Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Carlyle's RushCard Investigated for Hidden Fees


Hip Hop Wired reported:

Subpoenas have been issued to Russell Simmons' Rush Card and four other prepaid card companies by the Florida Attorney General's office who is investigating whether the card companies are forcing their users into paying hidden fees on every purchase.

The Carlyle Group invested in RushCard in August 2010.  Funding from Carlyle and Accel Partners enabled UniRush to launch the RushCard.  New investors would clearly understand the pricing model and profit potential.  While Carlyle doesn't like to comment on fees, legal or illegal, it does make its profit expectations clear.  That can drive spurious behavior by affiliates, bribing, betting, etc.  It's all such a rush.

Update 10-20-15:  RushCard locked out many of its poor users who are now unable to feed their families or buy gas to get to work.  Last Sunday a technology upgrade went awry and many RushCard users have had no access to their money since.   How can they get access to the crumbs from Russell Simmons or David Rubenstein's table?