“Californians drawing disability insurance and paid family leave will soon use EDD-issued debit cards to get their money as the state’s massive benefits programs phase out traditional paper checks.”
“The move from paper to plastic – announced Tuesday – is scheduled to be completed by March and is expected to save the state’s Employment Development Department about $4 million initially while giving disability and family leave recipients quicker and easier access to their money.”
This is a prelude to the potential $23 billion bump in prepaid load which will be driven by California adopting Prepaid for State Unemployment which is expected to begin rollout in June:
The EDD issued 41 million checks in 2010 paying a total $27 billion in unemployment, disability and paid family leave benefits, state employment officials reported.
Nearly $23 billion of that was paid out in unemployment benefits last year as the state’s jobless rate soared into 12 percent territory.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/02/02/3370170/california-to-issue-debit-cards.html#ixzz1CpcNd6AJ
