Plastyc Makes Debit Cards a Small Biz Reality

Plastyc makes handing out money simple. Whoever needs spending money logs into the company website, gives their financial information -- you and your business are not involved, which in these Patriot Act days is a godsend -- and opens an UPside prepaid debit account. A week or so later what appears to be a traditional Visa debit card shows up in the employee's mail. The account is funded either by traditional direct deposits or by re-upping in person, adding cash at any of roughly 60,000 locations nationwide. You also can transfer funds from your cell phone, if it has a data plan. And -- get ready for this -- you can even fund your employees' cards from the UPside Facebook page.

Anybody who has had their credit identity trashed because an employee was sloppy with a company credit card knows how fabulous an idea that is.

WHAT YOU DON'T GET Plastyc, and its UPside brand of prepaid debt cards, are not full-on business finance tools.

As attractive as Plastyc's products might be, they are not substitutes for the real fiscal sinew of a small business, such as checking accounts, traditional revolving lines of credit or merchant bank systems. For one, if you are not careful, Plastyc's products get pricey fast!

Monthly usage charges start at $2.99 a month per card, though that fee drops to 99 cents a month for accounts that have more than $500 in them. Debit or credit card loads cost $2.99 each. Phone support is $2. And it can cost as much as $12 to get your money back out of a card if you want to close the accounts. Yikes!

BOTTOM LINE I give Plastyc credit: The company is bringing much-needed innovation to small-business banking. For firms looking for new ways to manage cash, this is it. Just don't confuse this product with a serious small-business banking tool.

Still, pay attention to this sector. Somebody soon will optimize the prepaid approach for the small business. It's just that Plastyc is not there quite yet.

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