According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), millions of Americans are receiving their stimulus payments from the U.S. Treasury in the form of debit cards instead of paper checks. As they're arriving in American mailboxes, however, many debit cards are being discarded according to the media when their recipients mistake them for scams.
The IRS says, "IRS and Treasury urge eligible people who don't receive a direct deposit to watch their mail carefully during this period. The prepaid debit card, called the Economic Impact Payment card, is sponsored by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and is issued by Treasury's financial agent, MetaBank®, N.A. The IRS does not determine who receives a prepaid debit card."
If you get refunds from the IRS via direct deposit, you won't get a check or debit card. However, if you typically get refunds in the form of a check, you need to know about this change.
The IRS has posted sample photos of the debit cards and the mailing envelope to help Americans identify the payments when they arrive in the mail.
You can check the status of your payment at Get My Payment on the IRS website.
(This post was updated on May 4, 2021)
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