RETIREMENT
Social Security offers debit cards
Social Security recipients who receive paper checks because they do not use banks have a new way to get their money.
The U. S. Treasury Department said this month that it would begin pitching its new Direct Express debit card to 2.4 million beneficiaries from Maine to Virginia, including New York. Information about the card will come with this month’s checks.
“You can easily use this card to manage your money every month with no fees,” said Judith R. Tillman, the commissioner of the department’s Financial Management Service.
The card is designed to prevent lost checks, thwart check thieves, and save cashing fees that average $6 per check, she said.
Most Social Security recipients receive benefits by direct deposit into their bank accounts. Those without bank accounts typically use check-cashing firms.
The debit cards, issued by Comerica Bank of Dallas, allow users to track their spending at no charge on a Web site or through an automated telephone line. It costs 75 cents a month to get a paper statement. The system will not allow a card user to withdraw more than the available balance. That means there are no overdraft fees, which bedevil many elderly bank customers.
“It seems like a pretty good product,” said Leslie Parrish, a senior researcher in the Washington office of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Lending.
“It eliminates the need to go to a check casher, but it also has a leg up on regular bank accounts if people are worried about over-drafting through a debit transaction,” she said.
If all four million people nationwide who receive Social Security or disability benefits but do not have bank accounts were to sign up for the debit card, taxpayers would save $42 million a year, said Tillman.
The Treasury sent 59.1 million Social Security and disability payments in May. All but 10.5 million of them were deposited directly into bank accounts. The debit card is available to anyone who receives those benefits.
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients may sign up for the card by calling toll-free 1-877-212-9991 or visiting www.USDirectExpress.com .
