You HAVE to cash my check!!!

[Jester]

It's unlikely she would be working, since she was receiving social security.

I would like to respectfully disagree, as there are many legitimate situations where one could both be receiving Social Security checks AND be working.

[Gurndigarn]

I would like to respectfully disagree, as there are many legitimate situations where one could both be receiving Social Security checks AND be working.

On the bright side: social security is going check-free next year.

[Ironclad Alibi]

On the bright side: social security is going check-free next year.

The new requirement is electronic deposit, or they send you a DirectExpress debit card. I'm sure there will be plenty of SC stories with the DirectExpress card.

[Gurndigarn]

Requiring direct deposit, or going the gift card route? If it's gift cards, we will soon be hearing a whole set of sc stories.

I don't know for sure. I just got my daughter off disability (and that was a fun story), so I no longer have to deal with any more of the headaches of dealing with them. But for the longest time there was a quick note in the envelopes about the coming change.

[Peppergirl]

Could we perhaps not discuss the ins-and-outs of social security benefits and stick to the SC-ness of the woman trying to cash the check?

Thanks.

[Ironclad Alibi]

She stormed out, saying she'd have to send her boyfriend in with it tomorrow.

She didn't send her boyfriend.

It's just as well. You could not have cashed it for the boyfriend because it was not made out to him, and she would have been screaming and yelling about that.

[Racket_Man]

If she's not willing to do direct deposit, there's probably some reason she can't open an account - collections against her, bad credit, or something.

I was uner the impression that the SSA was trying to get as many people as possible on direct deposit OR on some sort of "debt card" system. While the "debt card" system is not technically a bank account it kind of is.

Heck even fast food places these days are going the direct deposit route to save money.

[Ghel]

It's just as well. You could not have cashed it for the boyfriend because it was not made out to him, and she would have been screaming and yelling about that.

She could have signed it over to the boyfriend. I haven't heard of any issues with cashing social security checks for 3rd parties, but we would have given the transaction extra scrutiny, including asking the boyfriend for ID, which would have been cause for extra griping.

I was uner the impression that the SSA was trying to get as many people as possible on direct deposit OR on some sort of "debt card" system. While the "debt card" system is not technically a bank account it kind of is.

Right now, the SSA is "encouraging" people to switch to direct deposit or prepaid debit card. Starting March 1, 2013, if they haven't switched to direct deposit, they will be receiving their benefits via prepaid debit card. We've received several notices of this and how to "prepare our customers" for the change.

We're probably going to lose a lot of these customers come March - those customers who don't have an account with us but come in because they know we don't charge to cash Treasury checks. The reason is (a) the Treasury's prepaid debit cards are Mastercards, which our ATM won't accept, and (b) we only do cash advances for customers with deposit accounts with us. All those customer who either can't open an account or procrastinate won't be able to get their social security money from us any more.

[vikingchyk]

Was this one of those deals where you have to give them an hour and a half to high-pressure you into buying a timeshare package? I've sat through one or two of those.

Yeah, except we were not expecting it, so it was an ambush. If they tell you up front that a condition of the free trip is to listen to a sales pitch, OK, fine, I understand that business model. I would politely decline. These people were slime, because we had to drive over 40 miles to their office to pick up this airline voucher and oh by the way, first let us tell you about this great deal...

[taxguykarl]

I would like to respectfully disagree, as there are many legitimate situations where one could both be receiving Social Security checks AND be working.

Jester's right about that one. The biggest difference is that the SS is more likely to be taxable.

I was uner the impression that the SSA was trying to get as many people as possible on direct deposit OR on some sort of "debt card" system. While the "debt card" system is not technically a bank account it kind of is.

The IRS as well for refunds. While the IRS is not mandating debit cards (yet--probably waiting to see how it works for SSA). Prepaid (non-gift) debit cards do work like an account as they have routing and account numbers to wire the funds--I saw several of those last season.

[Ghel]

It's unlikely she would be working, since she was receiving social security.

I would like to respectfully disagree, as there are many legitimate situations where one could both be receiving Social Security checks AND be working.

Jester's right about that one. The biggest difference is that the SS is more likely to be taxable.

I would like to apologize for my statement quoted above. I only mentioned it as a possible reason the SC might not have been able to make it into the bank the next day to cash her check. Although it's less likely that someone who receives social security benefits would have a regular job as well, I didn't mean to imply that she couldn't work.

[Peppergirl]

I would like to apologize for my statement quoted above. I only mentioned it as a possible reason the SC might not have been able to make it into the bank the next day to cash her check. Although it's less likely that someone who receives social security benefits would have a regular job as well, I didn't mean to imply that she couldn't work.

Nice of you to say, but no need to apologize. I've already dropped a note trying to steer the thread away from that particular topic since it's Fratching.