About a week ago I received my Middle Class Tax Refund from the state of California. Apparently we don't file our state taxes electronically, so instead of getting the money direct deposited to our bank account we got a debit card for $500.
I've never used a debit card other than my normal bank card, so I was curious how easy it would be. Here's my story.
- I called to activate it. With a normal card this takes about 30 seconds. With this one I first had to wait through a 60 second spiel about something or other, then had to press 1 to tell it I wanted to activate a MCTR card.
- The computer then asked for the last six digits of my Social Security number. This momentarily threw me and I entered the wrong digits. It eventually gave me a second try, and a little mental effort pulled up the correct answer. My card then got activated.
.
- I surfed over to a website that showed me all the ATMs that would work for free. I went to the closest one but couldn't make it work. It kept showing me a screen asking where I wanted to withdraw money from: checking, savings, or credit card. None of them! I wanted to withdraw money from the debit card I had inserted.
- Confused, I went to the next place on the list. It was exactly the same. It was also broken.
- Then I went to a third place. By then I realized that all the ATM machines were Allpoint branded, so they all worked the same. No dice on the money withdrawal.
- Finally I went to my own bank, but the same thing happened.
- Feeling dejected, I went home. Eventually, Marian pulled up the 2-sided, small print instructions and showed me where it clearly said I should have picked checking in order to get my money. This does not strike me as intuitive at all.
- A couple of days later I paid for lunch with the debit card. It worked fine!
- So I went back to one of the ATM machines, and this time I chose the checking option and tried to withdraw $100. This got me a little further, but then it reported an error and ejected my card.
- The same thing happened at two other ATMs on two more days.
- WTF?
So that's where I am. I still don't know why I can't get money from it, though I suppose I'll eventually deplete it if I remember to use it to buy enough stuff. That said, I don't give the state of California high marks for all this nonsense. For me this is just a minor annoyance, but for someone who really needed the money it would be frustrating indeed.
The Feds have been pushing out cards for a bit with similar learning curves, and don't forget the fees.
Clearly, California believes You Can’t Handle the Cash…
I'm just going to use it for routine purchases until it's gone. Problem solved.
We buy Amazon gift cards with all these refund debit cards. Nobody cuts checks anymore. Hell, we don't even receive the cards anymore, just electronic cards. If it makes you feel better, use it to buy a gift card at the local bookshop, Target, whatever you use all the time. Then it is available on your terms and not which ATM or vendor happens to accept them that day.
To be clear, we buy *credits* on Amazon, not an actual gift card, but they label it as such.
It’s your money that you meant to the state. Why in the world should you not be able to use it any way you please?
*leant to the state
I wrote a check just two days ago, to pay the plumber. I also get paid with checks, because I work for a solo practitioner whose bank doesn't play well with my credit union. I suspect it could be sorted out if we both cared more, but this way I still get the tactile pleasure of a physical check.
I was surprised to get a debit card, too. I always file electronically, but I guess last year I owed a few bucks so I had a direct debit, not a direct deposit.
I had no trouble activating the card or finding the list ATMs I could use with with no fees. There’s basically an ATM in every local RiteAid and Walgreens.
When I got to the ATM, the first thing it wanted to do was print my balances. I did that and the slip said I had $700 in my “checking” account. With that info, I had no problem withdrawing the first $400, the daily limit for that machine. I had to go back twice more since the machine I went to the next day had a $200 limit for some reason.
Three trips, 35 crisp new $20 bills.
For me, a check or direct deposit would have been more convenient. But for someone without a bank account, this is probably better than paying exorbitant fees at a check cashing store.
There is a way that allows you to transfer the money from your card directly to your bank account so you don't have to go through all of this. And there is no fee for doing so. We did this after getting the card and the money showed up in our account a couple of days later.
Yup, you can go to the website, setup an account, and then electronically transfer the balance with routing and account numbers- It worked fine for me as well, website isn't that brittle as I made a mistake during the process but I came back to where I was before and was able to continue, so at least they got that part right.
But seriously, was it really too much work for California to maybe ask first about how you want your refund and then default to a bank card if there wasn't a reply? Having to deal with a third party to get a refund from California seems a bit unnecessary and/or corrupt.
I hate this trend of issuing money via bullshit cards that condition how you can access it.
I rejected one at work - it is for "self-care", you can only use it for specific things, the money doesn't roll over month to money (use-it-or-lose-it), and the dollar amount is fairly low.
It is more trouble than it is worth to deal with, so I refused it. My HR department was insulted, I think.
Give me money or just don't bother. Nanny-bullshit just pisses me off, and payment methods that are a hassle is just another scam to keep your money.
Fuck that noise.
@different_name
Does somebody need a hug?
Mostly agree. Too much hassle. However, it sounds like that card from your employer was a reward - something extra. The tax refund Kevin is talking about is HIS OWN money. It’s infuriating that the state would put all these obstacles in the way of you accessing and spending your own money.
In my experience, the simplest way to get cash out of a debit card is to use it at the grocery store. At least where I live, most of them have the option to withdraw $40-50 at the same time you make a purchase; and there's no fee, aside from having to buy groceries, which you were going to do anyway.
had problems activating as I was using the "wrong" phone number. I realized that I wasn't going to use it as a debit card and would probably lose it so went on the website and was, after a few tries, able to transfer entire amount to my checking account for no charge. They made this process way too hard.
I, too, used the bank transfer option. I had trouble creating a password, however, as the error message was:
Error: The Password you are trying to create does not include the required characters. The following rules apply to the format for a password: Must be between 9 and 20 characters long. Must be a combination of upper and lower case letters, special characters and also numbers. At least one or more special character. At least one or more upper case character. At least one or more lower case character. At least one or more digit. Can not contain four or more keyboard sequence. Can not contain four or more alphabetical sequence. Can not contain four or more numeric sequence. Can not contain same character repeating three or more times. Can not contain username or userId.
Now, that is some set of rules. Why do they let the programmers do things like this to us?
Well we had a tax rebate in SC as well. They could have expanded Medicaid or cut the sales tax, but Republicans hate income taxes and poor people. Good thing Jesus was rich, right?
Anyway, I did a direct deposit of my state refund and that's how they sent the rebate. My daughter paid taxes by check and they sent her a check. You can get your refund as a Bank of America debit card so I imagine that's what people who used those for refunds got as rebates.
The state government manages to do something right more often than you'd expect. They work not to make a habit of it though.
You want to have some real fun? Try buying something off Amazon with it.
Why don’t they just send a check if not direct deposit? This debit card thing seems a little nutty. The few times I’ve had prepaid debit cards (gifts, rewards, etc) I’ve had similar problems. And I’d you just use it to buy stuff you always have a little left.
I meet all the qualifications to receive this Free Government Money except one: I don't live in California anymore. In any case the Middle Class Tax Refund would have helped me pay about a third of one month's rent, and it wouldn't have addressed my gasoline expense at all, so I guess it's all good.