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Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Cards

Accessible Version - Report to the Congress on Government-Administered, General-Use Prepaid Cards - 2017

Maps 1-6. States offering prepaid card funding options

State SNAP Child Support Unemployment Insurance TANF WIC Tax Refund
Alabama 1 1 1 1 0 0
Alaska 1 1 1 1 0 -1
Arizona 1 1 1 1 0 0
Arkansas 1 1 1 1 0 0
California 1 1 1 1 0 0
Colorado 1 1 1 1 1 0
Connecticut 1 1 1 1 1 0
Delaware 1 1 1 0 1 0
District of Columbia 1 1 1 1 0 1
Florida 1 1 1 1 1 -1
Georgia 1 1 1 1 0 0
Hawaii 1 1 0 1 0 0
Idaho 1 1 1 1 0 0
Illinois 1 1 1 1 0 1
Indiana 1 1 1 1 1 0
Iowa 1 1 1 1 1 0
Kansas 1 1 1 1 0 0
Kentucky 1 1 0 1 1 1
Louisiana 1 1 1 1 0 0
Maine 1 1 1 1 0 0
Maryland 1 1 1 1 0 0
Massachusetts 1 1 1 1 1 0
Michigan 1 1 1 1 1 0
Minnesota 1 1 1 1 0 0
Mississippi 1 1 1 1 0 0
Missouri 1 1 1 1 0 0
Montana 1 1 1 1 0 0
Nebraska 1 1 1 1 0 0
Nevada 1 1 1 1 1 -1
New Hampshire 1 1 0 1 0 -1
New Jersey 1 1 1 1 0 0
New Mexico 1 1 1 1 1 0
New York 1 1 1 1 0 1
North Carolina 1 1 1 1 0 0
North Dakota 1 1 1 1 0 0
Ohio 1 1 1 1 1 0
Oklahoma 1 1 1 1 1 1
Oregon 1 1 1 1 1 0
Pennsylvania 1 1 1 1 0 0
Rhode Island 1 1 1 1 0 0
South Carolina 1 1 1 1 0 1
South Dakota 1 1 1 1 0 -1
Tennessee 1 1 1 1 0 -1
Texas 1 1 1 1 1 -1
Utah 1 1 1 1 0 0
Vermont 1 1 0 1 1 0
Virginia 1 1 1 1 1 0
Washington 1 1 1 1 0 -1
West Virginia 1 1 1 1 1 0
Wisconsin 1 1 1 0 1 0
Wyoming 1 1 1 0 1 -1

Figure 1. Funds discbursed through prepaid cards in 2016 by program type

Program Type Funding % of Total
Tax refund 127,439,503 0.1%
Payroll 415,382,423 0.3%
Veterans 993,356,477 0.7%
WIC 1,023,999,380 0.7%
Other 2,346,896,889 1.6%
Cash assistance 8,498,404,664 5.8%
Child support 13,618,699,399 9.3%
Unemployment 20,795,308,198 14.3%
Social Security 32,218,424,114 22.1%
SNAP 65,659,922,795 45.1%

Figure 2. Issuer revenue by source, 2016

CY2016 (Current Year) CY2015 (Prior Year) CY2014 (Prior Year) Change 2015-2016 Change 2014-2016
Variable Revenue % of Total Revenue % of Total Revenue % of Total YR/YR Change YR/YR % Change YR/YR Change YR/YR % Change
Revenue Breakout:                    
Total Revenue: Fees assessed to government office(s) $8,111,590.00 2% $8,858,053.97 1.7% $6,436,157.00 1.3% ($746,463.97) -8.4% $1,675,433.00 26.0%
Total Revenue: Value of payments and incentives received from PCNs $23,611,196.00 5% $19,788,617.04 3.8% $16,035,407.02 3.3% $3,822,578.96 19.3% $7,575,788.98 47.2%
Total Revenue: Interchange Fees $328,228,072.00 63% $330,591,244.97 63.1% $309,641,202.74 63.1% ($2,363,172.97) -0.7% $18,586,869.26 6.0%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Fees (Reported Total) $158,156,378.00 31% $164,607,148.27 31.4% $158,292,913.86 32.3% ($6,450,770.27) -3.9% ($136,535.86) -0.1%
Total revenue $518,107,236.00 100.0% $523,845,064.25 100.0% $490,405,680.62 100.0% ($5,737,828.25) -1.1% $27,701,555.38 5.6%
Cardholder Fee Breakout:                    
Total Revenue: Cardholder Overdraft Fees $405,288.00 0.3% $93,453.62 0.1% $21,632.08 0.0% $311,834.38 333.7% $383,655.92 1773.6%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Routine Monthly Fees $505,696.00 0.3% $601,486.55 0.4% $2,568,595.70 1.6% ($95,790.55) -15.9% ($2,062,899.70) -80.3%
Total Revenue: Cardholder OTC Fees $514,231.00 0.3% $1,201,110.76 0.7% $1,263,494.80 0.8% ($686,879.76) -57.2% ($749,263.80) -59.3%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Purchase Transaction Fees $2,858,524.00 1.8% $3,338,777.28 2.0% $2,798,186.06 1.8% ($480,253.28) -14.4% $60,337.94 2.2%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Other Fees $1,640,896.00 1.0% $3,878,156.67 2.4% $8,912,295.57 5.6% ($2,237,260.67) -57.7% ($7,271,399.57) -81.6%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Penalty Fees $2,928,410.00 1.9% $5,847,074.09 3.6% $8,167,019.92 5.2% ($2,918,664.09) -49.9% ($5,238,609.92) -64.1%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Customer Service Inquiry Fees $17,193,339.00 10.9% $18,071,546.81 11.0% $18,427,778.06 11.6% ($878,207.81) -4.9% ($1,234,439.06) -6.7%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Account Servicing Fees $42,886,353.00 27.1% $42,887,020.44 26.1% $27,433,660.51 17.3% ($667.44) 0.0% $15,452,692.49 56.3%
Total Revenue: Cardholder ATM Fees $89,223,641.00 56.4% $88,688,521.58 53.9% $88,700,251.62 56.0% $535,119.42 0.6% $523,389.38 0.6%
Total Revenue: Cardholder Fees (All) $158,156,378.00 100.0% $164,607,147.80 100.0% $158,292,914.32 100.0% ($6,450,769.80) -3.9% ($136,536.32) -0.1%

Figure 3. Cardholder fees: revenue and average fee charged in 2016, by type of fee

Variable Revenues Revenues (millions) Variable Jurisdiction Avg Fee Position Black dot size
Total Revenue: Cardholder Overdraft Fees $405,288.00 $0.4M Avg cardholder fee: Overdraft Total $0.83 1 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder Routine Monthly Fees $505,696.00 $0.5M Avg cardholder fee: Routine Monthly Total $2.05 2 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder OTC Fees $514,231.00 $0.5M Avg cardholder fee: OTC Total $2.25 3 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder Purchase Transaction Fees $2,858,524.00 $2.9M Avg cardholder fee: Purchase Transaction Total $0.44 4 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder Penalty Fees $2,928,410.00 $2.9M Avg cardholder fee: Penalty Total $0.61 5 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder Customer Service Inquiry Fees $17,193,339.00 $17.2M Avg cardholder fee: Custumer Service Inquiry Total $0.40 6 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder Account Servicing Fees $42,886,353.00 $42.9M Avg cardholder fee: Account Servicing Total $3.10 7 0.15
Total Revenue: Cardholder ATM Fees $89,223,641.00 $89.2M Avg cardholder fee: ATM Total $1.00 8 0.15
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Last Update: September 25, 2017