What You Need to Know About the COVID-19 Stimulus Payments


Click on the sections below for more information.

For payments made by Direct Deposit:

  • Direct Deposit payments have started and will continue weekly with a Wednesday effective date.
  • These payments will look just like a typical tax refund ACH credit and will include Social Security Number. The Company Name field will indicate IRS TREAS 310 and the Entry Description field will indicate TAX REF. Payments from a federal agency include a value of 2 in the Originator Status Code field of the Company/Batch Header Record.
  • The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is adding seven new Routing Transit Numbers for issuing Tax Refund Payments.
  • The IRS will use information from 2019 or 2018 tax filings to calculate payment and obtain account information for Direct Deposit.
  • For Social Security recipients who are not required to file a tax return, the IRS will use the information on the 1099 form to generate Economic Impact Payments via Direct Deposit.
  • Individuals can use the Get My Payment portal to check payment status and type and to provide account information for Direct Deposit.
  • Financial Institutions should make sure their customers and members know the correct routing/transit number to provide to the IRS either on a tax return or through the portal.
  • Exception processing should be handled according to your normal procedures for tax refunds. Read our Exception Processing FAQ for more guidance. This is a members-only resource that will require logging in with your user ID and password.
  • Same Day ACH will be used only on a case-by-case emergency basis.

For payments made by check:

  • Payments made by check will start dropping in the mail Sunday, April 19.
  • Economic Impact Payments made by check will look like a regular Treasury check.
  • The first line of the memo in the lower left of the check will read "Economic Impact Payment." The second line will bear the President's name.
  • Treasury checks can be verified at tcva.fiscal.treasury.gov.
  • Your front line should be aware of the U.S Treasury check security features. New! Updated on April 20 by the Secret Service.
  • Individuals are being warned by the Federal Trade Commission not to sign over their Economic Impact Payments to nursing homes.

Cash ordering considerations:

  • When placing cash orders in anticipation of the Economic Impact Payments, financial institutions are encouraged to stagger their orders over time so as not to overwhelm their carriers.
  • No data is currently available from the CDC regarding the possibility of the virus remaining active on cash. Typically, ordered cash has been in vaults for weeks or months. Institutions and individuals should take whatever precautions they are comfortable with, as they would for any product they receive.

Right to offset considerations:

  • Federal law does not prohibit financial institutions from offsetting delinquent loans or negative account balances with the EIP. Consult your institution’s legal counsel for guidance on your institution’s policy, recognizing the potential public relations risk if your institution chooses to exercise its right of offset with stimulus payments.
  • The Treasury Offset Program is only in effect for delinquent child support.

Prepaid Debit Card:

  • As of January 4, 2021, The U.S. Treasury is working with MetaBank to issue a second round of Economic Impact Payments paid through a debit card. The following are the BIN numbers for the EIP cards. These BIN numbers can be programed into ATMs to waive the surcharge fees on the EIP debit cards should financial institutions wish to do so.


    46350526
    46350527
    46350528
    46350529
    46350531

    Institutions planning to support this EIP debt card program are asked to contact Whitney Woyke at MetaBank so that they might better understand how many ATMs will be available across the country for the EIP debit card distribution.  Whitney can answer additional financial institution questions on this topic as well.

    Whitney Woyke, SVP, Partner Engagement, MetaBank
    wbright@metabank.com
    (605) 362-5143   Direct
    (605) 496-2139   Cell

  • Treasury and the IRS have announced that 4 million Economic Impact Payments will be paid by prepaid debit card instead of by check.
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a brief video and FAQs for consumers to help them recognize, activate, and use EIP debit cards.
  • The Federal Trade Commission has issued guidance on how to transfer money from an EIP debit card to a bank account.

Other EIP and relief payment resources: