Wal-Mart’s New Prepaid Card May Be the Best Deal Yet

Corrects 3rd paragraph to reflect that some prepaid cards are FDIC insured.

Wal-Mart Stores and American Express are taking a big plunge into the prepaid debit-card market with a new card called Bluebird. The card has many features that are standard in regular bank accounts and seems to have remarkably few fees—which have long been the scourge of prepaid cards. Bluebird is the biggest sign yet that prepaid cards are evolving from a product for the poor and unbanked into a more mass-market offering that competes with regular checking accounts.