Three Weeks Later, Some Rushcard Customers Are Still Having Problems

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Some users of Rushcard, the prepaid debit card service co-founded by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, are still experiencing "ongoing issues" with the service, more than three weeks after the troubles began.

"A small fraction of our customers are currently experiencing ongoing issues," Simmons said in a statement today. "We will not rest until we have resolved any and all issues caused by the original system outage."

Beginning on October 12, some Rushcard customers have had trouble using their cards, with many unable to make payments, withdraw cash or transfer their funds to another working account. The company attributed the outage to technical problems originating in its changeover to a new payments processor.

The outage was particularly painful because prepaid debit cards like Rushcard are most popular among low-income consumers unable to get affordable service from mainstream banks. For many, living paycheck-to-paycheck, even a few days without access to cash was disastrous.

Last week, Simmons announced that he and the company would create a fund to compensate people for the failure, and would make sure that "each and every one of our customers is made whole."

Here is the full statement released by Simmons today:

On October 12, 2015, from the moment we first learned about problems affecting our customers as the result of our transition to a new payment processor, Rushcard and I personally have been singularly focused on two things: fixing the problem and completely restoring customer access to their accounts and money.

Although, today, a small fraction of our customers are currently experiencing ongoing issues, we will not rest until we have resolved any and all issues caused by the original system outage.

The overwhelming majority of customer inquiries are no longer related directly to any ongoing system problems, but to questions about direct deposits that were previously halted by employers or about instructions on how to reset their accounts. In addition, many callers are understandably looking for reassurance that their deposits will occur on time this week.

In response to our customers needs, we have tripled our call center capabilities and continue to respond directly to customer inquiries we receive over the phone and through social media.

RushCard and I have always been committed to serving our customers with effective and reliable products and services. We realize that we did not live up to those high standards over the past two weeks, which is why we are committed to doing the right thing and learning from this experience, so we can restore trust with our current and future customers.

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