Payroll Cards Poor Substitute for Checking Account

Although payroll cards are a better alternative than check-cashing stores, they have downsides, and anyone who can open a bank account should. The fees attached to most payroll cards are substantial, warns Gail Hillebrand at Consumers Union. Each company decides what fees to pass on to their employees, so the cost varies from company to company. They can include ATM fees, point-of-sale fees at stores, inactivity fees for not using the cards often enough, fees to replace a lost or stolen card, fees to load the card with money and fees to get money back when the card is retired.