This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse Is Upon Us; Or, I'm Proud I Was a Kennel Boy

Though I'm not much of a sports fan per se these days, I still have stacks of Sports Illustrateds from the 1970s and 80s in my closet.  Many of them don't even have all the great pictures cut out of them.  I used to love SI's "This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse Is Upon Us" series.  I don't even know if they have them any more -- I only read SI when I fly.

At any rate, this week's sign that the financial apocalypse is upon us:

PRE-PAID DEBIT CARD + SOCIAL NETWORKING = FACECARD
A NEW PREPAID DEBIT AND GIFT CARD AIMED AT MILLENNIALS AND GEN Y PLUS: CHANEL'S "MOBILE ART" EXHIBIT

Facecard , launched by edo Interactive and Mastercard, is a new prepaid debit and gift card aimed at Gen Ys and Millennials. Like other prepaid debit cards it appeals to parents who want to introduce their tweens and teens to spending freedom while also teaching them financial responsibility (with the benefit of protection: there is no possibility to rack up overdraw charges with a prepaid card). However, for this plugged in group, facecard's unique draw is its online social networking component.

Crucial to connecting with young people today, facecard has a multiplatform approach that merges online, mobile and real world. Accounts can be managed via the website, by mobile phone or at the good ol' brick and mortar bank. When money is transferred to an account it is available within 15 minutes - that means that kids can call their parents from the mall and have money on their card before they leave the dressing room. Additionally, facecard has uploaded a fun amateur-style informational video on YouTube and they have a flickr page showing pictures of their street team at this year's Bannaroo music festival. If that's not cool enough, they're philanthropic as well! They partnered with the Bannaroo to donate $10,000 to StopGlobalWarming.org.

I got all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that these guys can help Gen Yers whose parents want to "introduce... to spending freedom while also teaching them financial responsibility".  Yeah, if only my Mom and Pop had gotten me a prepaid credit card that donates money to greenwashed websites -- then I'd know financial responsibility.  And here all these years I'd been thinking that it was the saving half of every pay check as I worked from the age of 6 to 15 for my father as a kennel boy (Yeah, that was my real title. And I took pride in it.  Still do, as a matter of fact.  Indeed, I just got the title for this post, didn't I?).