OT: Economic stimulus debit cards

[fiamme red]

My father just got mail from Money Network Cardholder Services, and enclosed was a Visa card from MetaBank that looked like the usual pre-approved credit card offer. He wasn't sure if it was legitimate, so I looked it up and found that it was his federal stimulus payment on a prepaid debit card.

I'm glad he didn't throw it out with the rest of his junk mail, as some others have: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ch...cks-2020-05-27.

[batman1425]

Yea, not labeled very well from what a few of our friends have mentioned. That hasn't stopped folks from looting mailboxes around the neighborhood looking for them however. One of our neighbors had their entire locking mailbox taken.

[Tickdoc]

how do they determine how much you get? I got mine last week, btw.

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

how do they determine how much you get? I got mine last week, btw.

Prorated by your income with a maximum of $1200/person if you don't have any kids. Get a bit more for each qualifying child. Income for the calculation is taken from your previous years tax return.

[Clean39T]

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[Spaghetti Legs]

That’s very interesting; looks like the Fed has brought in a middleman to make some money off the payouts. I wonder if there was a fee paid for this or the middleman just gets to keep the unused balances on the debit cards, of which I’m sure there will be a lot.

I recognize that a lot of people don’t have checking accounts and a debit card is probably best way to get money to them but for a program like this, that is horribly inefficient.

[kppolich]

it'll surely make it easier to track where people spend their funds. Any restrictions on what this new card can purchase? Thinking back to my days working in a grocery store and the WIC or EBT debit cards and qualifying items.

[makoti]

Got mine on a card. Almost tossed it. Had to google it to be sure it wasn't a scam before I trusted it enough to do anything. All I wanted was to put it all into my checking account (no fee for that). It took about 10 steps to do that. Jeez.

[Plum Hill]

One of he news programs had a feature about people that tossed or cut up the cards thinking they were pre-approved credit cards. One could blame them for not checking. OTOH a poor way of doing things from our government.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by kppolich

it'll surely make it easier to track where people spend their funds. Any restrictions on what this new card can purchase? Thinking back to my days working in a grocery store and the WIC or EBT debit cards and qualifying items.

There's no reason for the spending to be tracked (although I'm sure it will be and will be reported on by the administration). The direct deposit and the paper checks weren't trackable.

Hookers, blow and esoteric bike parts are all within scope. Make your own adult decisions.

[Mikej]

These cards are for those that did not get direct deposit already? Or an additional free money I don’t need and can pay interest on until my kids are old enough to pay the rest?

[Peter P.]

So why did I get a paper check? (Received it one week ago.)

[MattTuck]

Is this a new payout?

I got mine direct deposited a month or so ago.

[likebikes]

i still think it's a scam

[Clean39T]

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