The Economic Impact Payment Card is a VISA prepaid debit card. They're just pointers to a sum of money you've already paid up (or been given) in advance. Visa Government Prepaid is an electronic disbursement method that replaces paper checks. Terms, Statistics Reported by Banks and Other Financial Firms in the
GovCard is powered by Evolv. The Government Payment Card and the funds loaded onto it are separate from any bank account you may have. We couldnt see a connection with the recession in the number of unbanked benefits recipients, Kent said, noting that statistics show the number of unbanked U.S. citizens is about 6.5% and has held steady over the last year. Tip: If you use this card to pay for gas, give your card to the attendant to pre-pay for gas rather than paying at the pump to avoid a pre-authorization. Subscribe to our RSS feed to get the latest content in your reader. They are prepaid debit cards onto which a government agency loads funds directly and you can use them just like traditional debit cards. Sometimes you can earn interest on the money you put on a card or in a bank account. PDF Aaron Klein, a senior fellow of economic studies at the Brookings Institution, said the complaints are unsurprising, considering the millions of people who received some sort of government benefit last year. We use technologies, such as cookies, that gather information on our website. The Board's annual report to the Congress on the use of general-use prepaid cards in federal, state, and local government-administered payment programs and on the interchange fees and cardholder fees charged with respect to the use of those cards. Continuous fraud monitoring detects suspicious activity on your card. You may also be able to use your mobile payment wallet account online. One out of every 10 swipes at a register is a prepaid card, he notes, adding that gift cards are included in this category. GovCard offers constituents many payment options including credit card, debit card, debit-only or ACH. Then you can use the card to spend up to that amount. These protections are not guaranteed for EBT cards so watch your account closely and report any errors, loss or theft immediately. The federal government uses prepaid cards to pay certain federal benefits, such as veterans' benefits or Social Security benefits. Evolv, Inc. is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, CA and Fifth Third Bank, N.A., Cincinnati, OH. The recording then says, Were unable to process your request at this time. Across reported programs, government offices disbursed $136 billion through prepaid cards in 2019, a roughly 0.2 percent decrease from 2018. Last year, millions of Americans turned to government aid programs to keep their finances afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. That information is used for a variety of purposes, such as to understand how visitors interact with our websites, or to serve advertisements on our websites or on other websites.