SSI on debit cards instead of checks

A new program was developed by the US government to allow Social Security recipients to receive their benefits via a prepaid debit card. The Department of the Treasury said Thursday that nearly 2 million Social Security recipients in 12 Western states will receive information this month about the new option. The project is aimed at people who do not have bank accounts and receive paper checks, which can be lost, stolen or delayed.

Each month the Treasury will load the Direct Express Debit MasterCard issued by Comerica Bank allowing thus the recipients to make purchases, pay bills and get cash at thousands of ATM and retail locations nationwide.

The advantages of such a method to receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income are those that 4 million Social Security and SSI recipients nationally do not have bank accounts and, until now, have had to rely on paper check payments. In 2007 700,000 paper checks were reported lost or stolen and were reissued