Update: This story was originally published in February 2021. Since then, the US government has approved and begun distributing a third round of stimulus checks in the amount of $1,400 per person.
Most Americans will receive their third payment via direct deposit, but the IRS is also sending paper checks and prepaid debit cards in the mail. Debit cards, formally called EIP cards, will arrive in white envelopes stamped with the Department of the Treasury seal. the cards themselves will have mentions of visa, money network and metabank, n.a. in them.
Read below to learn more about stimulus check debit cards and how to use them.
don’t throw away that weird letter from nebraska you just got in the mail. As incomplete as it may seem, it’s not spam, it’s your second stimulus check.
The Department of the Treasury and the Department of the Treasury are in the midst of distributing a round of $600 relief payments to Americans affected by the pandemic. While most were sent via direct deposit and many have already appeared in people’s bank accounts, some stimulus payments have been relegated to the mail. In addition to paper checks, about 8 million debit cards are now sent.
but they don’t look as official as you might expect.
Formally called economic impact payment cards, or EIP cards, payments are mailed in plain white envelopes. a small treasury stamp department appears in the corner, but the return address is a p.o. box in nebraska there’s red writing stating “not a bill or ad,” which, if you’ve ever received spam, is usually a sure way to know something is definitely a bill or ad. And perhaps most confusingly, the card inside is issued by a company called Metabank, N.A.
This could pose a problem given how many people accidentally threw away their stimulus checks last time. this is what you need to know about debit cards, metabank and more.
why are some stimulus checks sent as debit cards?
The simple answer is because it’s fast. The IRS says it is sending out prepaid debit cards “to speed delivery of payments to reach as many people as quickly as possible.” these cards are sponsored by the tax service office.
People in all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., are getting EIP cards, especially those who live in the western US. uu. The IRS says it doesn’t determine who gets a debit card and who gets a check, and there’s no guarantee which one gets, even if last year’s first stimulus was a paper check.
You can also get a debit card if you previously used a tax preparer like h&r block or turbotax. The IRS may have tried to send your stimulus payment via direct deposit to a temporary bank account used for transferring your tax refund, but was refused and did not send you a check or card.
So, if you still haven’t received your second stimulus check via direct deposit, keep an eye on your mailbox.
what the stimulus check debit card looks like
The IRS shared an example of an EIP card here. it is a visa with a blue background and white stars.
It will likely come in an envelope with a stamp and return address that says “Economic Impact Payment Card, PO Box 27022, Omaha, NE 68124-7022.” instructions on how to activate it will be included.
what is metabank, n.a.? what about money network financial?
The names on the back of the eip card may not look familiar to you, but they are real. the irs says metabank, n.a. it is the “financial agent of the treasury”. it is a bench dating from 1954; On its website, Metabank calls itself “a leader in providing financial solutions to customers and businesses in underserved market niches.”
the cards are managed by money network financial, llc, which is also legitimate. money network hosts the site eipcard.com.
what you can do with an eip card
They work like any other prepaid debit card. So as long as the retailer accepts Visa, you can spend your EIP card there. Recipients can also use their EIP Card to get cash using an ATM or deposit funds into a bank account for free. the money does not expire.
To activate your stimulus check debit card, you’ll need to sign the cardholder agreement and fee schedule, set up a four-digit pin, and sign the back.
does it cost money to use an eip card?
You can see a long and detailed list of EIP card fees here, but the general summary is that withdrawing funds from an in-network ATM in the US is ok. uu. it should cost $0. it’s $2 to withdraw funds from an out-of-network ATM, although this fee is waived the first time you do so. It costs 25 cents to check your balance at an ATM (but it’s free online, on the phone, or in an app).
It normally costs $5 to withdraw from your eip card using an over the counter bank teller, although this is also exempt for the first time. if you have questions, you can call 1-800-240-8100 or view a frequently asked question here.
more money:
this is when you will receive your second stimulus check
9 reasons why your second stimulus check has not arrived
why $2,000 stimulus checks are much more likely now