Usher: Swipe Me

http://story.news.yahoo.c...c_eo/14625


Fri Jul 30,11:30 AM ET Add Entertainment - E! Online to My Yahoo!


By Lia Haberman

Usher's laughing all the way to the bank.




Yeah!


The R&B singer is trading in on his mega-platinum success to launch the first-ever celebrity debit card.


Uh, make that the first debit MasterCard. Last time we checked Hilary Duff beat Usher to the plastic punch with her own Visa Gift Card.


The "Yeah!" singer doesn't come cheap, though. Fans will have to lay out $9.95 plus a $10 activation fee for the Usher Raymond IV Debit MasterCard.


As a selling point, users will get discounts on concert tickets and Usher merchandise like posters, T-shirts and key chains.


Available via Bankfirst at www.ushermc.com, the card will also be sold at concert venues across the country on the singer's upcoming concert tour, which kicks off on Aug. 5, where, for example, the cash access option will come in handy for purchasing those souvenir Usher T-shirts.


The prepaid card, which can be used to make purchases, withdrawls and pay bills, features a straight-faced Usher against a black background with a diamond stud in one ear and the word "success" under his name.


Success is right. Usher inked a partnership deal with the financial institution that gives him a cut of the sales every time someone swipes his card.


It's all part of a world-domination plan by the actor-singer, whose most recent release, Confessions, is the biggest-selling album of the year, moving more than 5 million copies. The album and its lead singles, "Yeah!" and "Burn," have been Top 10 fixtures, with their videos in heavy rotation on MTV. "I'm all over the place, music is just one facet of my career," Usher said.


"This past year has been a year of real growth and change for me, so I felt that this was the perfect time for me to step it up in the business world," he said in a statement.


Already, the crooner's launched his own record label and film production company. He's also starred in such teen-friendly flicks as The Faculty, She's All That and Texas Rangers.



Any thoughts?

I don't know if it's exactly selling out. I look at as him diversifying his funds. And this a "brother" that is doing it too.

NWF said:

But what's he gonna do when the fickle MTV and BET crowds stop buying his records. Youth and screaming little girls won't be by his side forever.

NWF said:

"Brother" or not, I can't respect him for doing this anymore than I can Hilary fuckin' Duff. I know people will say he's just going for his, good for him, yadda yadda yadda... but to put your face on a credit/debit card is just fuckin' cheesy. I'd be different if his cut went to his favorite charity or something - it'd be half way acceptable. BUT the hell is Usher gonna do w/ the $ he's getting? Buy another car? Another ugly ass outfit? If you're gonna do something this cheesy put the $ toward something good - give back to "the community", send some kids to college, start a youth program. Don't just feed your pockets "brother" - there's work to be done...

And yes, I'm daring to put him in that "Black responsibility" box... 'cause I feel like it He better be taking damn good care of his family!

Well to be fair, we don't know what he does with his money, and it's unfair to speculate.

Ellie said:

No we don't know what he does w/ his $. However we do know that this is some cheesy bool

Look on the bright side, all his teenybopper fans will end up broke and up to their eyeballs in debt, won't be able to afford his music, Usher disappears, world rejoices.

Gross.

first ever?


i believe both Bowie and Elton have done this.....

CalhounSq said:

I don't think it's the first. Kiss has had a credit card for a while:

http://www.firstusa.com/c...&page=cont


$
[This message was edited Sun Aug 1 7:50:09 2004 by theSpark]

This is hilarious!

This is just prostitution of his image. But the faster he gets overexposed, the faster he disappears.

theSpark said:

They're talking about a Debitcard not a Creditcard... But either way Usher sucks ass...

Neversin.

minneapolisgenius said:

YEAH

CAUSE IT LIKE YOU PUT USHER IN POCKET

AND FART ON USHER ALL DAY

POOK said:

Supernova said:

Tessa said:

They don't count. They are both English and we know that the US ignore any brilliance outside of the US if they can help it.

Just go to epcot, they have the US down as inventing the TV instead of a Scotsman!

POOK said:

VoicesCarry said:

on the plus side thats the best looking pic of him...


EVER!!!

SquirrelMeat said:

Yeah, it's a wonder the British Invasion happened at all.

sosgemini said:

Ain't none.

why is this news in the first place?

All that money and still no plastic surgery.

VoicesCarry said:

BinaryJustin said:

He gets a nose job I guarantee it would fuck up his face even more. The balance of features wouldn't be right, and he'd be unrecognizable.

Which is probably why he hasn't done it yet.

POOK said:

Hey! Maybe getting one of these isn't such a bad idea after all!

RipHer2Shreds said:

Can you imagine actually pulling one of these out of your wallet though to pay for something?

"Hang on a minute while I get out my Usher card....."




the hey you're from minneapolis! edit
[This message was edited Mon Aug 2 6:04:27 2004 by minneapolisgenius]

minneapolisgenius said:

Yeah, I'm from Minneapolis.

And I don't actually want one of these. I'm no fan of Usher. I just wanna stink up his...eh, evermind.