Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants to regulate payroll cards.
Currently, employers can use payroll cards as an alternative to checks, which can be less expensive for the company and more environmentally conscious.
But Schneiderman says his office did a study showing many payroll card companies unfair fees and exploit the workers using them, who are typically low wage employees.
"We found that many of the venders charged fees for ATM use, charged fees for point of sale transactions - if you used it like a debit card in a store, for customer service or even checking your balance."
He says these practices stack the deck against some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
"One of the perverse outcomes that we see as a result of this stacked deck, is that it has become expensive to be poor."
The Attorney General is recommending legislation to regulate payroll card use, including allowing employees to opt out of the service. Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle and Senator Patrick Gallivan are sponsoring the Payroll Card Act.
