Treasury announces introduction of debit cards for Social Security payments
WASHINGTON: The Treasury Department said Friday it would begin offering the option of providing monthly Social Security payments on debit cards, and said it hopes millions of people without bank accounts will make use of the new service.Treasury officials said Comerica Bank had been chosen to offer the new debit cards, which have been given the name “Direct Express.” Officials said Comerica was selected because of its experience in handling prepaid cards for benefit recipients in various state-run programs.
Treasury’s Financial Management Service estimated that 4 million recipients of Social Security and Supplemental Social Security, benefits paid to the poor, do not have bank accounts.
FMS Commission Judy Tillman said that if every unbanked federal check recipient signed up to use the new cards, it would save taxpayers about $44 million per year in reduced costs for printing and mailing paper checks.
“The explosive growth in the prepaid card industry offers an important opportunity for Treasury to give unbanked payment recipients secure, easy access to their funds at low or no cost to the cardholders,” Tillman said in a statement.
“We ultimately would like to see an all-electronic Treasury - with the security, efficiency and cost savings that would entail,” Tillman said.
Officials said they would start to introduce the new card in the spring.
Those who decide to use the cards will have their Social Security payments automatically deposited in their Direct Express card account. Card holders will be able to have access to their money at automated teller machines and financial institutions nationwide, Treasury said.
“Millions of federal beneficiaries remain outside the banking system, which means they don’t have access to payment methods that most Americans take for granted, such as getting cash at an ATM or paying with a card at a store,” said Nora Arpin, an official with Comerica Bank.
International Herald Tribune | | January 5, 2008
The Market Braces for the Boomers
Will the baby boomers’ retirement cause the stock market to go bust?That question, studied and debated for more than a decade, is no longer hypothetical. Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, the former New Jersey teacher who was born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, became eligible for Social Security benefits this New Year’s day, making her the first splash of a demographic tsunami. Over the next three decades, nearly 80 million boomers will join her.
To some prognosticators, the prospect of this swollen generation stepping down is a fright — many times worse than the stock market’s tumble last week. If the baby boomers stop working, they ask, who will produce the goods and services to keep the economy growing? If they stop earning, who will pay taxes to fund their Social Security and Medicare checks? And if they sell off stocks and bonds to finance their golden years, who will buy?
The answers to those questions remain covered in fog. Only this is absolutely clear: The generation that was first raised by Dr. Spock, first mesmerized by television and first serenaded by the Beatles is about to redefine retirement, just as it has every other stage of American life. Read more
How Republican presidential candidates stand on Social Security
On its present course, the system would not be able to pay full benefits by the year 2041. Political leaders recognize a need to shore up the system’s long-term financing to keep it solvent for future generations.All leading Republicans support Bush’s proposal to allow workers to divert a portion of payroll taxes to stocks and bonds.
Huckabee wants to offer higher-income retirees a one-time buyout or the opportunity to purchase a tax-free annuity.
Thompson proposes to trim future cost-of-living raises to keep the program solvent, figuring inflation on the rise in consumer prices instead of wages.
McCain and Romney want a commission or independent panel to recommend changes.
Sun-Sentinel | | January 6, 2008