Tanu Henry and Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
The California Employment Department (EDD) has announced that it will stop issuing benefit payments on Bank of America (BOA) Debit cards.
Instead, the EDD has already begun to pay people who receive unemployment payments as well as disability and family leave benefits on using Money Network prepaid debit cards.
The EDD says people receiving those benefits should expect the new cards in the mail, and that they can take up to14 days from the date they qualify to when they receive them.
“Through our partnership with Money Network, we are enhancing how we deliver benefits to our customers,” said EDD Director Nancy Farias. “That includes introducing a direct deposit option later this year – the fastest, most secure method for receiving payments.”
April 15 will be the last day that BOA debit cards can be used. The EDD is urging customers to use all the money on those cards or submit a request to BOA to receive a check with their balances.
According to the EDD, it will also implement a direct deposit option later this year.
“This service improvement is part of EDDNext, a multi-year transformation effort to improve the EDD customer experience – updating technologies and self-service choices, streamlining forms and notices, and enhancing staff efficiency through updated policies and procedures,” the EDD announced.