The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are beginning to send nearly 4 million economic impact payments by prepaid debit card, instead of by paper check or direct deposit.
The IRS had trouble with some direct deposits because it was relying on information from taxpayers’ 2018 and 2019 tax returns, and in some cases the money went to temporary bank accounts set up by tax prep chains. Paper checks are starting to go out, but they take longer. The prepaid debit cards promise to provide more convenience, but if they get lost in the mail, that could pose problems as well for people eagerly awaiting their economic impact payments.
Prof. Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., a co-founder of BaselineScenario.com (a much cited website on the global economy), a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers, and a member of the FDIC's Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the private sector systemic risk council founded and chaired by Sheila Bair in 2012. Prof. Johnson is a weekly contributor to NYT.com's Economix, is a regular Bloomberg columnist, has a monthly article with Project Syndicate that runs in publications around the world, and has published high impact opinion pieces recently in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Republic, BusinessWeek and The Financial Times, among other places. In January 2010, he joined The Huffington Post as contributing business editor. Professor Johnson is the co-author, with James Kwak, of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown, a bestselling assessment of the dangers now posed by the U.S. financial sector (published March 2010) and White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt and Why it Matters to You (April 2012). In his roles as a professor, research fellow and author, Professor Johnson's speaking engagements include paid appearances before various business groups, including financial institutions and other companies, as well before other groups that may have a political agenda. He is not on the board of any company, does not currently serve as a consultant to anyone, and does not work as an expert witness or conduct sponsored research. His investment portfolio comprises cash and broadly diversified mutual funds; he does not trade stocks, bonds, derivatives or other financial products actively. From March 2007 through the end of August 2008, Prof. Johnson was the International Monetary Fund's Economic Counselor (chief economist) and Director of its Research Department. He is a co-director of the NBER Africa Project, and works with nonprofits and think tanks around the world. Johnson holds a B.A. in economics and politics from the University of Oxford, an M.A. in economics from the University of Manchester, and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2024.
Johnny Poulsen is the CEO of Income Lab, a company that wants to revolutionize the way retirement is planned and experienced.
With over two decades of experience in financial services, Poulsen co-founded Income Lab to equip advisors with better tools to help clients retire with clarity and confidence.
Sam Krishnamurthy is the Chief Technology Officer for Turvi.
The Treasury said recipients can use the so-called EIP Cards to make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees. They can also check their card balance online, by mobile app, or by phone without incurring fees. The EIP Card can be used online, at ATMs, or at any retail location where Visa is accepted. The free, prepaid card comes with the kinds of consumer protections available to traditional bank account owners, including safeguards against fraud, loss and other problems.
“Treasury and the IRS have been working with unprecedented speed to issue Economic Impact Payments to American families,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin in a statement Monday. “Prepaid debit cards are secure, easy to use, and allow us to deliver Americans their money quickly. Recipients can immediately activate and use the cards safely.”
Under the $2 trillion CARES Act that Congress passed in March in response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS and the Treasury have been sending out payments of $1,200 to individual taxpayers, $2,400 to couples, plus an extra $500 for each of their dependent children.
The Treasury said it has already sent more than 140 million economic impact payments worth $239 billion to Americans by direct deposit to accounts at financial institutions, Direct Express card accounts, and by check. The Treasury-sponsored EIP Card is another way to distribute the money efficiently and securely to eligible recipients and their families. EIP Cards are being sent to qualified individuals who don’t have bank information on file with the IRS, and whose tax return was processed by either the Andover or Austin IRS Service Center.
The Treasury’s financial agent, MetaBank, will mail out the EIP Cards to eligible recipients starting this week. Each mailing will include instructions on how to activate and use the card.
The EIP Card is part of the Treasury’s larger U.S. Debit Card program, which offers prepaid debit card services to federal agencies for electronic delivery of non-benefit payments. MetaBank was picked as the Treasury’s financial agent for the U.S. Debit Card program in 2016, after a competitive selection process by the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
For more information about the EIP Card, click here. For more details about economic impact payments, click here.
