Kardashians cut 'Kard' connection

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A U.S. consumer advocate says celebrity siblings Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian "made the right call" by ending their endorsement of a prepaid credit card.

Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, criticized the Kardashians last week for cashing in on their celebrity status by promoting the Kardashian Kard. CU said the card was loaded with hidden fees and weak consumer protections.

"After enduring a week of bad publicity, the Kardashians have made the right call by pulling out of the prepaid card business," Gail Hillebrand, director of Consumers Union's Defend Your Dollars campaign, said in a statement Monday. "But other prepaid card rip-offs are rampant in the marketplace and consumers remain vulnerable to high fees and weak protections."

"The newly authorized Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should make reining in abusive prepaid card practices a top priority," said Pam Banks, policy counsel for Consumers Union. "Any other celebrity or business that is thinking of associating its name with a prepaid card should take a close look at the fees and protections, and say 'no thanks' unless the fees are low and the missing consumer protections are added."

Lawyers for the Kardashians notified the company that created the card -- The Revenue Resource Group -- that the sisters were terminating their agreement with the company because they'd been informed it might violate consumer protection laws, the New York Daily News reported Monday.