The Kansas Department of Labor announced recently that as a cost-cutting measure, they are going to stop giving out paper checks, and send out Visa debit cards to unemployment recipients. This is in line with other actions, like health insurance cards, cards for ex-convicts, cards for Social Security, cards for Store Loyalty Programs, and of course my favorite, Gift Cards.

it seems like we’re trying so hard to save money, that we’re almost eliminating it from daily use. I can’t remember the last time I consistently carried cash. ATM’s are so handy and almost every store takes some form of plastic nowadays.

Kansas Gets With the 21st Century

The new Visa debit card continues the tradition of getting away from paper checks, as seen with other government agencies. Those people filing for unemployment now have the choice of either direct deposit for their unemployment benefits (the vast majority of current recipients) or can opt for this new form of access.

The debit card is tied to an account maintained by the Kansas DOL, and is updated weekly with the new unemployment benefits payment. the card also allows you to withdraw cash money once a month which, while nice, isn’t quite as convenient as a real debit card.

Still, it’s a nice alternative for those that were forced to use the paper check route. Many check-cashing locations charge a fee, and many require an existing bank account (which sort of confuses me about the whole thing, since if you could deposit the check, why would you need a check cashing service?!??). It also prevents theft, lost checks, and fraud/forgeries.

So if you’re in Kansas and get the pink slip (which I TRULY hope doesn’t happen to any of my readers), you have another choice for getting money from the state.