Community Chat

[Starpolisher]

We just received a Visa debit card in the mail from MetaBank. The envelope had only dh's name on it. It was a plain white envelope. He looked it over said it wasn't anything he recognized and handed it to me to shred. We were opening the mail, which we get a ton of. I keep the shredder in the kitchen right next to my chair so I can get rid of the junk mail as it comes in(Checks, Credit cards, no one asked for, whatever.) Well, this looked like junk mail!  I figured it was just a scam to get your information. I hadn't heard the IRS was sending out debit cards! Everyone I know got a paper check signed by the president. Just as I started to shred it, I read the other slip of paper in the envelope and realized it was our Stimulus Payment! Apparently, I'm not the only one! According to several News sources and videos a lot of people have destroyed these thinking they are a scam or junk mail! Just wanted to give a heads up!

They're going to reissue ours. Here's a picture of the slip of paper included with the card and my partially destroyed card.😲You can see the videos if you Google Economic Impact Payment debit card.

[sunshine45]

had not heard about this debit card either.

half of us got ours as a direct deposit.

the other half got checks in the mail.

i wonder why they decided to do some this way?

via WGAL

The Economic Impact Payment cards will be sent to around four million Americans without bank information on file with the IRS and whose tax returns were processed by the Andover or Austin IRS Service Center.

According to the IRS, the card will arrive in a plain envelope from Money Network Cardholder Services. The Visa name will appear on the front of the card, and the back of the card has the name of the issuing bank, MetaBank.

The card will come with instructions on how to activate and use it.

The IRS said recipients can make purchases online and at any retail location where Visa is accepted, get cash from in-network ATMs and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees.

[Starpolisher]

Apparently, this just started last week. Dh and I thought since we file our taxes electronically we would get direct deposit. We didn't realize that you only get that if you get a refund(which we never do) and your banking info is already stored or else you had to apply for it. We were expecting to get a paper check.

[CJC]

Hubby and I received the same Visa card last week. We also had no clue as to what it was. We receive so many of those free credit cards wanting us to activate them and transfer balances. I just cut them and toss in trash. For some reason I read the slip of paper that came with this card. Still thought it was fake. We had been expecting a paper check like everyone else. This card must be a scam. Hubby started making some calls. Couldn’t get ahold of IRS but called our bank. Were told yes, it’s the real thing. What? Why hadn’t we heard about this new method of stimulus payment? Never saw a word on news or in paper. I came very close to trashing that card. Yesterday hubby took card to bank and transferred total amount from card to our savings account. Ours was the first card our bank had seen. Yes, the card is real—don’t throw it out. You just never know what bright ideas the feds are going to come up with next.

[simplyfriends]

I've heard this discussed on the news and on many social media sites for several weeks.  

[Cakers3]

These debit cards were announced in March as another way people would receive their stimulus payments.

It was also announced that the cards would start going out at the end of May.

We have had many links or directions to the IRS website explaining all of this.

I understand the confusion if the envelopes were not marked but that is also a security measure against mail theft.

If you are waiting for your $$ via a debit card, you need to stay on top of the procedure just as those who received direct depost or paper checks needed to do.

At least the cards can be replaced.

[Marp]

Excerpts from:  forbes.com/sites/ryanguina/2020/05/18/irs-issuing-stimulus-checks-via-prepaid-debit-cards/#17bbc0d92a00

May 18, 2020,09:00pm EDT
IRS Issuing Stimulus Checks Via Prepaid Debit Cards—Yours Could Arrive This Week

Today, the U.S. Treasury announced they will be sending 4 million Economic Impact Payments (EIP) via prepaid debit cards, while the remaining payments will be made by check.

The EIP Cards, as the Treasury referred to them, will be mailed with instructions for activation and can be used to make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees.

You can find additional information at the EIP Card website and FAQ page.  ( https://www.eipcard.com/faq/ )

[MamaWick]

If I got a debit card, I'd do what a poster above did and transfer it into an account.  I would not want the government to track what I spent it on.  For the record, DH and I hired a local contractor to build a cedar patio cover.  I asked, and our contractor told me where he buys his cedar and other wood.  I checked out that company who gets the wood from Oregon.  So we did indeed do our part for stimulating the US...US products, US workers.  Regardless,  I wouldn't want the IRS to know how it was spent.  

[Starpolisher]

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@Cakers3 wrote:

These debit cards were announced in March as another way people would receive their stimulus payments.

It was also announced that the cards would start going out at the end of May.

We have had many links or directions to the IRS website explaining all of this.

I understand the confusion if the envelopes were not marked but that is also a security measure against mail theft.

If you are waiting for your $$ via a debit card, you need to stay on top of the procedure just as those who received direct depost or paper checks needed to do.

At least the cards can be replaced

@Cakers3 

Ok, so I was not as informed as you. I thought I'd post this to give others who might not know a heads up. 

I had only heard of the paper check or direct deposit How would you know if you are going to get a paper check or debit card so that you can stay on top of it? Like I said previously, everyone I know got a paper check!

[CJC]

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@Starpolisher wrote:

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@Cakers3 wrote:

These debit cards were announced in March as another way people would receive their stimulus payments.

It was also announced that the cards would start going out at the end of May.

We have had many links or directions to the IRS website explaining all of this.

I understand the confusion if the envelopes were not marked but that is also a security measure against mail theft.

If you are waiting for your $$ via a debit card, you need to stay on top of the procedure just as those who received direct depost or paper checks needed to do.

At least the cards can be replaced

@Cakers3 

Ok, so I was not as informed as you. I thought I'd post this to give others who might not know a heads up. 

I had only heard of the paper check or direct deposit How would you know if you are going to get a paper check or debit card so that you can stay on top of it? Like I said previously, everyone I know got a paper check!

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Yep, guess DH and I can be listed as the uninformed.  Our bank said news about debit card appeared in Wall Street Journal.  We do not read WSJ.  We read our local paper, watch FOXnews, CNN, and local news nearly all day, and watch Lester Holt national news nightly.  We must be dummies.  Never ever receive a refund from IRS, so we figured we'd receive our paper check around Sept-Oct.  Funny thing...our neighbor received her paper check same day we received our debit card.  That's one reason I thought card was fake.  Couldn't find anyone else who received card.  Letter included with card said something about you would receive card only if you sent your taxes to Andover, Mass. or somewhere in Texas.