Card details here: https://www.eipcard.com/
Debit cards are a scam. Why not send a check? A good friend of my parents, in her 70s, thought the card was some sort of scam and threw it out. Like most debit/gift cards, there will most certainly be a lot of unclaimed money.
Fees:
ATM withdrawal(out of network) - first one is free, subsequent = $2 each
ATM balance inquiry - $.25
Lost or stolen card reinsurance - $7.50
Bank/teller withdrawal- first one free, subsequent = $5
They didn’t have my banking info because I haven’t received a refund in 20 years. I actually went to the appropriate IRS web page to enter my bank info prior to their deadline. They sent me a gift card anyway. Some people received checks. Why transition to gift cards?
@GKUnion According to the link @happymomof1 posted, it seems you can have it deposited into your own bank account for no charge. Why not do that so you will have immediate access to your money?
I agree, the plan is to go to the bank tomorrow and deposit the full amount. Will everyone do that, though? Would sending a check be more expensive than contracting with a debit card company? There’s something odd about the U.S. Treasury relying on debit cards.
As I posted earlier, many poor do not have bank accounts and cannot cash checks. Or, they go to a check cashing facility which has rapacious rates. Debit cards are much easier and safer for them.
The IRS was working on breakneck speed to get money to folks to eat and pay bills. Perhaps your check/debit card was already in process by the time you entered your bank info?
Find a new bank, or try a credit union.
These aren’t my bank fees. These are the fees listed on the information page mailed with the debit card from the Treasury.
We got a debit card yesterday. At first we thought it was some kind of scam, especially because it lists 2 names: Hfirstname MYlastname and MYfirstname MYlastname.
We’ve been married since 1985 and this is literally the first time we’ve ever gotten anything where he was assigned my last name. Since only the “primary” card holder can activate it, and there is no such person, it could be interesting. I’m going to try it now with his SSN, because it rejected mine.
ETA: worked with H’s SSN. Now to figure out how to transfer the balance to a bank account…
@Consolation I just got back from driving to an in-network ATM that the card instructions indicate you can withdraw money from without a fee. Guess what? The ATM wanted to charge me $3. I canceled the transaction and drove home.
at least y’all are getting something. I’m still in ‘Payment Status Not Available’ limbo.
@bluebayou When I have to pay my 2019 taxes in July I might send the Treasury a Best Buy gift card in the amount I owe…
@GKUnion your Best Buy card is the post of the month!
We had to file a paper return this year. There was a good reason. It’s hanging out in Ogden Utah with a boatload of other paper returns. God knows when we will see our refund. You know…if we were late sending our payment to the IRS, we would have a penalty. But I guess it’s OK for them to sit on my money with no extra interest earned for as long as they want to.
For people who received debit cards, did you receive a letter announcing you would be receiving it separately? A family member got a letter that sort of sounded like the debit card would be in the same envelope.
I’d be interested in knowing about the debit card and letter too. We get credit card offers that look like debit cards all the time…and cut them in half and throw them away. I don’t think we qualified for any stimulus money…but ours would be based on 2018 tax return since we did a paper filing this year. I have no idea what our income was for 2018.
I’m wondering…with a check, it’s pretty easy to see if it ever got cashed…or not. With a debit card, they would never know.
@somemom - the debit card just arrived in a rather plain white envelope.
- from Money Network Cardholders Services.
We did not receive any letter prior to the arrival of the card.
Seriously…if we got this…it would have been tossed. Especially since initially they said one would receive direct deposit or a paper check.
Why the switch to debit cards? Wondering who is benefiting from this?
@thumper1 Correct, a very nondescript white envelope with a nebulous credit card company name on it. That’s why my parents’ friend, in her 70’s, threw it away.
Okay…deep breaths…serenity now…
I called my bank, a large bank, to inquire about getting the money off of my U.S. Department of the Treasury VISA debit card issued by some shadow company. The very good-natured gentleman that answered the phone chuckled at my question. He said they’ve had a steady stream of people coming in to try and withdraw money. They haven’t received any guidance on how to extract the money inside the branch. They’ve been told to redirect customers to the debit card website. He was very helpful, even went to the website while I was on the phone so he could tell me what to expect.
I’m very tech savvy for a person of my generation.
So, I went to the website. It was obviously created by someone masquerading as a programmer, glitches aplenty should you decide to access it with a mobile device.
After jumping through several hoops and providing everything but a DNA test, and a Covid swab, I came to the page where I needed to enter my email to receive a validation code. Upon hitting the “send me an email page” a shadowed out box popped up with a place to enter my validation code. I checked my email, copied and pasted the code into the box as directed, and…nothing. The shadowed box remained shadowed, thus keeping the “validate” button I needed to push to proceed completely inactive. Hmmm, what now? So, I closed the box, asked for another email code, cut and pasted it and…nothing but an inactive shadowed box. Hmmm…what if I just hit the space key to advance the cursor away from the pasted code? Well what do you know…success…if you can call it that. Why a person would need to guess at that extra step is a complete effing mystery to me.
For my ingenuity I was rewarded with pages of email and phone number requests with several boxes I needed to uncheck to confirm that I DID NOT want to receive a lifetime of emails about their products and services.
Finally I was gifted with the page that allowed me to transfer my debit card balance to my bank account. Entering my bank routing number and account information on this Mickey Mouse website wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I just wanted to be done with it.
I entered the exact amount of my card balance into the transfer amount box, verified all of my information and hit submit.
“Error: Your transfer amount can not exceed your balance amount.”
I. Can. Read. I’m also pretty good with numbers(it must be my accounting degree).
Again, I entered the exact amount, double checked all my commas and periods, then hit submit.
“Error: Your transfer amount can not exceed your balance amount.”
Okay, let’s improvise again I guess. My card balance was $XX25.00. Let’s try $XX00.00 and leave the other $25 for a rainy day. I hit submit…and it went through.
So don’t forget your space bar, and make sure you don’t try to withdraw all the money the sent you on a gift card, rather than a check, and everything should work out just fine.
Or, they could have just sent me a check…
@GKUnion omg. The phrases that would have been coming out of my mouth. And you are an educated and tech savvy person. How about the barely literate and elderly? Ugh.
I say next April you should send the $25 card back as partial payment for your 2020 taxes. And good luck to them for getting the rest off
@GKUnion - isn’t there a service charge for a second transaction?
Since they wouldn’t let you transfer the entire amount- wonder if that is a way for them to take a little money out of the total.
I mean, just… wow. They were sending out checks before. Would it have killed them to continue to do so?