JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thousands of people using prepaid credit cards called RushCards are without money right now because of a technical error during a software upgrade earlier this week.
The glitch has kept users from having their paychecks direct deposited onto their cards.
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One of the benefits of the cards is that users get their money two days earlier than they would with a traditional bank.
But Robert Carroll said it's now past his pay day, and he still doesn't have his money.
"This is not a joke. These are people's lives," Carroll said. "I hate to be so centered around money, and I didn't think I was, but when it starts and the bill collectors start calling and stuff starts getting shut off, it's very real."
Carroll said his television service has already been shut off. He said he can live without that but soon he might lose other things that are more essential, because he can't pay the bills.
"I'm literally sitting here with enough gas to get home," Carroll said. "What do you do at that point? And if I don't make it home, what do I do then?"
Carroll said he called RushCard on Thursday, and a representative told him there was a pending payment for his card that should post soon. When it didn't, he called back and was told there was no pending payment. He said he is very thankful his landlord and others have been understanding about why his payments are late.
"If I had to listen on the other end and I was them, I would think that I was crazy, because it just isn't something that is supposed to happen these days," Carroll said.
On Wednesday, RushCard co-founder Russell Simmons posted a video on the company's Facebook page explaining the issue and assuring customers that the company was working to fix it.
"We are correcting account balances and problems to cardholder access as fast as we can. But this may take up to a few days for the customers," Simmons said in the video.
The company issued a statement about the problems:
"In an ongoing effort to upgrade and create new services for our customers, RushCard underwent a technology transition to a new transaction processing partner Monday morning. During this process, many of our customers were adversely affected when the technology that was used to transition their accounts did not work as planned.
"RushCard is working around the clock to resolve all of these matters. We have restored many of our customers' accounts, but we acknowledge that there are still customers that need their accounts fixed and their problems resolved.
"We know how important our cards are to people who use them to conduct their daily lives. We apologize for the inconveniences and for the hardships that many of our customers are currently facing.
"We will stay in regular contact with our customers until these matters are fully resolved. You can visit us on Facebook or twitter @RushCard for additional and consistent updates."
"I just want my money. I want to withdraw it, and I want to move to another company," Carroll said. "I'm not sure I can put my faith back in them."
RushCard users who still have not received their money can call the company's customer service phone number at 1-866-787-4227 or email agent@rushcard.com.