Comments on: Making money off students, debit-card edition

By: Mr_J

Mr_J — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:54:16 +0000

Managing FA isn’t all they do. They also offer payroll services to colleges and universities. As Higher Ed costs are going up, Higher One has positioned itself as a free market alternative for what amounts to a contracting out of traditional functions of the Bursar’s Office in a college.

Considering how much is at stake, I find it disheartening that any school would contract essential financial services to private banking and accounting institutions if you look at the recent national-scale frauds. I’m not just talking about the housing bubble, but the earlier accounting scandals as well.

Also, as a more direct note on this story. Higher One boasts 1 million clients. If even 1% of those clients experience an account inactivity fee… well, you do the math.

By: rojaroja

rojaroja — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:23:14 +0000

Respected sir
I want some amount of educetional loan for my M Sc mathematics without surity.
ramesh kamuni
mobile:+91 9246087265

By: TFF

TFF — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:27:12 +0000

GingerYellow, I’m not positive, but I think the merchant fees are higher for “swipe and sign” transactions than for “PIN” transactions. Thus a business like HigherOne that depends on fees for its revenue hopes to discourage PIN transactions.

By: GingerYellow

GingerYellow — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:15:20 +0000

The PIN fee is spectacularly outrageous – they’re charging students for the privilege of protecting Higher One from fraud?

By: SteveHamlin

SteveHamlin — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:34:36 +0000

Felix wrote: “all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students”

This IS a bank account- loan money is deposited into a FDIC-insured bank account (demand checking), held at a bank, and they issue a debit card that allows access to the cash (via the Mastercard network).

You don’t like the checking account fees, and I don’t like the outsourcing of university bursar functions to an inherently-conflicted private bank, but it does appear to be a bank account.

http://www.cashnet.com/index.php?option= com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=10 0

By: hsvkitty

hsvkitty — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:14:52 +0000

Disgusting! Inactivity fee? String them up Ms.Warren!

By: MarshalN

MarshalN — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:20:17 +0000

These people ought to be ashamed of themselves.