Asset Building Program and Partners Recommend Best Practices for TANF Payment Card Contracts

WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier this week, New America’s Asset Building Program, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), submitted a letter urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide guidance to states about best practices for their contracts with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) vendors, so that families accessing public assistance can do so safely and with fewer fees.

Currently, families participating in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF/cash assistance) often must pay significant fees and surcharges to withdraw their benefits at an ATM. In California,fees charged to recipients of TANF and other public assistance programs added up to $19 million in 2012,according to a new report from CRC. Since families’ average monthly grants are only a few hundred dollars,these small fees can have a significant impact on their ability to make ends meet.

To read more about the suggested best practices, visit CRC’s blog: Asset Building Program and Partners Recommend Best Practices for TANF Payment Card Contracts