Capcom, a video game distribution company, is now promoting a new VISA debit card designed to promote Capcom-Unity points for their Accelerated Rewards program to be used for auctions, raffles, and to take advantage of company promotions (like access to Beta tests and priority entrance at Capcom events).  

Featuring popular Street fighter IV,  Bionic Commando and Resident Evil 5 characters and scenes (in typical collector fashion), they’re targeting the hardcore gamer crowd — known for being frequent purchasers of novelty branded items.  But video game fans should take a long second look before signing off on this card.

Kotaku, a popular gaming blog, explains the hefty fee schedule that the card employs.

To buy into the program, it’s $10.

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- Then there’s a monthly fee of $5

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- When you’re out of cash and need to “reload” the card, that’ll cost you another $5

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- ATM charges are $0.25 per transaction (and that’s not counting the fees on the ATM itself)

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- If a transaction is declined? That’s $0.50

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- If you need/want to call to speak to customer service, it’ll cost you $0.25 per minute to speak to a machine, and $1.50 on top of that if you want to speak to a human

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- You’re charged $10 for every overdraft on the card

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- Closing the account will cost you $10

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Best part? You’ll even be charged for avoiding the above fees, as you’re slugged $5 in “dormancy” fees if you don’t spend any money.

We realize that banks and credit companies are digging up every way possible to boost fees on credit cards to maximize revenue streams.  But this is taking it too far by exploiting a huge fan base with a themed card that overdoes it in every sense of the word.  Our advice?  Stay away.  If you’re really achin’ for some SFIV memorabilia, grab a themed controller or joystick.  At least that way, you’ll have something to show for your cash.

UPDATE:  Apparently the pressures of the internets really do have some push.  After the negative press the Capcom debit card was getting, West Suburban Bank (the bank behind the card) reached out to the CAG blogger who initially posted the story and let him know of some policy changes to the card.  These include:

• You can add money to the card via Direct Deposit with no fee
• Funds are FDIC insured
• You earn points on each dollar direct deposited to the card
• No charge to activate the card over the phone

Now let’s be honest:  this card still isn’t a good deal by any means.  It’s meant to appeal to gamers who like the idea of a novelty card, but it doesn’t offer much in the sense of a typical debit card.  However, it is nice to see that anonymous online voices do get heard and have the capacity to cause change.  Maybe if we all rally together, we can get credit card companies to bump down some of those obnoxious fees that they’ve been implementing to increase their bottom lines.

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