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RushCard is starting a fund to pay back its customers

Problems with RushCard’s payment processor, a division of MasterCard, caused thousands of RushCard customers to lose access to their funds for as many as 10 days earlier this month.

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Russell Simmons, co-founder of RushCard, stated today, “RushCard and I continue to be completely committed to making sure each and every one of our customers is made whole”. Judging by the user profiles of angry customers posting comments on the RushCard Facebook page, many of those cardholders are African-American.

Consumer advocates were skeptical, pointing to social media posts Thursday morning from people saying their RushCards still weren’t working properly. The company said that even if customers are unable to get at their money, it remained safely housed in MetaBank, the custodian bank used by RushCard.

While it has yet to divulge details of the plan, RushCard says it will begin distributing compensation under the program to affected cardholders as soon as the plan is reviewed by “financial regulators as well as respected community leaders and banking industry advisers”, according to a press release. “We hope that the fund is large enough and that the process of accessing it is quick and easy”, Saunders says. “It’s a typical kind of corporate statement you have to parse and wait and see what consumers say”, said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer advocate at the U.S. PIRG nonprofit. At least one class-action lawsuit has been filed.

Consumer Reports recommended the RushCard in 2014, but rescinded that recommendation last week due to the card’s technical problems.

He has also said he’s been compensating RushCard users out of his own pocket.

PRNewsFoto/UniRush LLC The RushCard was founded in 2003 by Simmons to help low-income people who don’t have access to traditional bank accounts and don’t qualify for credit cards.

The size of the repayment fund was expected to climb into the tens of millions of dollars.

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“We don’t have a number yet because it really is whatever it takes to make good with our customers”, Simmons said.

Russell Simmons says the problem with Rush Card'has been devastating for the customers.'We want to make sure they are made whole' he said in an exclusive interview with the Associated Press