Orman, Finance Experts Hawk Cards And Calendars. But To Help Fill Your Wallets…Or Their Own?

5:00 pm, January 25th | by Hillary Reinsberg

Somewhere out there, there’s a diehard TV talk show devotee who just used her prepaid Suze Orman debit card to buy Jean Chatzky-branded office supplies from Office Depot. Two of TV’s leading female personal finance experts — who spend their on-air hours advocating thoughtful saving and frugal spending — are somehow convincing people to spend those saved-up dollars on Suze and Jean branded products. Critics are crying foul. Should you?

By most measures, Orman’s card, officially called The Approved Card From Suze Orman, is no different from other prepaid debit cards, which aren’t much more than glorified gift cards that happen to carry irritating fees. Various iterations are sponsored by a bevy of not particularly trustworthy celebrities, like Lil’ Wayne, a 29-year-old rapper who is addicted to cough syrup. The one thing that separates Orman’s card is that unlike other debit cards, it reports to TransUnion, one of the country’s three credit agencies.

And Suze Orman thinks you’ve gotta have it. Problem is: almost no one else agrees. Partly because of the fees, and partly because prepaid debit cards are typically shunned by financial experts.

“Given the fact that she has endorsed avoiding fees throughout her career as a financial guru, it’s ironic that the exception she would make would be her own financial product,” wrote Fox Business’ Gerri Willis in an email to The Jane Dough. Willis, the host of the Willis Report on FOX Business Network, has devoted some reporting on recent episodes to a kind of takedown of Orman’s card. “Worse, with Suze in the financial product business, you have to wonder about just how independent her financial advice can be. When is she giving you her best advice and when is she pushing her product? We don’t know,” she added.

Across the board, the opinions are pretty much the same: Orman’s card isn’t criminal or even sleazy per se, but it goes against the kind of financial advice she makes a living off dispensing. ”It’s not a bad card. The problem is it’s not a great card either. It’s just a very typical prepaid card. And quite honestly, I think Suze could do a whole lot better for her fans,” Gerri Detweiler, a personal finance expert at Credit.com, told MSNBC.

Her most outspoken fans agree they deserve better. But Suze doesn’t agree. “Suze’s card has already damaged her brand. Just look at the online commentary from fans  – they are perplexed by this and many are angry,” Willis added. “Suze hasn’t helped herself by calling some of them idiots.”

Hearing that Orman called her fans idiots isn’t exactly a surprise. Orman’s known for her on-air badgering, though it is usually best described as a kind of loving aggression. She wants to help, but she’ll slap you on the behind to tell you that. Where Orman is the platinum blonde voice barking in your face about how stupid you were at 9 p.m., Chatzky is the kind, gentle and friendly brunette 9 a.m. version. On her regular Today show appearances, Chatzky doles out tips on how to cut back on your spending and how to “pay down” your debt. It is less intrusive, less in-your-face.

But it is not free.

Just this week, Chatzky announced a line of personal finance tools to be retailed at Office Depot. While they won’t break the bank, I’m not sure they’ll help your savings account much either. A Chatzy-branded kid’s chore calendar for $13.99 seems a little superfluous, but there are also items like an expense planner and a tax checklist portfolio.

Chatzky’s products don’t have critics up in arms. “What Jean is selling is a way of tracking your bills and expenditures in calendar form, plus her tips for financial management,” Willis told us. “I don’t see this as fundamentally different from her books, but only an extension of her long-form advice. Were Jean to offer a financial product, the Jean Debit Card or the Jean mutual fund, I’d feel differently.”

Chatzky hasn’t created a mutual fund, but last year she did introduce two products: the JeanChatzky Score Builder and another service called Pay It Down!, both Internet tools to analyze and build your credit. They both cost money — $19 a month and $30 a year, respectively. According to a The New York Times report at the time, users were able to see a 40 point bump by using the products. That’s nice — but it’s unlikely to tip the scales on securing that loan.

The general consensus seems to be this: financial tools don’t have to be free, but they’d better be honest.

As Caryn Effron, the founder of GoGirl Finance, a website that advocates financial literacy for women put it: “If an expert is advocating financial literacy through a commercial partnership, I’m in favor of it as long as it’s also a win for the consumer.”

As far as we can tell, your local Office Max does accept the Orman card.

TAGS: jean chatzky | jean chatzky office max | suze orman | suze orman approved card | suze orman debit card

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