[Infowarrior] - Treasury Dept. Rolling Out Social Security Debit Card

[Richard Forno]

Treasury Dept. Rolling Out Social Security Debit Card

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 10, 2008; D03

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060901148_pf.html

No bank account? No problem. Now you can have your Social Security  
benefits loaded directly onto an electronic debit card that works like  
a gift card from Uncle Sam.

The card is part of a push by the U.S. Treasury Department to  
encourage the 10.5 million people who still get a paper Social  
Security check once a month to switch to electronic payments. The  
change could save some recipients hefty check-cashing charges, and it  
could save the federal government as much as $42 million a year,  
Treasury officials said.

The only stumbling block: About 2.1 million Social Security recipients  
don't have bank accounts. Neither do about 1.8 million disabled and  
low-income people who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

The solution: Direct Express cards, managed by Comerica Bank, which  
allow recipients to carry their benefits on a piece of plastic that  
can be used like a debit card at any bank, retail outlet or automatic  
teller machine that accepts MasterCard.

"After the card is activated, instead of us sending out a check to a  
post office box and hoping it doesn't get lost or stolen, they will  
know that their benefits are deposited in their card account on their  
payment date," Judith R. Tillman, commissioner of Treasury's Financial  
Management Service, said yesterday. "They can go to an ATM, go to a  
post office if they need a money order, go to almost any bank or . . .  
use it at retail locations to pay for a purchase and get cash back."

Tillman said the card is free and there are no fees for using it.

In a pilot project last year in Illinois, about 3,000 people activated  
the card. Eighty percent said they were satisfied, with 60 percent  
reporting that the card saved them money on check-cashing fees. Since  
then, Treasury has begun slowly advertising the card to all Social  
Security recipients who receive paper checks, starting in Texas,  
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Inserts are now going out to the  
Southeastern states, with the rest of the nation to follow by October.

To sign up, look for an insert in your Social Security check between  
now and October. Or call Direct Express toll free at 877-212-9991. Or  
go online to http://www.usdirectexpress.com.