I guess. I'm losing patience with people who think $0.90/transaction if you don't have a bank account is a lot of money but can't be bothered to open a bank account so that instead of spending $5 to send them their check and track everything (neverming opening recipients up to theft and fraud), the government can pay $0.06/transaction.
Yes, there are plenty of free bank accounts out there.
The person in the blog, if they want to help their neighbor, should help her put that money into a bank account via direct deposit. I did it for my mother when she started getting SS, and it took all of 12 minutes. Get over it already.
In 1980 if you didn't trust ATM cards, okay, maybe that's charming: the old guy in line at the bank who deposited a check and took out $20 ... how cute, he must have been from the time of the depression.
It's no longer charming.
/jordan