Update on Wal-Mart's Bluebird Prepaid card- Now Checking Account

When the "Bluebird prepaid card issued jointly by American Express and Wal-Mart — came out in October of last year, I noted the obvious — that is was by far the best prepaid card ever offered to American consumers which, unlike any of its predecessors, was a real alternative to checking accounts. So my advice was that, “unless you still write paper checks to pay your bills, you should seriously consider replacing — or supplementing — your existing checking account with Bluebird'.

Well, the checking account caveat no longer applies — last week American Express announced that Bluebird customers can now add checks to their prepaid accounts, into which they can deposit funds of up to $100,000 annually. Moreover, Bluebird accounts are now eligible for FDIC insurance. Oh, and whereas checking accounts are not an option for consumers whose names are on the ChexSystems, Bluebird is available to everyone. So the upshot is that many unbanked consumers, who are prepaid cards’ most avid users, may now have a better checking account than their “banked” counterparts who are still relying on the more traditional option."

Read the article: AmEx Turns Bluebird into a Checking Account