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All new recipients of unemployment-insurance benefits in Maryland will receive automatic payments through prepaid cards, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation announced today. Eliminating paper checks, postage costs, staff time and processing for checks should save the state $400,000 per year, the department says. Citi Prepaid Services will issue the Visa-branded cards. Recipients can make free ATM withdrawals within the Citi network, make free funds transfers and access their account through a toll-free telephone number. Recipients also can choose to forego the card and have their benefits directly deposited into their checking accounts, the department says. "This new program eliminates the problems caused by lost or delayed checks and can save beneficiaries the costs of fees sometimes associated with cashing checks," Thomas Wendel, Maryland unemployment assistant secretary, says in a statement. Citi announced in October that it similarly would provide unemployment-benefits prepaid cards to recipients for the Kansas Department of Labor.
