One year after introducing a low-cost prepaid debit card option for Social Security check recipients, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) reports that more than half a million Americans have signed up for the Direct Express Debit MasterCard. According to a new survey of cardholders, 95 percent say they are satisfied with the card and 86 percent say they would recommend it to family members or friends who receive a federal benefit payment. READ MORE

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday that sets aside $4 billion to subsidize new car purchases by consumers who scrap their old clunkers. The legislation is now moving to the Senate and, according to CNN, is supported by President Obama.

Maybe what this country needs is a Clunker Card to go with this "clunker bill". When you make your purchase, the dealer uses the Clunker Card to authorize the subsidy, allowing the Federal government to track usage, etc.? Think of the psychological power that card will exert on consumers who receive it - they'll just have to spend it!

Reminds me of the American Gift Card that Dan Newman first proposed in an op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this year!

Link2Gov has announced the availability of businesstaxpayment.com, Link2Gov’s new consolidated business tax payment site. At businesstaxpayment.com, businesses can use credit and debit cards to pay the federal business tax types — multiple variations of Forms 940, 941, 943, 944 and 945 — that have been designated by the Internal Revenue Service as eligible for card-based payments. READ MORE

J.P. Morgan has announced that it has "helped the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) deliver early food stamp benefits to Kentuckians recovering from the state’s recent devastating ice storm."

"CHFS’ Department for Community Based Services usually issues electronic monthly food benefits on a staggered schedule during the first ten days of each month. Due to the storm, nearly 252,000 food stamp recipients who typically receive funds between the third and tenth of the month were given early access to benefits on February 2nd. These benefits are delivered via J.P. Morgan-issued Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards."

Lori Montgomery writes for the Washington Post about the US Treasury Department's rollout of Direct Express MasterCard debit cards for the 2.1 million Social Security recipients who don't have bank accounts and can't receive electronic payment of their benefits. The card issuer is Comerica Bank. The program was originally announced earlier this year. Here's today's full press release on the rollout now underway.

The U.S. Postal Service has selected U.S. Bank to provide purchasing cards and Voyager fleet cards under the new General Services Administration (GSA) SmartPay2 contract. READ MORE

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has partnered with Chase to change the way benefit payments are issued by the state’s Unemployment Insurance Program. Recipients will be issued a Visa debit card called a Colorado Automated Payment (CAP) Card and benefits will automatically be deposited into their CAP Card account. The CAP Card can be used for purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. An FAQ on the CAP Card is available on the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's web site. READ MORE

The U.S. Department of the Commerce (DOC) has selected JPMorgan as its provider for charge card services. The order is part of the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) SmartPay 2 program, the largest government charge card program in the world. READ MORE

The US Government Accountability Office has published a report titled "Governmentwide Purchase Cards - Actions Needed to Strengthen Internal Controls to Reduce Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Purchases" concluding that 'internal control weaknesses in agency purchase card programs exposed the federal government to fraud, waste, abuse, and loss of assets. When testing internal controls, GAO asked agencies to provide documentation on selected transactions to prove that the purchase of goods or services had been properly authorized and that when the good or service was delivered, an individual other than the cardholder received and signed for it. Using a statistical sample of purchase card transactions from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, GAO estimated that nearly 41 percent of the transactions failed to meet either of these basic internal control standards.'