I am not clear – is this a credit card you can go to a store and buy stuff or is it some type of service? If it is a credit card,my concern here security. Several of my clients have had their credit cards stolen/used by kids or workers in the home. If it is a credit card it one more way bad people can exploit the senior. Also, are there any additional costs for accessing their money?

This is a lively discussion- I just thought I’d drop in to shed some additional light. If you read all the way to the end, I promise to do something ill-advised.

For clarity’s sake:
- We charge NOTHING for the card. We even got the issuing bank to waive ATM fees for withdrawals.
- The card is absolutely optional.
- We don’t even discuss the option until after the reverse mortgage is completed. The pre-paid “Your Money” card is one potential destination for the reverse mortgage monthly disbursements.

I have two objectives in launching the “Your Money” card; one is self-serving, the other is not.

The beneficent goal is safety and convenience for seniors. With the Your Money card:
- The senior does not wait for a check to come in the mail every month.
- There is no chance for the check to be stolen out of the mail
- The un-banked senior (there are a lot of them) don’t have to pay exorbitant check cashing fees.
- The senior can access the money at any ATM.
- If the senior opts to transact from the card, s/he gets the protections of MasterCard’s chargeback protections.
- If the senior losses the card or if it is stolen, the bank will replace it with it’s full value intact.
- With the standard statements (not bills- the card is pre-paid) the senior can get a better sense of where his/ her money is going and, hopefully, make it last a little longer.
This program is similar to the Social Security Administration’s move to distribute benefits on a pre-paid card only, because the card is MasterCard branded, the senior has the benefit of easier access and chargeback protection.

“What is the self-serving goal?” you ask. Differentiation. When I founded this company, it was not be a typical reverse mortgage brokerage. My goal is to build a trusted financial brand for seniors. From the start we have made every effort to create greater transparency, to provide better education, and to move the bar in an industry that is, quite frankly, not always very forward thinking. We will continue to offer products and services that add value for our customers and separate us from the rest of the pack. And yes, we will continue to get good press for doing it.

Now, here’s the promised, ill-advised move. My email is EricB@GoldenGateway.com . I place this here knowing that some of you will choose to “slam me” more directly. I’m hopeful that some of you may wish to be kinder, or even to let me know that you’d like to be part of a growing, forward-thinking, customer focused organization.

To Golden Gateway Financial-

I think this is an awesome idea! I have clients that would rather not have money in a checking account. Some have expenses that exceed what they CAN have in a checking or savings account due to Medicaid or other public services.

This is a wonderful way for them to have access to more money without jeopardizing their public services.

Will you offer it to folks that didn’t get their reverse mortgage through your company?

Thank you!