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U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT OFFICE OF
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 13, 2011 CONTACT: Treasury Public Affairs (202) 622-2960
TREASURY LAUNCHES PILOT
PROGRAM OF PREPAID DEBIT AND PAYROLL CARDS FOR FAST, SAFE AND CONVENIENT TAX
REFUNDS
WASHINGTON – Timed for tax season, the U.S.
Department of the Treasury launched a pilot today to offer taxpayers a safe,
convenient and low-cost financial account for the electronic delivery of their
federal tax refunds. The new account card option provides everyday
money-saving conveniences and consumer protection features for Americans with
limited or no access to traditional banking services.
“This pilot program will
provide low- and moderate-income Americans with a low-cost option for faster
delivery of their federal tax refund,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
Neal Wolin. “This innovative card can be used for
everyday financial transactions, such as receiving wages by direct deposit,
withdrawing cash, making purchases, paying bills and building savings safely
and conveniently, giving users more control over their financial futures.”
As the next step in this
pilot, originally announced in September, Treasury will mail letters next week
to 600,000 low- and moderate-income individuals nationwide. The letters will invite these taxpayers to
consider activating a MyAccountCard Visa® Prepaid
Debit Card in time to have their 2010 federal tax refund direct deposited to
the card. Compared to paper checks, direct
deposit provides a safer, faster and more convenient way to receive a federal
tax refund as well as other regular income.
Also this week, Treasury began a
companion pilot to encourage tens of thousands of current and potential payroll
card users to direct deposit their 2010 federal tax refund onto existing
payroll cards. Nationwide, more than 1.7 million workers use payroll cards to
receive and access their wages, often because they do not have bank
accounts. Working with ADP, a provider
of payroll services, Treasury will highlight the safety, ease and convenience
of direct deposit onto payroll cards through tax season communications,
including materials distributed with pay statements.
The letters mailed to
taxpayers about MyAccountCard contain information
about the card’s features, including free services and the fee structure for
optional services. Many of the features,
including free point-of-sale transactions, free online bill pay, free ATM cash
withdrawals at more than 15,000 ATM machines nationwide, and free cash back at
participating retail stores, will help cardholders limit the costs of using the
card. The information also explains how
to sign up, and how to use the card to receive a federal tax refund and conduct
everyday financial transactions.
As part of the pilot,
Treasury will randomly offer several different variations of MyAccountCard in order to evaluate which product features,
fee structures and marketing messages generate the greatest positive response
from taxpayers. The results of the pilot
will help determine the benefits and feasibility of a card account as an
integrated part of the tax filing and refund process.
The Visa ® branded MyAccountCard will be issued by Bonneville Bank, acting as
Treasury’s financial agent and pursuant to a license from Visa® U.S.A. Inc.,
with additional services provided by Bonneville Bank through its program
manager, Green Dot® Corporation, a prepaid financial
services company. Bonneville Bank, Visa®
and Green Dot® will offer MyAccountCard cardholders a
wide variety of card features, reliable customer service support by telephone
and Internet, and a large nationwide reload network.
The tax-time pilots build on
the Obama Administration’s continuing efforts to increase electronic payments
and to empower Americans to make informed financial decisions. For example, those who receive Social
Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other types of federal
benefits already have the choice to get their payments through the Direct
Express® Debit MasterCard® card, which was designed for federal benefit
recipients and is recommended by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
More information about MyAccountCard can be found at www.myaccountcard.gov.
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