An offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement plans to issue its own debit card. What’s next? The Occupy-edition Range Rover?
Asked this same snide question, Carne Ross, a board member of the Occupy Money Cooperative, tells ABC News that his group’s intentions could not be more altruistic or more in sympathy with Occupy’s larger, progressive agenda.
Ross, a former British diplomat and commentator on banking and international affairs, says he first came up with the debit card idea when he and like-minded activists were occupiers of New York’s Zuccotti Park two years ago. Nor was a debit card the only financial idea they kicked around. “We debated buying a bank, which we came close to doing. It remains an option for us,” he says. “We eventually came to this [the debit card], as the easiest way to get a financial product out there.”
Though its website, Occupy Money seeks to raise approximately $1 million to produce the card, which would be available at no cost to anyone wanting to sign up for one. While there would be no upfront cost, users would pay fees, including $1.95 per ATM withdrawal and 99 cents for balance inquiries. To make the card widely accepted, the Cooperative has forged a relationship with VISA, ABC informs.
