Suze Orman did a big press splash a couple weeks ago promoting her new show on OWN as well as the launch of her own prepaid debit card: The Approved Card. It’s the latter that continues to get the headlines, and not in a good way.
Personal finance experts and reporters who cover the beat charge, simply, that the card is not worth it, and she risks damaging her brand in the process. “In hawking your own financial products, you throw our trust out the window,” wrote the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Gallagher. Reuters columnist John Wasik thinks, “there’s something troubling about an avowed consumer advocate who plugs a product that charges $3 ‘maintenance’ fees (the first month’s fee is waived) and even restricts deposits.” Orman’s rival on Fox Business Network, Gerri Willis has done several segments on the card and has tried to get Orman on her show to talk about it. The Orman camp’s response:
“[You’ve done three segments] without any input from Suze or The Approved Card team. At this point we will just leave it there and respectfully decline your offer to appear.”
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