Receiving IRS Economic Impact Payments – A letter from the FDIC

By: Gloria Reynolds, FDIC Community Affairs Specialist

As you know, the CARES Act includes a provision for supplying relief monies to qualifying individuals and families. Most recipients will secure their payments electronically from the IRS, which will use the bank account information on file from the recipient’s last tax return.

Unbanked recipients will wait for paper checks, which can be lost or stolen. The FDIC encourages everyone to use insured bank accounts.

The FDIC has been working diligently to develop resources that will make it easier for unbanked consumers to open a bank account online so that they too may receive their payments securely and timely. To that end, we have launched a webpage entitled Receiving IRS Economic Impact Payments aimed at helping consumers get the information they need to open a bank account and receive their relief monies electronically.

The FDIC webpage includes a link to a special Bank On webpage that includes a list of banks with certified accounts that offer remote account opening online or through a mobile device. ABA and ICBA links connect consumers to lists of banks that offer remote account opening all across the country. The webpage offers additional resources including how to submit account information to the IRS through the IRS Economic Impact Payments Portal so that payments may be deposited electronically to the recipient’s account.

Here is how you can help:

These articles underscore the urgency of reaching unbanked consumers as quickly as possible:

Feel free to contact the Community Affairs Specialist Gloria Reynolds at glreynolds@fdic.gov at 214-662-3853.