds herself in – promoting a pre-paid credit card for which she’ll earn a percentage – it makes no sense that she wouldn’t want to set the record straight.
I’m hoping Suze changes her mind and once and for all, explains the full details behind the card.
Ultimately, I hope she pulls the card. I’ll tell her the same thing she told the Kardashians back in 2010, “pull it off the market and put your name or image to something that is great.”
I think it is another money making scheme for her and her minions. She no longer is remotely the font of wisdom I thought she was. I saw in an early book of hers that she suggested rolling someone’s credit card debt into their mortgage when they refinanced. Another item was when the market went down in early 2000, she told everyone don’t sell your stock etc. I wanted to sell, but she convinced my husband and others to hold on. We could have parked it for a time and saved ourselves tens of thousands of dollars. The Kardashians tried to do something similar I think with a prepaid credit card…. need I say more?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. NicoleS is right, this is an experiment that inappropriately picks on the poor class. Suze will not explain herself except when she twittered she was trying to change credit reporting bureaus (on the backs of the poor). Coming from someone who’s watched several of her shows…..bad move, Suze!
Suze Orman was trying to market this card to people who are not financially literate and stupid. I’m glad people are calling her out on this. It looks like she is trying to do an experiment but she is going about it the wrong way.
Great summary, Phil. Can’t wait to see what Suze’s next move is.
The biggest misunderstanding about Suze Orman’s prepaid card, unfortunately stoked up by Orman herself, seems to be the notion that the Approved Card, as it is called, can help its users improve their credit scores. So it’s time we set the record straight: the Suze Orman’s card does not affect your credit score in any way, either positive or negative. Colleen Tunney-Ryan, a spokeswoman for TransUnion, a credit bureau that has partnered with Orman to provide her card’s users with access to their credit reports and scores, states it plainly: “It is important to understand that this data will not appear on any TransUnion credit report at this time.” I think that should settle it. Learn more here: http://blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/suze-ormans-prepaid-card-will-not-affect-your-credit-score.
Why does Suze keep alluding to the “truth” without really explaining what she means? I haven’t heard many good arguments in support of the truth behind what’s good about her card.
I did see that she was on Morning Joe for damage control. I’ve watched her for years and was also disappointed. I had hoped that the disclosure would be in LARGE print that this is a bit of an experiment that has a very high likelihood of NOT positively impacting your credit score.