Government Prepaid Cards Lower Costs and Improve Access - Report No. 34

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Government Prepaid Cards Lower Costs and Improve Access - Report No. 34
Corporate Partner

Research Series
  Advisory Group

         Report No. 34              June 2013

          Government Prepaid Cards Lower
          Costs and Improve Access
Acknowledgements

    About the Authors                                                                                Corporate Partner Advisory Group
                                                                                                     Chairman:
        Helena G. Sims is a co-author of this report. Most of her 35 years of professional
    experience have been devoted to forging partnerships among public and private organiza-          Hank Steininger, CGFM, CPA
    tions. Since 2007, she has served as director of intergovernmental relations for AGA. Prior      H.J. Steininger PLLC
    to her work with AGA, she was Managing Director of Public-Private Partnerships for a
    banking trade association that played a key role in fostering a nationwide system for the
                                                                                                     AGA Professional Staff:
    electronic delivery of government benefits. She served as Washington Office Director             Relmond Van Daniker, DBA, CPA
    for the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers and has also         Executive Director
    worked for the Council of State Governments, the U.S. Senate and the Florida Legislature.
                                                                                                     Susan Fritzlen
    Helena earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech communication from Florida
                                                                                                     Deputy Executive Director/COO
    State university.
        Steven E. Sossei, CPA, is a co-author and the primary researcher for this report. He is      Maryann Malesardi
    a retired Director of State Audits from the New York State Comptroller’s Office, where he        Director of Communications
    worked for 35 years. Steve has extensive experience in auditing all types of government          Jennifer Curtin, MPA
    and not-for-profit operations. in his role as Director of State Audits, he was responsible for   Director of Public Affairs
    directing the audits of New York’s Medicaid program, public employee’s health insurance
                                                                                                     Joseph Davis
    plan and New York City’s school system. He also worked extensively with the National
                                                                                                     Marketing & Communications Manager
    Association of State Auditors Peer Review program, working on more than 20 peer
    reviews during his career. Steve also served as AGA’s Director of Education from 2010
    through 2011. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the State
    University of New York at Albany.

    AGA is proud to recognize VISA for supporting this effort.
                                          Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses,
                                      financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure
                                      and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing
                                      networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 30,000 transaction messages a
    second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards,
    extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer
    consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information,
    visit corporate.visa.com.

    AGA’s Corporate Partner Advisory Group Research Program
        One of the roles of professional             mission of advancing government                 make AGA a leading advocate for
    associations like AGA is to develop              accountability.                                 improving the quality and effective-
    new thinking on issues affecting those               AGA has been instrumental in                ness of government fiscal admin­
    we represent. This new thinking is               assisting with the development of               istration and program performance
    developed out of research and draws              accounting and auditing standards and           and accountability.
    on the considerable resources and                in generating new concepts for the                 Our Thought Leadership Library
    experiences of our members and                   effective organization and administra-          includes more than thirty completed
    counterparts in the private sector –             tion of government financial manage-            studies. These in-depth studies are
    our Corporate Partners. These orga-              ment functions. The Association                 made possible with the support of our
    nizations all have long-term com-                conducts independent research and               Corporate Partners. Download compli-
    mitments to supporting the financial             analysis of all aspects of government           mentary reports at www.agacgfm.org/
    management community and choose                  financial management. These studies             researchpublications.
    to partner with and help AGA in its

2   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
Table of Contents

Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
    Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
    The Ongoing Electronic Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Objectives, Scope and Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   Redistributing the Workload. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
   The Financial Foundation for Prepaid Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
   Experiences with Prepaid Debit Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
        Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
        Washington State’s Division of Child Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
        Oklahoma’s Tax Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
        Treasury’s Financial Management Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Understanding the Move to Prepaid Debit Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   Cost: The Primary Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Access: Also a Motivator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Security: Safeguarding Payment Recipients and Their Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Other Studies on the Use of Prepaid Debit Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Costs Savings for Cardholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
    Other Card-Related Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        Education and Training Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        Branding the Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
        Future Uses of Prepaid Debit Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Appendix A: Officials Interviewed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

                                                                                                       Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                                                                3
Executive Summary
        For decades, governments have           charged to cardholders are lower on          reduced because, unlike checks, they
    sought to maximize the use of electronic    average for prepaid debit card transac-      do not have to be mailed every time a
    payments and minimize the use of paper      tions than they are for cashing checks.      payment is made, recipients do not have
    checks when making payments to indi-            We learned that a prepaid debit          to carry large amounts of cash after
    viduals. While direct deposit has been      card program can be implemented at           cashing a check and government card-
    the preferred method for making elec-       no or low cost to government agencies        holders are given the same consumer
    tronic payments, it can only be used with   and that cost-savings was the major          protections available to all other debit
    individuals who have a bank account. It     motivator for eight of the 10 govern-        cardholders. While information is avail-
    is estimated that 1 in 12 households in     ment agencies interviewed. According         able on government savings, minimal
    the United Sates do not have the option     to a U.S. Treasury press release issued      information has been available on the
    of receiving payments via direct deposit    in 2010, the FMS is projected to save        cost impact for cardholders. We sought
    because they are unbanked, meaning          an estimated $1 billion over the next        to compare fees paid by cardholders to
    they don’t have a bank account. As a        10 years by moving Social Security,          access their cash via prepaid debit cards,
    result, a number of government agencies     Supplemental Security Income and             compared to cashing a check. Based on
    have adopted a prepaid debit card as        other paper check payments to prepaid        a report issued by the Federal Reserve
    a way to make electronic payments to        cards.                                       Board of Governors and publically
    these unbanked individuals.                     Other major reasons that govern-         available research on check-cashing
        AGA conducted this research to          ments switched to prepaid debit              fees, we estimate that unemployment
    understand the underlying factors that      cards included better cash access and        compensation benefit recipients saved
    influenced governments to implement         improved security for recipients of gov-     between $100 million and $389 million in
    prepaid debit card programs, the degree     ernment payments. Government agen-           2011 by using prepaid debit cards versus
    of satisfaction with the programs and       cies saw the cards as a way to increase      check-cashing services. On an individual
    the benefits derived from them. This        the options available to the unbanked for    basis, the cost of check-cashing services
    research is based on interviews that        accessing funds. With a prepaid debit        are significant as well. An announce-
    AGA staff conducted with 10 govern-         card, government cardholders have the        ment by District of Columbia’s Mayor
    ment agencies that implemented a pre-       same access that all other cardholders       Vincent Gray during, ‘Financial Literacy
    paid debit card program We interviewed      have to automated teller machines            Awareness Month’ stated that almost 25
    nine state agencies within eight states.    (ATMs) and retailers that offer cash back    percent of D.C. residents are unbanked
    We also interviewed one federal agency,     with purchases. Cardholders have the         or underbanked, and that these resi-
    the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s       flexibility to access some or all of their   dents pay an average of $800 per year in
    Financial Management Service (FMS).1        funds at one time and, even though their     check-cashing fees.
        All of the agencies interviewed, were   card is not tied to an individual bank
    pleased with their programs. They said      account, they have the option of going       Conclusion
    that the prepaid debit card programs        into a bank to obtain cash from their            In summary, we found that govern-
    saved the government money and              card. Cardholders can make purchases         ments and the recipients of government
    enhanced client service in a number of      at any retailer that accepts the brand       payments derive significant benefits by
    ways. The programs made it possible         displayed on their card (i.e., Visa or       using prepaid debit cards in lieu of paper
    for governments to make electronic pay-     MasterCard), and can shop and pay bills      checks. Given the documented savings,
    ments to those without bank accounts,       online or by phone, thereby taking major     governments would do well to assess
    they are widely-accepted by retailers,      steps into the financial mainstream.         any remaining paper-based payment pro-
    they provide added security for card-           Prepaid debit cards are more secure      cesses to determine whether additional
    holders and they provide widespread         than checks in a variety of ways. The        savings might be possible by converting
    access to cash. In addition, the fees       risk that a card will be lost or stolen is   to electronic payment methods.

4   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
Introduction
    We live in a world where technol-        disadvantages for the recipient in that         direct deposit. Governments that want
ogy is ushering in new ways of doing         that checks must be negotiated in some          to limit the issuance of paper checks
business and communicating with one          manner for their holders to receive             must therefore consider alternatives to
another. Political campaigns use Twitter     payment. Individuals without bank               direct deposit.
to communicate instantaneously with          accounts have to locate a bank to cash              Governments have taken steps to
supporters, Facebook connects people         the check or use an alternative outlet,         expand the use of electronic payments
into communities across the world, and       such as a check-cashing operation. The          beyond direct deposit. The most note-
the internet allows people to work virtu-    individual must then secure the cash            worthy example involved the Electronic
ally from almost anywhere.                   until it is used, presenting an element         Benefits Transfer (EBT), which state
    The banking community was one            of risk. During our interviews, the U.S.        governments began implementing in
of the first sectors of the economy to       Department of the Treasury (Treasury)           the 1990s. All states now have an EBT
embrace electronic technology. The           officials stated that it costs $1.05 to issue   program, whereby benefits are provided
payment security offered by bank-issued      a check. Check issuance cost may not            to recipients on a debit-type card,
credit and debit cards is the financial      seem very large when looked at singly,          primarily for access to food stamps,
engine powering the growth in online         but costs quickly add up when millions          which is now called the Supplemental
sales today. Since the 1970s, direct         of checks are issued.                           Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To
deposit has freed bank customers from             Direct deposit has been the preferred      redeem SNAP benefits, recipients swipe
the need to stand in line to deposit         method for making government pay-               their EBT card at a retailer and enter a
payroll checks. ATM’s and cash back          ments to individuals for years. direct          unique personal identification number
at point-of-sale have reduced the            deposit payments are made using the             (PIN) to authorize payment for eligible
need for individuals to go to banks to       Automated Clearing House (ACH) net-             items. EBT cards are also used by some
withdraw cash from their accounts. The       work, which routes electronic payments          states to provide Women Infants and
financial services industry continues        between banks and into an individual’s          Children (WIC) benefits.4 While EBT
to revolutionize the way people do           bank account. Although direct deposit           has been an unquestionable success in
business today.                              is the preferred method for making              eliminating coupons under the SNAP
                                             government payments, it has one                 program, it is not an ideal solution for
The Ongoing Electronic                       significant drawback in that it only works      cash benefits. Cash access under EBT is
                                             if the recipient has a bank account. A          limited because it operates on a closed
Revolution                                   significant portion of the population of        network, which provides more limited
    Electronic payments are making           the United Sates is unbanked, meaning           access to cash benefits than commercial
checks obsolete.2 Issuing paper checks is    they live in a household that does not          debit networks and operates under a
a labor-intensive and costly way to make     have a bank account. A 2011 Federal             unique set of rules which limit access
government payments. Absent direct           Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)            and availability to recipients.
deposit, government programs have tra-       study found that an estimated 8.2
ditionally issued checks to individuals.     percent of U.S. households (or one in
At a minimum, issuing checks requires        twelve) are unbanked.3 In addition, the
the government agency to purchase            study estimated that an additional 20
secure check stock and develop pro-          percent of U.S. households are classified
cesses to print, sign, secure and mail the   as underbanked, meaning they use few
checks. It also requires that processes      traditional financial services such as
are in place to reissue and reconcile        credit cards and checking accounts. With
lost or stolen checks. Checks are costly     no or limited banking services, these
in terms of supplies, equipment and          two groups are not good candidates for
manpower. Checks have additional

                                                               Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                   5
Objectives, Scope and Methodology
        The objectives of this research were   use of prepaid debit cards, we limited      government agencies — nine at the state
    to understand the underlying factors       our research to unemployment benefits,      level and one at the federal level. Two
    that influenced governments to imple-      child support payments to custodial         of the state-level agencies were in the
    ment prepaid debit card programs, the      parents and tax refunds. At Treasury,       same state, California. These interviews
    degree of satisfaction with the programs   we included the Direct Express program,     were conducted between November 1,
    and the benefits derived from them. Our    which is used to provide a wide range       2012 and February 28, 2013. The officials
    research encompassed the prepaid debit     of payments to individuals, includ-         interviewed are listed in Appendix A. We
    card program operated by Treasury          ing Social Security, Supplemental           used a standard set of questions for our
    and programs in eight states selected      Security Income (SSI), and other            interviews. We also reviewed other rel-
    by our researchers. All of the prepaid     federal benefit payments.                   evant research documents and reports
    debit cards in our study were issued by        Interviews were our primary method      to ascertain the concerns and issues
    a bank, and branded either by Visa® or     of obtaining information for this study.    associated with the use of prepaid debit
    MasterCard®. In reviewing the states’      We interviewed officials from 10            cards by government programs.

    Interview Questions
        Decision to Move to                        by prepaid cards last fiscal year?     10. When implementing the
                                                                                              program, what was the most
        Prepaid Card System and                 6. Has your organization realized             difficult part of the changeover?
        Implementation of System                   the cost savings it estimated it
                                                   would receive by implementing          11. What part of the change over
        1. What factors led to your                the prepaid debit card program?            process presented the largest
           decision to move to a prepaid           Have you incurred additional               risk to the implementation
           debit card system?                      unplanned costs? How much?                 was the riskiest for your
                                                                                              organization?
        2. When did your prepaid card           7. Has your organization
           program become operational?             experienced the other benefits         12. How do the cardholders feel
                                                   it sought when moving to the               about the prepaid cards?
        3. In general terms how did you            prepaid debit card system?
           select a vendor?                                                               13. What would you do differently
                                                8. Overall, are you satisfied                 if you had to implement a
        4. How many types of cards does            with move to a prepaid debit               prepaid card program again?
           your program use?                       card program for distributing
                                                   benefits or funds?                     14. Are there other programs you
        Operation of System –                                                                 want to convert over to the
                                                9. Are there areas or opportunities           prepaid debit card program?
        Experiences                                for improvement that you see in
        5. What is the total amount of funds       the program?
           distributed under your program

6   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
The Emergence of
Prepaid Debit Cards
    The first breakthrough for making         recipients and they provide widespread        pay for purchases and to receive cash
electronic payments to the unbanked           access to cash. In addition, as docu-         back. A significant difference is that a
on a wide scale began making headway          mented later in this report, fees for card-   government-issued prepaid debit card
in the early 2000s. This solution was         holders to access their cash are lower on     is not linked to an individual’s bank
the prepaid debit card. The emergence         average than check cashing fees.              account. Instead, it is linked to a master
of commercial prepaid debit cards                 A government-issued prepaid debit         account maintained by the bank that
was significant because they allowed          card works very much like a regular           issues the card (Issuer). Government
governments to make electronic pay-           debit card. It may be used at an ATM          agencies contract with Issuers to imple-
ments to people who do not have bank          to withdraw cash, at any store that           ment their prepaid debit card programs.5
accounts, they are widely accepted by         accepts the appropriately branded credit      See Figure 1.
retailers, they provide added security for    or debit card (Visa or MasterCard) to

Figure 1: Government Prepaid Card Funding Flow

    Government Agency                                              Bank/Program                              Cardholder
    • Develops ACH funding                                           Manager
      file* using detail from
      enrollment file and sends
      it to the Depository Bank          Depository Bank
                                     reviews and transmits
    • The Agency can use              file to ACH operator
      their exisitng bank
      account — no new                                                                               • Make purchases and pay
      account set up required       ACH operator distributes                                           bills everywhere Visa®
                                     funds to Bank/Program                                             Debit cards and Debit
                                            Manager                                                    MasterCard® are accepted
                                                                • Confirms file receipt              • Access cash at ATMs and
    • Confirmation report of                                                                           from tellers at member
      successful deposits                                                                              banks and credit unions
                                                                • Deposits funds to card
                                                                  account — funds typically          • Get cash back with
                                                                  available to the cardholder          purchase at particpating
                                                                  by the next business day             merchants

Source: Alpha Group LLC

    To the cardholder and the merchant,       population, including the unbanked and        frequency and initiating payment to the
the prepaid debit card looks and func-        the underbanked who may not have, nor         recipient, by sending an ACH file to the
tions just like a standard debit card. To     qualify for, a checking account.              bank. The bank assumes responsibility
the government, it works just like direct         Figure 2 illustrates the responsibili-    for card issuance, basic administrative
deposit, with the associated low cost         ties and roles in a prepaid debit card pro-   functions like retaining the cardholder’s
and reliability. But the prepaid debit card   gram. The government retains responsi-        balance and resolving errors that occur
can be used by a broader segment of the       bility for determining eligibility, payment   in the process of disbursing funds.

                                                                Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                   7
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

    Redistributing the                               responsibilities. While the government        regarding card use and the replacement
                                                     remains responsible for customer              of a lost/stolen card, thereby reducing
    Workload                                         service questions about eligibility and/      the burden on governmental entities
        Adopting a prepaid debit card system         or benefit levels, the bank or program        replace lost or stolen checks. Check
    to replace paper checks will result in           manager assumes significant customer          replacement services are a staff-
    some changes to traditional government           service responsibility related to the flow    intensive operation for a government
    roles and responsibilities. As depicted          of funds, error resolution and account        agency because it involves investigating
    in Figure 2, some tasks may be assumed           balances. Issuer-provided customer ser-       whether the check has been cashed and
    by the issuing bank or program man-              vice is typically available over the phone    re-issuing a replacement paper check.
    ager, thereby allowing the government            and on the Internet, where cardholders        The government agency would remain a
    agency to reassign staff to perform              are able to perform basic functions, such     secondary point of contact for answer-
    other program or agency functions. For           as making address changes. Issuer cus-        ing questions regarding benefit eligibil-
    example, banks and program managers              tomer service operations are typically        ity and levels.
    assume additional customer service               the first point of contact for questions

    Figure 2: Government Prepaid Card Program Responsibilities

           Government Agency                                  Bank/Program                                    Cardholder
                                                                Manager
       Enrollment                                         Enrollment                               Funds Access
       • Individual files sent online                     • File acknowledgment and                • Use card to make purchases and
         real time or by batch daily/                       acceptance                               pay bills everywhere Visa® Debit
         weekly                                                                                      cards and Debit MasterCard®
                                                          Card Issuance                              are accepted
                                                                                                   • Access cash at ATMs and from
                                                                                                     tellers at member banks and
       Funding*                                           Funding                                    credit unions
       • ACH funding file developed                       • File confirmation                      • Get cash back with purchase at
         using detail from enrollment                     • Card deposit                             particpating merchants
         file                           Depository
                                          Bank
                                                         Transaction Processing                    Account Management
                                                                                                   • Online and mobile phone
                                                                                                   • Load, balance and transaction
       File Management                                   File Management
                                                                                                     information
       • Demographic updates                             • Demographic updates
                                                         • Program reporting                       Customer Service
       Administration                                                                              • Typically 24/7, 365
                                                         Administration
       • Card status reporting                                                                     • By phone and online
                                                         • Card status reporting
       • Online adjustments                              • Online adjustments                      Protection
       • By-case cardholder review                       • By-case cardholder                      • Regulation E
                                                           review                                  • Zero Liability
                                                                                                   • Regulation P
                                                         Customer Service                          Added Value
                                                         Protection                                • Financial literacy education
                                                         Added Value                               • Merchant offers and discounts

    Source: Alpha Group LLC

       Prepaid debit card holders typically          up for email (and often text message)         always be predictable. Many prepaid
    receive more services than are avail-            notifications that funds have been            debit card arrangements also provide
    able to check recipients. For example,           placed onto the card. This allows them        additional cardholder services. For
    cardholders can generally opt to receive         to access their funds as soon as they         example, an Issuer may provide financial
    automatic notifications when a deposit           are available. This feature is particularly   literacy services for its cardholders and
    has been made to their prepaid debit             helpful to custodial parents receiving        retailers may offer discounts on pur-
    card. Most prepaid debit card arrange-           child support payments, because the           chases made with the card.
    ments allow the card recipient to sign           intervals between payments may not

8   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

The Financial Foundation                      proposition for various parties involved    low cost. Cardholder fees are deducted
                                              in a government prepaid debit card          from the cardholder’s available balance.
for Prepaid Cards                             system. Under provisions of the Dodd-       Cardholder fees could include out-of-
    An underlying premise in moving to        Frank Act, the Federal Reserve Board is     network ATM fees, balance inquiry fees,
prepaid debit cards is that the program       required to report annually to Congress     over-the-counter (OTC) fees, account
can be implemented at no or low cost to       on government prepaid debit card            servicing fees, routine monthly fees,
the government, and that cardholders          programs and their associated fees.         customer service inquiry fees, penalty
will incur little or no cost in access-       The first report, prepared in 2011 was      fees and overdraft fees. All fees are
ing their funds. A prepaid debit card         based on 2010 data.6 The most recent        disclosed to the cardholder through
program, even if free to the government       report, issued in 2012, provides infor-     the terms sent with the new card. They
agency, is operated at a cost to the          mation based on 2011 data. The 2012         should also be posted on the govern-
Issuer. As a commercial venture, the          report compiles information reported        ment agency’s website.
card Issuer must do more than cover           by government program officials for             As stated above, the 15 Issuers for
its costs to stay in business; it has to      158 federal, state and local payment        government prepaid programs reported
make a profit. It begs the question, how      programs as well as from the 15 large       that in 2011 they received $120 million
are prepaid debit card programs able          card Issuers in the United States.          in cardholder fees. The Federal Reserve
to save governmental entities money,          These 15 card Issuers account for more      Board calculated this equated to an
and also offer cardholders the ability to     than 90 percent of the cards used in        average of $6.33 per card, or 0.3 percent
access their benefits at little or no cost?   government-administered prepaid debit       of the dollars disbursed through govern-
The answer is that Issuers earn revenue       card programs.                              ment payment prepaid debit cards annu-
from a number of sources:                         According to the 2012 report, the       ally. ATM fees ($59 million) comprised
„„ Interchange fees — Fees are paid to        largest source of revenue for Issuers       the largest portion of total cardholder
   the issuing bank for its involvement       of government prepaid debit cards was       fees. There are significant variations
   in an electronic transaction. The          interchange fees charged to merchants       among the fees paid by cardholders in
   fees are a payment from a merchant         ($208 million), followed by cardholder      federal and state programs, with the
   to the issuing bank because,               fees ($120 million). Information was        higher fees paid in state programs.
   whereas the fee is charged by the          not requested on any interest earnings      Figure 3 from the 2012 Federal Reserve
   payment card network (i.e., Visa           for the funds associated with prepaid       Report, captures information on the
   or MasterCard), it is made by a            debit cards. The 2012 report states that    range of cardholder fees reported by
   merchant’s bank and the amount of          interchange fees averaged 1.1 percent       Issuers on prepaid debit card programs
   the fee is passed on to the merchant.      of the transaction amount, which is         for various categories.
„„ Interest — The Issuer holds                consistent with the level reported in the
   cardholder funds until they are            2011 report.
   accessed by the client and the bank            The cardholder fees, which provide          Contracts between
   is able to invest the funds in the         Issuers with their second largest source        governments and
   meantime.                                  of revenue, vary by program and are             Issuers attempt
„„ Cardholder fees — Any fees charged         established through the contract with
                                                                                              to strike a balance
   by the Issuer to the cardholder for        the government agency. These con-
   using the prepaid debit card.              tracts are awarded through a competi-           among the Issuers’
    In contrast to these revenue sources,     tive process.                                   need to make a profit,
there are also expenses for the Issuer.           Decisions that cardholders make in          the governments’
The Issuer pays fees to third parties         accessing their funds affect the amount         interest in reducing
to compensate them for participation          of cardholder fees that an Issuer earns.
                                              For example, cardholders can avoid an
                                                                                              costs and the ability
in the transaction. Typical Issuer fees
include those paid to other banks or          out-of-network fee by using in-network          of cardholders to
ATM owners to compensate them for             ATMs. Contracts between governments             access their funds at
the cardholders’ use of their hardware        and Issuers attempt to strike a balance         no or low cost.
or services.                                  among the Issuers’ need to make a
    An annual report issued by the            profit, the governments’ interest in
Federal Reserve Board provides                reducing costs and the ability of card-
insights into the economics and value         holders to access their funds at no or

                                                               Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                 9
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

     Figure 3: Range of Reported Average Cardholder Fees for Government Prepaid Debit Cards

           Type of Cardholder Fee		                     Federal Programs                 State/Local Programs

           Purchase Transactions		None			$0.13–$1.50a

           ATM				$1.00–$3.84b		                                                         $0.77–$3.49

           Bank OTC			$1.00–$1.57b		                                                     $1.00–$15.00

           Customer Service Inquiry                     $1.00–$1.00b                     $0.16–$2.56

     Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board
     a. This data applies to only 25 of the 158 programs included in the 2012 survey and fees were only assessed on 10
     percent of the transactions within the 25 programs.
     b. FMS officials reported that the fees associated with the Direct Express card are lower than the amounts
     included in the Federal Reserve report. The ATM fee, where imposed, is $0.90 per transaction, and there are no
     OTC or Customer Service fees associated with the Direct Express card.

         It should be noted that Issuers did               about overall satisfaction with the pro-               a contract in 2009 with a start date of
     not charge cardholder fees on most                    gram, lessons learned in implementa-                   December 31, 2010.
     transactions. The averages in Figure 3                tion, client satisfaction and cost. Because               DEO officials said three primary
     were computed based on the revenues                   of the similarity of experiences reported,             factors influenced the move to a prepaid
     received and the number of times the fee              we provide detail on only four of the                  debit card system:
     was charged. It does not represent an                 government agencies interviewed. We                    1. Go paperless. An initiative by Florida’s
     average cardholder fee per transaction.               use tables, rather than text, to illustrate                   legislature to move government
     For example, Issuers reported they did                information on cross-cutting issues that                      operations into a paperless
     not assess fees on approximately 60                   affected all programs.                                        environment at no cost to the state.
     percent of cash withdrawals at ATMs,
                                                                                                                  2. Improve access. To improve the
     or on 87 percent of cash withdrawals                  Florida’s Department of
                                                           Economic Opportunity                                       unbanked or underbanked claimants’
     at bank tellers. Thus, most transactions
                                                                                                                      access to benefits. DEO officials said
     involve no fee to the cardholder.                         Florida’s Department of Economic
                                                                                                                      that cards provide better access to
         The Federal Reserve Board’s study                 Opportunity (DEO) administers Florida’s
                                                                                                                      benefits than a check. Access to cash
     did not account for the interest Issuers              Reemployment Assistance program,
                                                                                                                      was especially problematic in rural
     earned on government deposits prior to                which was called Unemployment
                                                                                                                      areas, with a limited number of banks
     withdrawal by cardholders. A cardholder               Compensation until 2012. The program
                                                                                                                      and other cash access points. Officials
     may withdraw the funds as soon as they                provides temporary wage replacement
                                                                                                                      said that prepaid cards also help the
     are credited or the funds may be left on              benefits to qualified individuals who
                                                                                                                      unbanked and under banked avoid
     deposit. The amount of interest earned                are out-of-work. Florida requires that
                                                                                                                      check-cashing fees.
     by the Issuer will vary based on a variety            all claims for benefits be filed online by
                                                           the claimant and that claimants recertify              3. Add security. Rather than having to
     of factors, including:
                                                           their eligibility for benefits every two                   cash a check and carry the entire
     „„ the amount deposited;                                                                                         amount of the benefit with them,
                                                           weeks. Prior to offering a prepaid debit
     „„ how quickly the cardholder                                                                                    claimants are able to obtain a
                                                           card option, the DEO offered claimants
        withdraws funds; and                                                                                          portion of their benefits in cash.
                                                           the option of receiving their funds via
     „„ the rate-of-return the Issuer earns.               direct deposit or check. The DEO began                     Cardholders have a variety of
                                                           investigating the use of prepaid debit                     options for accessing the cash
     Experiences with Prepaid                              cards for the Reemployment Assistance                      or they can use the card to make
                                                                                                                      purchases. The security offered
     Debit Cards                                           program and issued a Request for
                                                                                                                      by a card reduces the risk that a
                                                           Proposals in 2008. The DEO awarded
         During our interviews, we inquired                                                                           claimant’s cash will be lost or stolen.

10   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

   In addition, the cardholders are                          DEO officials said that taking a
   provided protection in the event that                 phased-approach to implementation was
   a card is lost or stolen. Cardholders                 helpful. When DEO implemented the pro-                                                                    Since a state’s
   who promptly report a lost card                       gram in 2010, it did not require existing                                                                 contract with the
   may receive a replacement card                        check recipients to opt for either direct                                                                 Issuer governs how
   containing the balance remaining                      deposit or a prepaid debit card. Instead,
                                                                                                                                                                   costs are covered,
   at the time the card went missing                     DEO allowed existing check recipients
   as well as have any funds restored                    to either opt for electronic payment                                                                      shifting revenue from
   to their card due to unauthorized                     (direct deposit or a prepaid debit card)                                                                  one party to another
   transactions. The funds are                           or continue to receive a check. The state                                                                 will have an impact
   also Federal Deposit Insurance                        did not mandate that claimants opt for an
                                                                                                                                                                   on other aspects of
   Corporation (FDIC)-insured up to                      electronic payment until July 2012. DEO
   the maximum dollar limit allowed                      officials thought the phased-approach to                                                                  the contract.
   by law and are fully compliant with                   exclusive electronic payment helped make
   cardholder protections established                    their transition successful.
   by the Federal Reserve Board under                                                                                                                how costs are covered, shifting revenue
                                                             Florida’s DEO has developed a
   Regulation E.                                                                                                                                     from one party to another will have an
                                                         revenue-sharing arrangement with the
                                                                                                                                                     impact on other aspects of the contract.
    Payments made by check have seen                     Issuer whereby the Issuer shares a por-
                                                                                                                                                     While a revenue-sharing arrangement
a marked decline since the prepaid debit                 tion of interest earnings with the state.
                                                                                                                                                     may be of limited benefit to a state
card program was launched in Florida                     Florida was the first state to request
                                                                                                                                                     because its administrative costs are
in 2010. The percentage of benefits paid                 such a revenue-sharing arrangement,
                                                                                                                                                     reimbursed by the federal government,
by check declined from six percent of                    and California is the only other state in
                                                                                                                                                     the arrangement could have an impact
Reemployment Assistance payments in                      our sample that had negotiated a similar
                                                                                                                                                     on costs incurred by the federal govern-
January 2012 to less than one percent of                 revenue-sharing arrangement. Since a
                                                                                                                                                     ment, cardholders or others.
payments in December 2012.                               state’s contract with the Issuer governs

                      Figure 4: States Offering Prepaid Debit Card Option for Unemployment
                      Insurance Benefits

                                    WA
                                                                                                                                                                   ME
                                                        MT                  ND
                                                                                                                                                         VT
                               OR                                                      MN
                                                                                                                                                           NH
                                              ID                            SD                        WI                                            NY    MA
                                                             WY                                                      MI                                   CT       RI

                                                                                            IA                                                 PA             NJ
                                                                            NE
                                     NV                                                                                        OH
                                                                                                                IN                                        DE
                                                   UT                                                      IL
                                                                                                                                     WV                   MD
                          CA                                      CO                                                                           VA        DC
                                                                                 KS          MO                           KY
                                                                                                                                               NC
                                                                                                                 TN
                                               AZ                                 OK
                                                             NM                                  AR                                   SC

                                                                                                           MS    AL             GA

                                                                            TX                   LA                                                            Prepaid Programs = 43
                                                                                                                                                               No Card Programs = 7

                                                                                                                                          FL
                                         AK

                                                                       HI

                      Source: Alpha Group LLC. Data reflects public information available through individual state agency
                      websites and other publically available information through April 2013.

                                                                                       Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                                                   11
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

                                                   option. This figure grew to 44 percent,      a compelling need for a paper check.
                                                   where it plateaued in 2002. DCS officials    Currently, 85 percent of DCS’ child
         The largest training                      partially attribute this growth stoppage     support disbursements are handled
         effort involved                           to custodial parents’ reluctance to share    through prepaid debit cards or direct
         educating cardholders                     information that might enable funds in       deposit. When the prepaid debit card
                                                   their bank accounts to be garnished.         program was launched in 2003, 37
         on such topics as
                                                       DCS officials gave two primary           percent of the disbursements were via
         how to: avoid fees                        reasons for moving to a prepaid debit        direct deposit; there is now an even split
         when using ATMs;                          card program: cutting operational            between direct deposit and prepaid
         select and protect a                      costs and improving custodial parents’       debit cards.

         PIN; receive cash back                    access to funds. Because Washington              In 2012, DCS officials said they made
                                                   state saw a significant savings from the     232,000 disbursements to custodial
         from retailers; and                       direct deposit program, DCS wanted           parents via electronic payment (direct
         obtain their balance.                     to increase the use of EBT to achieve        deposit and prepaid debit cards). With
                                                   additional savings. Improving access         half of these (116,000) disbursements
                                                   to the benefits was also a factor in their   being made to prepaid debit cards, we
         Training was also a consideration dur-    decision. The prepaid debit card allows      estimate the prepaid debit card program
     ing implementation. Both cardholders and      custodial parents access to their funds      enabled DCS to avoid issuing approxi-
     DEO staff had to be trained. The largest      upon deposit by the state.                   mately 1.39 million checks a year.
     training effort involved educating card-          DCS considered using EBT, which              Overall, DCS officials said they have
     holders on such topics as how to: avoid       had been successful for SNAP and other       been very satisfied with the prepaid card
     fees when using ATMs; select and protect      programs. However, they determined           program and it appears that other states
     a PIN; receive cash back from retailers;      that EBT was more apt to meet the            are similarly satisfied. Nearly all (48) of the
     and obtain their balance. This training was   needs of a benefits program than for         states and the District of Columbia have
     primarily handled by the Issuer. Educating    general payments like child support.         implemented prepaid debit card programs
     the DEO staff was also important, but did     With EBT, access to cash payments is         to make child support payments. Figure 5
     not require as much effort.                   limited because it operates on a closed-     illustrates the extremely high acceptance
        Overall, DEO officials said they have      loop network that works well for a           rate in the child support arena.
     been very satisfied with the prepaid          specialized program like SNAP, but does
     debit card program and as shown in            not offer the same consumer protec-
                                                   tion or degree of access afforded by
     Figure 4, nearly all (43) of the states and
                                                   commercial payment networks. While
                                                                                                      DCS officials gave
     the District of Columbia offer prepaid
     debit cards as a payment device for           DCS officials explored the possibility             two primary reasons
     unemployment insurance benefits.              of implementing a prepaid debit card               for moving to a
                                                   program, their bank approached them                prepaid debit card
     Washington State’s Division of                about using a payroll card system that
     Child Support                                 had just been developed. Conversations
                                                                                                      program: cutting
         Washington State’s Division of Child      between the state and its bank culmi-              operational costs
     Support (DCS) is tasked with receiving        nated in 2001 with a pilot test of the             and improving
     child support funds from noncustodial         prepaid debit card. The pilot lasted one           custodial parents’
     parents and distributing these funds to       year and moved into operational mode
                                                   in 2003.
                                                                                                      access to funds.
     custodial parents. The state’s central-
     ized payment mechanism for child                   DCS offered as an alternative the
     support was established under the 1996        prepaid debit card to current check
     federal welfare reform legislation. DCS       recipients and made it the default option
     had used electronic payments since            for new enrollees. direct deposit was
     1994, when they started providing a           still an option, but the state automati-
     supplemental, direct deposit, option          cally makes the custodial parent’s first
     to issuance checks. About 30 percent          payment with a prepaid debit card.
     of the state’s child support payments         There is a limited check option for new
     were made via direct deposit, once an         enrollees who can prove that they have

12   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

                      Figure 5: States Offering Prepaid Debit Card Option for Child Support Payments

                                    WA
                                                                                                                                                                   ME
                                                        MT                  ND
                                                                                                                                                         VT
                               OR                                                      MN
                                                                                                                                                           NH
                                              ID                            SD                        WI                                            NY    MA
                                                             WY                                                      MI                                   CT       RI

                                                                                            IA                                                 PA             NJ
                                                                            NE
                                     NV                                                                                        OH
                                                                                                                IN                                        DE
                                                   UT                                                      IL
                                                                                                                                     WV                   MD
                          CA                                      CO                                                                           VA        DC
                                                                                 KS          MO                           KY
                                                                                                                                               NC
                                                                                                                 TN
                                               AZ                                 OK
                                                             NM                                  AR                                   SC

                                                                                                           MS    AL             GA
                                                                                                                                                               Prepaid Programs = 48
                                                                            TX                   LA
                                                                                                                                                               No Card Programs = 2

                                                                                                                                          FL
                                         AK

                                                                       HI

                      Source: Compiled by Alpha Group LLC. Data reflects public information available through individual
                      state agency websites and other publically available information through April 2013.

Oklahoma’s Tax Commission                                with the new state law. For the 2012 year,                                                  result, the State Treasurer’s Office sent
    Oklahoma’s Tax Commission (Tax                       the Tax Commission issued 311,422                                                           a second wave of announcements after
Commission) is responsible for the                       individual income tax refunds, totaling                                                     the tax refunds began to be issued. The
collection and administration of taxes,                  $82.7 million on prepaid debit cards.                                                       second announcements improved the
licenses and fees imposed by the                             The Tax Commission faced unique                                                         banks’ response to the cards.
state. In 2011, the legislature passed                   challenges in converting to prepaid debit                                                       Overall, Tax Commission officials
the ‘Transparency, Accountability                        cards because tax refunds are not made                                                      said they have been very satisfied
and Innovation in Oklahoma State                         on a recurring basis like child support                                                     with the prepaid debit card program.
Government 2.0 Act’, which required all                  and unemployment insurance. Because                                                         However, there are quite a large number
payments made by the State Treasury be                   tax refunds are issued once a year, the                                                     of states with income tax programs
disbursed electronically. Prior to enact-                agency could not identify its cardholders                                                   that have not yet adopted prepaid debit
ment of this law, the Tax Commission                     until personal income tax returns were                                                      cards. As shown in Figure 6, nine states
gave individual taxpayers two options                    filed. Cardholder education had to be                                                       do not have a personal income tax; only
for receiving a tax refund: direct deposit               conducted almost simultaneously with                                                        10 of the 41 states with personal income
or check. With passage of the new state                  the issuance and receipt of their card.                                                     tax programs now offer prepaid debit
law, checks were eliminated as an option                 The State Treasurer’s Office began the                                                      cards as a refund payment option. The
for tax refunds to individuals. Because                  initial education process for banks by                                                      10 states represent a 43 percent increase
not all individuals have a bank account,                 sending out an announcement about                                                           over the seven states that used prepaid
the Tax Commission looked to a prepaid                   the card program to all banks located                                                       cards in the prior year.
debit card system to supplement direct                   in the state. However, feedback from
deposit and fulfill the mandate to make                  the new cardholders indicated that the
electronic payments. The program                         notices might not have reached all of
was implemented in 2012 to handle                        the bank personnel servicing the public.
tax refunds for 2011. Tax Commission                     Some tellers were uncertain about
officials said the main reason they moved                how to handle the prepaid debit cards
to a prepaid debit card was to comply                    presented for OTC withdrawals. As a

                                                                                       Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                                                    13
The Emergence of Prepaid Debit Cards

                          Figure 6: States Offering Prepaid Debit Card Option for Personal Income Tax Refunds

                                        WA
                                                                                                                                                                       ME
                                                            MT                  ND
                                                                                                                                                             VT
                                   OR                                                      MN
                                                                                                                                                                  NH
                                                  ID                            SD                        WI                                            NY        MA
                                                                 WY                                                      MI                                   CT       RI

                                                                                                IA                                                 PA             NJ
                                                                                NE
                                         NV                                                                                        OH
                                                                                                                    IN                                        DE
                                                       UT                                                      IL
                                                                                                                                         WV                   MD
                              CA                                      CO                                                                           VA        DC
                                                                                     KS          MO                           KY
                                                                                                                                                   NC
                                                                                                                     TN
                                                   AZ                                 OK
                                                                 NM                                  AR                                   SC

                                                                                                               MS    AL             GA
                                                                                                     LA
                                                                                TX                                                                                Prepaid Programs = 10
                                                                                                                                                                  No Card Programs = 31
                                                                                                                                              FL                  No State Tax = 9*
                                             AK                                                                                                              *Tennessee and New Hamp-
                                                                                                                                                             shire have state tax on dividend
                                                                                                                                                             and interest income only.

                                                                           HI

                          Source: Compiled by Alpha Group LLC. Data reflects public information available through individual
                          state agency websites and other publically available information through April 2013.

     Treasury’s Financial                                                  FMS saw the prepaid debit card as                                                           a bank or credit union account use
     Management Service                                               a way to create a low-cost ‘bank-on-a-                                                           direct deposit, the prepaid debit card
         FMS led the federal government’s                             card’ that allowed access to benefits                                                            allowed Treasury to further expand its
     effort to reduce the number of checks                            at little-to-no cost to the recipient, and                                                       use of electronic payments. Treasury
     issued to individuals; offering a direct                         at low-cost to the Treasury. A pilot                                                             expanded its prepaid debit card program
     deposit option to Social Security recipi-                        program was conducted in the State                                                               into other agencies that pay monthly
     ents since 1976. Its efforts to increase                         of Illinois for SS and SSI recipients. In                                                        benefits, including the U.S. Department
     the number of people who receive                                 2007, the pilot led to a selection process                                                       of Veteran Affairs, the U.S. Department
     payments via direct deposit had been                             whereby a nationwide prepaid debit card                                                          of Labor and the U.S. Coast Guard.
     stymied by the challenges associated                             issuer was selected. FMS’s prepaid debit                                                             FMS officials are satisfied with
     with serving the unbanked population.                            card is called the ‘Direct Express’ card.                                                        the prepaid debit card as a way to
     In 1996, Congress passed the ‘Debt                               With a ‘no or low’ cost option in place                                                          pay benefits to unbanked individuals.
     Collection Improvement Act’ that                                 for transferring benefits , FMS is work-                                                         They also stated that their cardholders
     sought to further the move to electronic                         ing with the federal agencies it serves                                                          appear to be satisfied as measured by
     payments by requiring Treasury to work                           to eliminate checks through the use of                                                           their cardholder survey. On an annual
     with banks and credit unions to create                           prepaid debit cards. Instead of requir-                                                          basis, a random sample of 1,200 ‘Direct
     a low-cost bank account. It was thought                          ing all check recipients to immediately                                                          Express’ cardholders are surveyed by
     that this new type of low-cost account                           convert to prepaid debit cards, FMS                                                              an independent firm regarding their
     would facilitate the move to direct                              and the Social Security Administration                                                           experiences and satisfaction with the
     deposit. The effort, however, proved                             (SSA) opted to offer the ‘Direct Express’                                                        ‘Direct Express’ card. Each year, card-
     unsuccessful because there was little                            prepaid debit card as an option to exist-                                                        holder satisfaction rate based on survey
     incentive for banks and credit unions                            ing check recipients and new applicants.                                                         recipients is 95 percent.
     to offer these low-cost bank accounts.                           The result has been a gradual increase
     In 2005, FMS began looking at the                                in the number of electronic payments
     prepaid debit card as a way to meet the                          and a reduction in the number of checks
     requirements of the ‘Debt Collection                             issued by FMS. Although it is Treasury’s
     Improvement Act’.                                                policy and preference that anyone with

14   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
Understanding the Move
to Prepaid Debit Cards
    Most of the people we interviewed               for a number of reasons. They seldom,              cash after cashing a check;
for our research were directly involved             if ever, adopted the card programs for          „„ Access — The unbanked have greater
with their agency’s conversion from                 only one reason. When we asked, “What              options for accessing their funds; and
checks to prepaid debit cards. We used              factors led your agency to move to a            „„ Speed — Cardholders, especially
a standard list of open-ended questions             prepaid debit card system?” they most              custodial parents receiving child
to facilitate our discussion and to ensure          frequently offered the following reasons:          support payments, have faster
uniformity in our interviews. The ques-             „„ Cost — The government’s cost for                access to their funds.
tions were developed by AGA research-                  operating a prepaid debit card is less           Figure 7 contains information on
ers and provided to the interviewee in                 than the process of mailing checks           the program that has implemented a
advance. All of the officials interviewed              and clients are able to access their         prepaid debit card in each state that we
were designated by their agency head to                payments without paying fees;                interviewed, and lists their top three
participate in our interviews.                      „„ Security — Checks do not have to be          reasons for converting to cards.
  Our interviews revealed that govern-                 mailed to unsecured mail boxes and
ments moved to prepaid debit cards                     clients do not have to safeguard their

Figure 7: Primary Factors for Moving to Prepaid Debit Cards

       State or 			 Program			                                           Factor		               Factor		              Factor
       Federal					                                                      Number 1               Number 2		            Number 3

       Illinois			                      Unemployment                     Cost		                 N/A			                N/A
       Florida 			                      Unemployment                     Other		                Access		              Security
       California		                     Unemployment                     Speed 		               Access		              Security
       Nebraska		                       Unemployment                     Cost		                 Speed		               Security
       Washington		                     Child Support                    Cost		                 Access		              N/A
       California 		                    Child Support                    Cost		                 Security		            Speed
       West Virginia 		                 Child Support                    Cost		                 Security		            Access
       North Dakota		                   Child Support                    Cost		                 Security 		           Access
       Oklahoma		                       Tax Refunds                      Other		                Cost		                N/A
       Federal			                       Direct Express                   Cost		                 N/A			                N/A
       Note: California child support officials ranked the three factors of equal importance.

   Cost was the primary reason that                 Seven of the 10 government agencies             it is not surprising that for the majority,
governments moved to prepaid debit                  interviewed, stated cost was a reason           cost was the primary reason for moving
cards, followed by a desire to increase             for moving to prepaid debit cards. Given        to prepaid debit cards.
security and improve access for individ-            that governments are seeking to reduce
uals who receive government payments.               costs while maintaining service levels,

                                                                          Government Prepaid Cards Lower Cost and Improve Access                  15
Understanding the Move to Prepaid Debit Cards

     Cost: the Primary Driver                     Access: Also a Motivator                    cardholders can use the prepaid debit
                                                                                              card to shop and pay bills online and
         We asked agencies whether they               Our interviews revealed access was      by phone.
     saved money by moving to prepaid             a significant motivator in the move to
     debit cards and, if so, how much was                                                         Prepaid debit cards also allow
                                                  prepaid debit cards. Many state officials
     saved. Some agencies provided only a                                                     cardholders timely access to their funds.
                                                  saw offering prepaid debit cards as a
     fixed-dollar estimate of their savings.                                                  Timeliness is particularly important
                                                  way to increase the options available
     Other estimates were dated or did not                                                    in the Child Support Enforcement
                                                  to the unbanked and underbanked in
     include all factors needed to accurately                                                 program where the federal government
                                                  accessing their funds, and to do so in
     calculate cost-savings. For example,                                                     requires that custodial parents have
                                                  a cost-effective manner. For example,
     some agencies only based cost-savings                                                    access to their funds within two days
                                                  officials of Department of Economic
     on postage, and did not include other                                                    of the government receiving payment
     factors like labor, envelopes and check      Opportunity, which handles Florida’s
                                                                                              from a non-custodial parent. Officials
     stock. FMS provided the most detailed        reemployment assistance program,
                                                                                              in Washington State’s DCS indicated
     estimate of cost-savings. On a per-check     sought to improve access to benefits in
                                                                                              that their prepaid debit card program
     basis, FMS estimates that it cost $1.05      rural areas –due to inadequate banking
                                                                                              provides the custodial parent with
     to issue a check and $0.09 to issue an       services. They said that access to bank-
                                                                                              access to funds the same day deposited
     ACH payment, equating to a savings of        ing services was often limited in rural
                                                                                              on the card. With checks, the custodial
     $ 0.96 per check. The prepaid debit card     areas and that prepaid debit cards would
                                                                                              parent had to wait for the check to arrive
     program has produced significant cost        allow access to cash while avoiding
     savings for FMS and a marked reduc-                                                      via mail, often delaying access to their
                                                  check cashing fees for the unbanked
     tion in the number of checks it issues.                                                  funds for two or three days. Officials
                                                  and underbanked. And, even though
     Treasury officials provided information                                                  in the West Virginia Bureau of Child
                                                  the benefit approval and payment cycle
     which showed that in February 2013,                                                      Support said that they receive few, if
                                                  is the same, cardholders typically have
     the monthly check volume dropped                                                         any, complaints about the custodial
                                                  same-day access to their funds once
     to 3.5 million checks from a monthly                                                     parents’ access to funds since moving
                                                  they activate their card. Next-day avail-
     volume of 11.0 million in January 2011.                                                  to the prepaid debit card program.
                                                  ability is an improvement over waiting
     According to an Office of Legislative
     and Public Affairs press release issued      for a check to arrive in the mail during
     in December 2010, FMS is projected to        repeated payment cycles.                    Security: Safeguarding
     save an estimated $1.0 billion over the          California’s Economic Development       Payment Recipients and
     next 10 years by moving SS, SSI and          Department, which handles                   their Cash
     other paper check payments to prepaid        unemployment compensation, disability
                                                                                                 Prepaid debit cards also improve
     cards. Treasury’s estimate not only          insurance and family leave payments,
                                                                                              security for payment recipients in a
     included savings in check printing and       cited improving access to benefits as
     postage costs, but also included future                                                  number of ways:
                                                  the second most significant factor in
     costs related to improving and maintain-                                                 „„ While a prepaid debit card is initially
                                                  its decision to move to a prepaid debit
     ing the check printing infrastructure that                                                  mailed to payment recipients,
                                                  card program. They wanted to design a
     are subsequently avoided.                                                                   they avoid the risk associated with
                                                  program that would allow the unbanked
         California’s Economic Development                                                       repeated delivery of checks to
                                                  to access their benefits without
     Department officials reported a cost sav-                                                   mailboxes, where they could be stolen;
                                                  incurring fees.
     ings of $4.0 million each year in postage                                                „„ Recipients need not carry their entire
     costs. They were also able to reassign           Thus far, the government-issued
                                                                                                 payment in cash after cashing a
     12 employees previously involved in          prepaid debit cards have been branded,
                                                                                                 check. Instead, they can withdraw
     printing, issuing and accounting for         Visa or MasterCard; and participants
                                                                                                 all or partial funds at an ATM and
     checks, to new duties once the prepaid       (including banks, merchants and other
                                                                                                 use the card to make PIN-protected
     debit card program was implemented.          service providers) have agreed to abide
     California did not include the cost of the                                                  purchases or receive cash back from
                                                  by each network’s respective operat-
     12 staff in its cost-savings projections.                                                   merchants; and
                                                  ing rules. By giving clients access to
         Oklahoma’s Tax Commission,               ATMs and merchants that accept Visa         „„ If a card is lost or stolen, a new card
     which began using prepaid debit cards        or MasterCard prepaid cards, govern-           can be issued and the funds restored
     instead of refund checks for individual      ments greatly expand the ability of their      in the same manner used for other
     income tax refunds, saved an estimated                                                      debit card products.
                                                  unbanked or underbanked payment
     $500,000 in 2012 by using prepaid debit
                                                  recipients’ access to cash. Additionally,       Nebraska unemployment compensa-
     cards in lieu of checks.
                                                                                              tion officials said program security has

16   AGA CORPORATE PARTNER ADVISORY GROUP RESEARCH
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