The U.S. Department of Treasury is announcing a new method of payment in an effort to fast-track Economic Impact Payments (EIP) to American workers and families.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin released a statement confirming its intent to incorporate the use of prepaid debit cards for direct stimulus payments.
“Treasury and the IRS have been working with unprecedented speed to issue Economic Impact Payments to American families,” Mnuchin said in a statement on 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.”
According to Mnuchin, more than 4 million payments will be disbursed via prepaid debit cards. It has also been confirmed that cards will be mailed to recipients this week.
This payment method will likely be available to Americans who do not have bank accounts. The prepaid debit card will be offered in place of paper checks.
This week @USTreasury and #IRS are starting to send nearly 4 million Economic Impact Payments by prepaid debit card, instead of by paper check. EIP debit cards are secure, easy to use, and can be activated immediately. https://t.co/Jy6UDHpMXf
— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) May 18, 2020
The Treasury and U.S Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has partnered with MetaBank to distribute EIP cards for payment disbursement.
“EIP Cards are being distributed to qualified individuals without bank information on file with the IRS, and whose tax return was processed by either the Andover or Austin IRS Service Center,” the statement said.
The latest announcement comes as millions of Americans are still waiting to receive economic relief payouts from the government.
Although the Treasury has noted that “140 million Economic Impact Payments worth $239 billion” have been paid out to Americans, there is still a substantial number of payments that need to be disbursed.
Noting the federal government’s previous success disbursing payments in record time, Mnuchin has assured Americans that they are working to handle the situation as swiftly as possible.
130 million Americans have received Economic Impact Payments, worth more than $218 billion, in less than 5 weeks—record time. More payments are on their way to the American people! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/gKvgkUJBdt
— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) May 8, 2020
Like many other federal agencies on state and local levels, the IRS’ Taxpayer Assistance Centers are facing temporary closure due to the coronavirus outbreak. The closures have likely contributed to delays in tax return processing and stimulus payouts.
As of Tuesday morning, Taxpayer Assistance Centers will remain closed until further notice.