WASHINGTON-A pilot program from the Department of the Treasury that attempted to increase access to financial services for the underbanked will not be repeated in 2012.
According to Treasury spokesperson Matthew Anderson, about 800,000 individuals received invitations to participate in the MyAccountCard program, which issued tax refunds via a pre-paid VISA card in lieu of a paper check. Only 2,000 ultimately signed up for the program, so "we have determined not to implement another pilot in the 2012 tax year," said Anderson, adding that "we haven't made a decision for future tax years" beyond 2012.
The MyAccountCard (and any funds deposited to it) was held by Provo, Utah-based Bonneville Bank and came in four different formats, with different rate and fee structures associated with each. Anderson said Treasury was still parsing through the data of which card program was most successful and that "given the short time frame before next tax season, at this point we're not going to proceed."
The program initially raised concerns among CUs that serve as VITA sites for the underbanked ("
