More than 500,000 Social Security recipients have signed up to receive their benefits on a prepaid debit card, and more than 88% said they would recommend that other recipients sign up.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Management Service contracted with Dallas- based Comerica Bank to issue the card nationally in 2008. The card carries the MasterCard brand. The service designed the card for the more than 4 million Social Security recipients who lack bank accounts or are otherwise reliant in paper checks.

"Millions of senior citizens, people with disabilities and other Americans who lack access to traditional banking services, now have a safer, more convenient way to receive their federal benefit payments than paper checks," said FMS Commissioner David Lebryk. "In its first year, the card has helped to bring hundreds of thousands of Americans into the financial mainstream. With this card, people now have a lower-cost alternative to visiting check cashing facilities and carrying large amounts of cash."

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to CUTimes.com, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited CUTimes.com content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking credit union news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Shared Accounts podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the commercial real estate and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, GlobeSt.com and ThinkAdvisor.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.