How to Obtain a Replacement Economic Impact Payment Card
Finally dumped the junk mail that was piling up on your kitchen table? The benefit payment you were waiting for to send to the government could be in this stack.
US Treasury started sending payments in connection with the coronavirus with a debit card in the middle of May. Cards are issued and mailed by MetaBank and they allow recipients to either spend their debit compensation, withdraw cash, or transfer funds to their bank account.
While there have been notifications showing recipients what the card and letter will look like to convince the general public of their legitimacy, one important fact has been overlooked from most of these guides: the envelope.
If you’ve ever received a new or replacement card from your bank or credit card issuer, you know that it usually comes in a plain envelope with a nondescript return address – no flashy logos to indicate that the envelope may contain financial benefits. inside.
But if you were expecting a check from the US Treasury, you weren’t looking at a plain envelope. And even if you received and opened yours, you could throw it away, thinking it is a scam.
(And if you did ditch your payment, frankly, I don’t blame you. The IRS and Treasury spent a lot of time saying, “Sign up online to get a direct deposit, or we’ll send a check,” and then they turned around and said: “Time is up, but surprise, now we are sending debit cards!” That’s a lot.)
So how do you get that payment you might have thrown away? Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post noticed that people gave up when they called the specified customer service number because they were asking them to enter their card number … well, you know, for a card they don’t have.
Here is her advice on how to get around it and request a replacement payment:
Discarded Debit Cards: If you’ve lost or dumped your incentive debit card, you’ll have to call 800-240-8100 for a free replacement, as instructed at eipcard.com . The cards are issued by MetaBank, but the manual from there, unfortunately, is not enough. Many people give up when asked to enter a card number.
When you call, ignore the instructions and press Option 1 to contact support. Instead, choose option 2 for a lost or stolen card. You then need to select Option 1 to enter the last six digits of your Social Security number as well as your zip code. From there, you should be transferred to a customer service representative where you will need to answer some security questions before mailing the new card.
If you are unsure if your payment was sent using a debit card, please check your status on the IRS “Get My Payment” portal before contacting MetaBank (also known as the Money Network) through www.eipcard.com .
In the meantime, if you have not received your payment after seeing the payment date shown on the portal or receiving a letter in the mail, you can ask the IRS to track your payment. Singletary advises to call 800-919-9835 and be patient – the IRS currently has limited staff on phone lines due to concerns about the coronavirus.
But she says it’s a better option than filling out Form 3911 to track your payment, since the IRS doesn’t process regular mail at all.