Justin Bieber Chided for Pushing New Debit Card for Teens

Justin Bieber's earning some flak for his latest gig hustling prepaid debit cards.

The teen-aged pop star used social media this week to announce a new prepaid debit card issued by SpendSmart Payments and aimed at teens, CNN Money reports.

SpendSmart signed Bieber to a $3.75 million endorsement deal late last year, but the Bieb's promotional work is just kicking off now.

Bieber's extensive social media network includes about 37.7 million Twitter followers, 2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and more than 52 million Facebook followers.

Put another way, Bieber can deliver more potential customers that some television networks can.

In a video released Thursday, Bieber talks to his fans about the importance of responsible spending habits and managing a budget. "Managing your money is important, and there's a great company that can help you do that called SpendSmart," he said.

But consumer advocates say the SpendSmart debit card, along with those of other companies, is a bad deal for young consumers.

CardHub.com tells Deadline News the fees for the Biebs-backed card are steep compared to other prepaids.

The card costs users a flat fee of $3.95 a month --- with additional charges, including $1.50 for each withdrawl from an automated teller machine and another 50 cents for checking the card's balance.

Adding money to the card can cost between 75 cents and $2.95, while there's an additional $3 charge if the card isn't used for 90 days.

The SpendSmart card fees still aren't the highest in the market, but John Ulzheimer, CEO of SmartCredit.com, tells CNN Money it's better for teens to stay away from prepaid cards completely.

"If you want to teach teens responsible spending then there are better, less expensive ways of doing so," said Ulzheimer. "Teaching teens that it's OK to pay a fee to use your own money is the exact opposite of what you should be teaching them."

Regardless of Bieber's popularity, said branding expert Barbara Apple Sullivan, it's too soon to know if the new card will take off.

There have, of course, been a number of celeb-branded prepaids that have failed.

The singer Usher, an otherwise successful draw for other products, launched a prepaid MasterCard and two 'limited edition' Visa gift cards, which are now defunct, said Sullivan.

Of course, the Kardashian Kard, backed by the seemingly ubiquitous reality television family members, bombed less than a month after its launch amid, harsh criticism of its high costs, which included a $9.95 purchase fee and a monthly charge of $7.95.

SpendSmart Payments hasn't reported a profitable quarter since it went public in 2008.