Bank of America EDD & Disability debit card?

[Alameda]

I know this appears to have been discussed before, but I missed it as it didn't make it to the greatest or latest page. There is so much here I can't read everything....sigh....Anyway, I just got a notification that I will sometime in the near future get a EDD Debit Card from Bank of America!!!!??????????????? :wtf: :grr:

How the Hell did they get that contract? I'm really upset about that. I hate BOA seeing as they closed my account and took all the money some time ago. I had not used the account for years, I moved to NYC and was not around to go to the bank...no problem...they did it for me. I do not trust them. It wasn't a LOT of money, but hey a lot of those small accounts add up. Now with the fees and all they will charge, and from what I've heard some didn't get the cards and they charge for a "new" one.

I'm really livid about this.

http://www.edd.ca.gov/About_EDD/The_EDD_Debit_Card.htm#fees

They are doing this with, it gives they waaaay too much power IMHO....

[Taverner]

1. A reminder for anyone on EDD. That is your money. You paid it when you worked. It's yours

Not the state's, as the GOP would have you believe

[PoliticAverse]

2. State law usually requires banks to close dormant acounts and turn the money over to the state.

Is that what happened?

Bank of America won the contract to provide EDD Debit Card services.

The link you posted explains how there aren't any fees for most things:

There are no fees for the following:

Cash-back with purchases at grocery stores, drug stores, and U.S. post office locations.
ATM withdrawals at domestic Bank of America ATMs.
Two free ATM withdrawals per benefit deposit at non-Bank of America ATMs.
Unlimited teller cash access at any bank or credit union that accepts Visa cards.
Unlimited direct deposit transfers to a checking or savings account (including non-bank of America accounts).
Unlimited balance inquiries at ATMs and online customer service.
Unlimited automated and live customer service inquiries.
Free domestic card replacement.

[Alameda]

3. Excuse me, no offense please, why don't you have a profile?

The issue for me is why is this being privatized, and in particular to BOA. IMHO there should not be any fees. read again, there are some fees.

"9. What are the fees associated with using my account?
Fees can be avoided with careful use of your card. Most merchants do not charge a fee when you make a purchase. Many grocery stores also offer cash back without a fee when you make a purchase. You can get cash from ATMs and from tellers at banks and credit unions that accept Visa cards; however, fees may apply after you exceed the number of free transactions at non-Bank of America ATMs.
There are no fees for the following:
Cash-back with purchases at grocery stores, drug stores, and U.S. post office locations.
ATM withdrawals at domestic Bank of America ATMs.
look at this one in particular...Two free ATM withdrawals per deposit at non-Bank of America ATMs*.
Unlimited teller cash access at any bank or credit union that accepts Visa cards.
Unlimited direct deposit transfers to a checking or savings account.
Unlimited balance inquiries at ATMs and online customer service at www.bankofamerica.com/eddcard
Unlimited automated and live customer service inquiries.
Free domestic card replacements."

It complicates things and insures profits for BOA....at taxpayers expense.

[PoliticAverse]

4. No offense taken...

I just don't really care about having a profile so I never made one.

I'm not a fan of Bank of America (I think the government should have let them go out of business).

Debit cards are a mixed bag. They have some advantage over checks (for example they can be used by people that
don't have bank accounts, which is the case of many low-income people that receive payments from the state).

The Debit cards actually cost the state less than checks (and apparently are better at reducing fraud) so it isn't
really costing taxpayers more.

Bank of America makes their money from fees from the merchants where people use their debit cards and from fees from
card recipients who don't do things to avoid fees.

Included in the free things is:

Unlimited direct deposit transfers to a checking or savings account (including non-bank of America accounts).

So you don't really even have to use Band of America, you can open a free checking account at another bank (or
better a credit union) and just transfer the deposit there.

[zalinda]

14. Which makes you wonder why

the government doesn't issue the cards and collect the fees. The fees could be rolled back into the program. It doesn't make sense to give all the potential money to a bank.

zalinda

[jwirr]

5. This seems to be like the Social Security/SSI GoDirect debit card

I have recently started using. The money is from social security administration and comes from some bank in Texas via MasterCard. This is the new form of payment if you do not want direct deposit. I do not know if we can trust this or not.

[Alameda]

6. Hmmm....I get Social Security too....haven't seen that yet.

I have direct deposit. I don't like privatization ...period! Particularly when we see the disaster these institutions have brought on the world economy.

[yellerpup]

7. Privatization signals the beginning of the end.

Too bad that you aren't given a choice. Seems to me it would be just as efficient to do direct deposit. The bank would still have the opportunity to make their money on fees. Vexing, for sure!

[Alameda]

8. You can only do direct deposit through BOA

All the information is at the link....it really is depressing.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Each month when the card is loaded, make one withdrawal of the whole amount

and deposit it in the same account where you have your Social Security check deposited.

[yellerpup]

10. That is really fishy.

BOA should not have a monopoly. If they are your only option that is truly scandalous.

[jwirr]

11. I am in trouble with debt and so I did not want a checking account.

I asked them to mail it to me and they did for a while but the post office is not used to handling these checks anymore and my neighbor had to bring it to me a couple of times. They then offered this way of doing it.

You are absolutely right about the privatizing idea. Both of these cards and the EBT cards are a form of privatization. The people who usually send these items out either through direct deposit or mail are going to be replaced by these cards from banks. The VA will be doing this next.

I wonder who is responsible for this change? Was it booosh or President Obama? Sounds like a booosh trick to me.

For the life of me I do not see why the banksters and their supporters want to end these programs - they are the ones making the money off of them.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[KamaAina]

13. That would be the BoA that abandoned California for Charlotte, NC?

So why would the state turn around and hand them a fat, juicy contract?! :wtf: