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JPMorgan Treasury Services has renewed its contract with the State of Alaska
to issue prepaid debit cards for food stamps, temporary cash assistance to families and child-support payments.
Treasury services, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., issues the Quest card, a closedloop prepaid card. The Alaska Department of Health & Social Services offers 23,000 households
the electronic benefits tramsfer cards for purchasing U.S. Food and Nutrition
Service-approved foods at authorized stores.
The Quest card also provides temporary cash assistance for needy families, John T.
Murray III, vice president of Treasury Media Services, tells ATM&Debit News.
In addition, Treasury Services issues the JPMorgan Direct Payment Card, a
Visa–branded, open-loop, prepaid debit card, for child-support payments.
Alaska's Child-Support Services, whichis based in Anchorage, processes childsupport payments, says Brandi
Reischman, Child Support Services' electronic funds transfer specialist.
Child-Support Services is part ofAlaska's Department of Revenue.
Two thousand custodial parents receive child-support payments either voluntarily
or through wage assignment, Reischman says. Once the state agency receives the
money, employees apply the payment to the custodial parent's account, and it
becomes available on the card in two days.
Cardholders can use the cards to withdraw cash from ATMs, shop online and
pay at the point of sale. In August, cardholders will be able to
enroll in Chase online bill payment, Reischman says.
"It's an existing program for them and a new program for us," she says. "We plan to
launch it right away with all of our cardholders." JPMorgan Treasury Services provides
EBT and debit card services for food stamps, pension and entitlement payments
to approximately 11 million cardholders in more than 30 states and territories,
the United Kingdom and South America.
Each month JPMorgan Treasury Services processes more than 70 million
transactions and handles more than $2 billion in funds in the United States, the company says.
JPMorgan's services enable state governments to save time and reduce the
costs of delivering benefits payments by eliminating checks or vouchers, the company
says.
The agreement with JPMorgan Treasury Services benefits the state, agrees Cheryl
Kagee, EBT program coordinator for the Alaska Department of Health & Social
Services.
Alaska and JPMorgan have been working
together more than 10 years, says Laurie Neill, JPMorgan manager of public
sector solutions.
JPMorgan executives did not immediately disclose terms of the renewal agreement
