Treasury Is Delivering Millions of Prepaid Debit Cards for Economic Impact Payments

The Treasury Dept. and the IRS began sending prepaid debit cards to nearly 4 million Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) recipients instead of paper checks. With their EIP Cards, the recipients can make purchases, get cash from ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees. In addition, they have the ability to check their card balance online or by phone without incurring fees.

The EIP Card can be used online or at any retail location where Visa is accepted, and provides consumer protections — including protections against fraud, loss, and other errors — which is available to traditional bank account holders.

“Treasury and the IRS have been working with unprecedented speed to issue Economic Impact Payments to American families. Prepaid debit cards are secure, easy to use, and allow us to deliver Americans their money quickly,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Recipients can immediately activate and use the cards safely.”

To date, the Treasury Dept. already delivered more than $239 billion for 140 million EIP payments Americans through direct deposit to accounts and by paper check. The EIP Card is yet another method to provide money efficiently and securely to recipients.