What are the True Link Prepaid Visa Card and the True Link Protection Prepaid Visa?
Are True Link Cards credit cards?
No, True Link Cards are prepaid debit cards that can be used wherever Visa debit cards are accepted. But unlike a credit card, there are no interest fees on purchases and none of the overdraft fees that can come with regular debit cards.
Is the money on the True Link Cards FDIC insured?
Yes, funds up to $250,000 on True Link Prepaid Visa Cards are FDIC insured.
Is it secure?
The card is as secure as any debit or credit card.
What are the features of the True Link Cards?
It’s easy to personalize the card to match the needs of your loved one. You can set up spending limits, ATM withdrawal guidelines, real-time alerts and more. In addition, you can turn the card on and off for free, without having to cancel the account or order a new card.
Who can set up a True Link Card?
You can set up a True Link Card if you are managing or helping manage finances for a loved one (typically a parent or spouse), who needs your help.
Who uses the True Link Card? How?
How do I put money on a True Link Card?
True Link Cards can be funded either from a bank account or via direct deposit. After you sign up for an account, you can connect a bank account and schedule automatic or manual funding payments online or find the information for setting up a direct deposit transfer. The True Link Protection Prepaid Visa Card cannot be funded directly via direct deposits of SSI or other government benefits.
How much does all this cost?
You get all this protection and peace of mind for a monthly fee of $10.00. You will not be charged any fees to use the card to make purchases. Click here for a detailed description of all fees.
How do I order a card?
For now, the fastest and easiest way to order a card is online. You can sign up here. If you decide to order via phone instead, call 1-800-299-7646 during business hours and a representative will guide you through the process.
How do I get the most out of a True Link Card?
True Link Cards are most effective when they are the only card being used by your loved one. That way, every purchase they make will be monitored. Remember, only the True Link Card offers the ability to prevent purchases at specific stores and types of merchants. If your loved one is using another form of payment, those purchases are vulnerable. Plus as an extra layer of protection, True Link is continually adding to its database of suspect merchants and scams.
Where does the card work? Where doesn't it work?
The card works anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, except for the individual merchants and categories of merchants that the card administrator has blocked. For example, an administrator can block a particular charity or merchant that their loved one has had trouble with in the past. The administrator can also specify that the card be used only in certain stores or merchant categories (e.g. only Macy’s and gas stations). Finally, the administrator can block purchases that are greater than a pre-set spending limit.
Can the card be used to withdraw cash? Where?
If you allow cash withdrawals, the card can be used at ATM’s. There is no fee for ATM withdrawals except if the bank that owns the ATM charges it. The administrator can also allow the cardholder to request cash back when making a purchase at a merchant. There is no fee for cash back transactions.
Can the card be used online or over the phone?
Whether the card works online or over the phone depends on how you configure the card. If you don’t want the card to be used in circumstances where the merchant does not physically have the ability to swipe the card, you can block it from being used for any purchase where your loved one is not physically present.
How does the True Link Service work?
What does it mean to block a merchant or type of merchant?
If you block a merchant, the True Link Card will not work at that merchant location. If you block a type of merchant (e.g, charities, magazine subscriptions, sweepstakes), the True Link Card will not work at any merchants identified as part of that merchant category. True Link also recommends that you choose to be notified any time a purchase is blocked on the card. If you are concerned about a particular merchant or type of merchant, but don’t want to block purchases there, you can also choose to allow transactions to go through and receive an instant notification via text or email.
How does a spending limit work?
Spending limits ensure that if a mistake does get made, it’s not a big mistake. With the True Link Card, you can set per-purchase spending limits. You decide the maximum that can be spent on any individual purchase and the card will be denied for any purchases larger than your set limit. If you don’t want your loved one’s card to be denied, you can also choose to allow transactions to go through, and receive an instant notification via text or email when spending crosses a certain limit.
What does it mean to turn the card on and off?
You can instantly put a block on the account for any reason at any time, using the True Link website or by calling us. You won’t have to cancel the card, and if you decide to un-block the card, you can do so instantly without the trouble of ordering a new card. And of course if the card is ever lost or stolen and you need to order a replacement card, you can do that from the website or 1-800-299-7646.
Can you block wire transfers?
Yes
Can you single out specific merchants to always block?
Yes, there are a couple of ways to tell True Link to always attempt to block specific merchants that have been a problem in the past:
Can you single out specific merchants to always allow?
Yes, if there are some merchants you know are safe, you can override spending controls at only those merchants:
Can you prevent certain purchases within a store?
No. If you have not blocked a store, the cardholder may purchase anything within that store.
What is True Link Financial Protection?
What do I get with True Link Financial Protection?
The
ability to view and monitor your financial accounts in one place through a
password-protected website. True Link Financial Protection is your family’s
first line of defense in preventing financial exploitation and helps you stay
informed about unusual activity across all your accounts.
Is True Link Financial Protection a Bank Account or Credit Card?
No,
True Link Financial Protection is an online tool that aggregates information
from your current financial accounts, but does not require you to open a new
bank account, credit, or debit card.
Is it secure?
Yes,
True Link operates under the same security standards as required by banks and
other financial institutions. For more information about the security of True
Link, visit our security
page.
What are the features?
True
Link Financial Protection offers a secure way to view, monitor, and protect
financial accounts. Here are the key features:
Who can use it?
Anyone
wanting to prevent large financial losses for themselves or a senior relative.
Family
members who:
Older adults who:
How is this different from my bank’s fraud monitoring system?
Traditional
fraud systems use a generic approach to monitor for flagrant scams. They’ll
detect an expensive purchase with an international merchant, but will miss less
obvious, potentially more harmful, attacks. True Link goes beyond the basics of
standard monitoring, learning from your regular patterns of behavior to
identify unusual spending habits unique to each individual.
How do I use True Link Financial Protection?
How do I sign-up for Financial Protection?
As
long as you have online access to your accounts through a financial
institution, it’s easy to start using True Link. Sign-up here and create an account with your email address and a secure password.
How do I get the most out of Financial Protection?
True
Link Financial Protection is most effective the more bank, credit card, and
other accounts your connect through our system. That way our algorithms can
monitor for suspicious activity across all of your accounts.
How do I connect my financial accounts?
To
link an account to True Link you must have online access to your account
through your financial institution’s website. Here’s how it works:
How much does it cost?
You
can get True Link Financial protection for just $10 monthly, or $100 annually. Not satisfied? Cancel in the first 60 days and receive a full refund.
Can I set this up for myself?
Yes,
Financial Protection is a great way to safeguard yourself from fraud, scams,
and financial exploitation. All you need to get set up is online access to the
websites of your financial institutions.
Can I set this up for someone else?
Yes,
Financial Protection is a great way to safeguard a loved one from fraud, scams,
and financial exploitation. All you need to get set up is online access to the
websites of their financial institutions.
Can I share my Financial Protection information with those I
trust?
Yes,
Financial Protection is a great way to share high-level financial information
with other family members, without giving them direct access to accounts.
How does True Link Financial Protection work?How do True Link’s algorithms works?
Our
algorithms learn from your unique spending habits and alert you to suspicious
transactions and unusual patterns that do not follow your typical usage. The
more accounts you connect through Financial Protection, the better our
algorithms can serve you.
How does ScamWatch work?
ScamWatch
is True Link’s proprietary database of scammers known to target seniors and is
the largest of it’s kind. Each transaction goes through our ScamWatch filter to
identify suspicious merchants in our database and alert you to these purchases.
How do custom alerts work?
From your password-protected Financial
Protection website, you can easily set up notifications to be alerted to
account activity you are concerned about. Want to know when your balance drops
below $500? Create this alert online and be notified via text message if this
occurs.
What is True
Link?
True
Link is a San Francisco based financial services company that protects seniors
from becoming victims of fraud, identity theft, and scams by providing
financial tools for older adults and their families. True Link’s services
include Financial Protection- a online tool to help monitor current accounts
for financial exploitation - and the True Link Card - a customizable prepaid
debit card designed for family members to safeguard the finances of their aging
loved ones.
Who founded
the company?
True
Link was founded by Kai Stinchcombe and Claire McDonnell. Kai has founded and
led companies across the financial services and tech industries, and served as
Head of Risk and Analytics at LendUp, CTO of Aktana, and CEO of the Roosevelt
Institution. Claire has helped build and lead mission-driven organizations in
both the for-profit and social sectors, with experience in consulting at The
Bridgespan Group and venture capital at Innovation Endeavors.
Why was True Link created?
In
2009, True Link CEO Kai Stinchcombe and his family discovered that his
grandmother was writing as many as seventy-five checks to fake charities every
month. They knew she was a charitable person, but were shocked to learn that
she was being conned out of tens of thousands of dollars in retirement savings.
There were no good solutions – either they could take away her checkbook, her
financial independence, and her pride, or spend countless hours monitoring her
finances and having difficult conversations.
True
Link was created to help Kai’s family and the millions of other families that
face situations like this every year. True Link believes that everyone should
have the right to spend their own money without being taken advantage of and
wants to help you protect your loved ones while preserving their independence.
How is True
Link funded?
True
Link is funded by investors passionate about solving the problems facing
America’s aging population. Supporters include Kapor Capital, Karlin Capital, Y
Combinator, Cambia Health Solutions, Collaborative Fund, Initialized Capital,
and GENerator Ventures.
How does True Link keep my information secure?
At
True Link, we protect your data just like we protect our own. Our security
program meets the compliance standards required of all financial institutions
and is designed to provide maximum protection of our customer information. Click here for more details about True
Link’s security program.
How Can I Contact True Link?
You
can call us at 1-800-299-7646. We're available from 8am to 6pm Pacific Time. If
we miss your call, leave a message and a representative will get back to you.
Send postal mail to:
True
Link Financial, Inc. | PO Box 581 | San Francisco, CA 94104
