Responding to concerns raised by members of the Louisiana legislature, JPMorgan Chase officials said that they would educate state tax fund recipients on how to use their prepaid cards. The state now sends out Chase-issued prepaid visa cards instead of checks to refund recipients who do not select direct deposit. From an article that appears in The Republic:
Louisiana’s revenue department has replaced refund checks with pre-paid Chase Visa cards for taxpayers who don’t get their refunds through direct deposit into a bank account. The department said doing away with the checks saves money.
But members of the House Appropriations Committee said they have received complaints from people who don’t understand how to use the cards or have been charged fees when they do.
The problem shows that prepaid card programs which are sponsored by the government carry with them a host of political considerations that make these programs more complicated to operate than other types of prepaid cards.
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