Beginning in April the Maine Department of Labor will put plastic – instead of paper checks – in the hands of unemployed residents.
Maine has partnered with Chase bank to issue Visa debit cards to the state’s 58,300 unemployed residents eligible for unemployment benefits. The cards will feature a lighthouse and can be used wherever debit cards are accepted, or given to a bank teller for cash.
Unemployment recipients will be eligible to receive a Maine Automated Payment card, referred to as MAP by the Dept. of Labor. The card will replace unemployment checks and weekly benefits will be deposited into a recipient’s debit card account within 24 hours of approval of a weekly claim. Unlike a credit card, however, the debit cards can only be used to withdraw funds listed in an account; the cards cannot be used as a credit card or for advances on future unemployment benefits.
Switching from paper to plastic is expected to save the state $600,000 annually in printing and mailing costs, according to Adam Fisher, press liaison for the Dept. of Labor.
“Our switch to the MAP card mirrors what is occurring in unemployment systems across the country,” Fisher said. “The card is a more secure way for us to process payments and claimants no longer have to wait for checks to arrive in the mail.”
The card will also diminish concerns about late, lost or stolen weekly unemployment checks. Currently the department receives more than one hundred returned benefit checks each week and many more calls inquiring about the status of weekly benefits.
The automated accounts will lessen confusion and uncertainty surrounding receipt of weekly unemployment benefits.
Along with reducing paper waste and ensuring recipients receive benefits, the cards will also serve those unemployed Mainers without bank accounts.
“MAP Card is a good option for people who don’t have bank accounts,” Fisher said. “According to estimates from Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 2.6-percent of Maine households do not have a checking or savings account.”
Those who do have bank accounts can forego the MAP cards and elect to have weekly benefits deposited directly into accounts, which will also serve to lessen the department’s paper costs and lost benefits.
The department will embark on an education campaign to ensure recipients know how to use the card without incurring extra bank fees, Fisher said.
The department will begin distributing MAP cards to new unemployment recipients beginning in April. Those currently receiving unemployment benefits will receive cards – or can elect direct deposits – by May.
