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Did you get an Economic Impact Payment VISA debit card in the mail from the U.S. Department of the Treasury? If you did, you might get a letter from Treasury this week, reminding you to activate your card.

 

Treasury’s letter gives you instructions on how to activate the card. Once you do that, you can get cash or use it anywhere that accepts VISA debit cards. Or, you can also transfer the money from your EIP debit card to your bank account. This is especially helpful if you can’t or don’t want to visit an ATM. 

 

Did you throw away the card by mistake, or don’t recall getting one? No worries. Your letter from Treasury will tell you how to request a replacement card, which will include calling a 24-hour customer service line at 1.800.240.8100. It’s free to replace your card.

 

So that you know what to look out for in the mail, here’s what the envelope from Treasury will look like:

And here’s what the letter from Treasury will look like:

 

And, because this blog is all about reminders, here’s one more. Unless you’ve asked for assistance, know that the government will never, ever call, text, email, or send you a link to click to activate your card or get your money. If someone does—or asks for your Social Security or debit card number—it’s a scam. Report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

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Don't have one
January 29, 2021
I can't activate my EOP Card because it said that my social doesn't match. How could I now what social you guys are working with?
FTC Staff
February 10, 2021

In reply to by Don't have one

When you activate your card, you will be asked to enter your card number, last 6-digits of your social security number and the 3-digit security code from the back of your card.

Get more information in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at www.eipcard.com.

Rlcurran1
February 05, 2021

In reply to by FTC Staff

It doesn't even ask this, this is the worst possible way to conduct business. I think we need a judicial investigation for fraud with this lack of customer service with our tax dollars. Billions sitting in account collecting interest! Speculative at the least.
Addyaesher
January 29, 2021
When I enter the card number to activate the card, the recording says "we cannot find that number." I have tried 8 times. There is nobody to speak with. What do I do?!
Vaccination Seeker
January 30, 2021
Dear FTC, Please forward the issues described at this site to Money Network Financial LLC. I have been trying to activate my card daily, multiple times each with no success. Thank you.
Don't use your…
January 30, 2021
If the card says it can not be activated at this time, what do I do?
Silva
January 31, 2021
i have called the 1 800 240 8100 number and cant talk to a real person all i want to know is how to correct an error that i made on the activate application eip page any advise
rebaruser
February 01, 2021
I am having the same problem as many others. I get a message that my phone is blocked. It is not blocked. And you can't report the problem in an email, only by phone, which doesn't work, or by sending a letter.
yesyoumay
February 09, 2021
I can not access the call center because it doesn't recognize my "pin". I don't remember ever setting a pin and I've tried all the pin numbers I usually use. Since there's no other address or number listed to call about this problem there's no way to straighten this out. A simple check would have been much less complicated and also with cheaper government costs then using this cumbersome debit card method.
blh907
February 18, 2021
How can I delete the account I had to set up in order to get this federal payment? I spent many unnecessary hours verifying the card was not a scam, and creating an online account including all kinds of personal info I try to limit access to, initiating a transfer to my bank account. Now that I have the funds, I want to sever this financial relationship and stop all of the emails from Money Network/EIPCard/MetaBank whoever they are. Why didn't the government just mail a check like they did the first time, or direct deposit to my account like they do with my monthly social security payment? This may be sanctioned by the federal government, but it seems like a borderline scam to collect personal info and pass it along to a private financial institution for no justifiable reason. And now I can't even cancel the account in order to limit my online footprint and the potential exposure to hacking and fraud?
Exit
March 09, 2021
Your 800# has no human to ask anything. The menu isn't even there.....I need a card replaced but it keeps asking for my card number over and over and over. Absolutely no help! HELP
wileyone
March 18, 2021
I'm extremely hard of hearing and using the 800 phone number is out of the question. I cannot hear anything over the phone. I would rather not have someone else to activate my card and giving them my pin number or my social security number. It would be a good thing if I could do this online.
Tellechor
March 18, 2021
I cannot activate my card. It constantly says we are experiencing technical difficulties and are working on it.
Stumpy49
March 29, 2021
With POA for my mother, I activated her EIP card 1/27/21 and received a portion of the money she was to receive; and now I have misplaced the 4-digit pin to activate her EIP account. I have been unable to reach a party who can tell me what my next step might be to retrieve the 4-digit pin. My mother with alzheimers disease is unable to help me.
Bonnie
March 30, 2021
I cannot activate the debit card I got for the 2nd stimulus. The customer service phone number asks for a pin, but gives no info on how to establish a pin. The website doesn't have any info either. HELP! There is no way to activate this card or reach any customer service.
Frustrating Ta…
March 31, 2021
I can't active the card. The 800 numbers said the account can't be found.
Chelsierae21
April 01, 2021
I got my card today tried to activate it and it said that I needed to enter my four digit PIN number but I haven't set one yet so how do I get ahold of somebody to fix
definitelyilly
April 02, 2021
I was having trouble registering my card on the web site provided. Thanks to a tip from anther comment here, I was able to use their mobile application to create my account and link it to my already activated card. For anyone having trouble registering the card over the phone, listen carefully! It is asking for the last *6* of your social, and a lot of you are complaining that it is not taking the last 4, well, that's not what they are asking for... Also make sure you do not have caller ID blocked. A lot of people set this back up in the 90's and don't remember.
Robin L
April 02, 2021
Try to activate my card but won't take social security number
hd1
April 07, 2021
I've been trying to activate my latest EIP card for 2 days now with no success. On calling the number and entering the card number, it says it isn't recognized and to try again. I also read someplace that the number it was looking for were the last 6 of my SSN, on trying this, it still failed. Help?
Wifey
May 04, 2021
How to activate the card if I am unable to speak?
needhelp
June 28, 2021
When activating my card on line the info indicated that you could add a passcode or not. If you chose not to have a passcode then you just needed to sign when using your card. I didn't add a passcode. Now that is a problem and when calling the help line you have to give your passcode. Guess what. They hang up. Now what do I do.
mollybee
July 07, 2021
It is impossible to get the info I need from the 800 240 8100. I need to get a PIN number and cannot find out how to do this. I enter my 16 digit number, and then am asked for my PIN which I do not have. Please help! I need to use my card!
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