Unemployment Insurance Debit Card Services

The vendor is required to provide that unemployment insurance (UI) debit card services through electronic access cards (EAC) for UI benefits at no cost to agency or the UI claimant.
- Agency offers UI claimants the option to receive payment of UI benefits by either debit card or direct deposit.
- Agency currently issues payment of UI benefits in response to claimant requests by the following three (3) methods:
• Direct deposit - 85%
• Debit card - 13%
• Checks - 2%
- The objectives of this RFP are to:
• Ensure eligible claimants receive the UI benefits to which they are entitled, efficiently, timely and accurately;
• Reduce the potential for fraud;
• Improve service delivery to UI claimants;
• Improve administrative operations; and
• Ensure the maintenance of the confidentiality of all agency data.
- Services:
• The process for regular benefits (reg) is:
oA claimant will contact agency to file an initial claim for UI benefits upon becoming unemployed. this claim is valid for the next fifty-two (52) weeks, known as the benefit year.
oThe successful respondent will issue a debit card to the claimant upon agency issuing first payment, which typically occurs four (4) weeks after filing the initial claim.
oThe claimant files a payment request every two (2) weeks and may be paid UI benefits if all eligibility requirements are met, which initiates possible payment to the claimant through the claimant’s debit card account.
oA break in the filing process due to the claimant’s employment and subsequent loss of the job may result in another claim or “additional claim” filed in the benefit year.
oA break in the filing process caused by factors other than the claimant’s employment is called a re-opened claim.
o    After either an additional claim or a re-opened claim, bi-weekly filing may resume.
• In general, each claimant receives a payment every two (2) weeks, although payments can occur at any time.
• United states department of labor sets standards for and measures the number of days from the week ending date of the first compensable week in the benefit year to the date the payment is made in-person, mailed, or an offset is applied on the claim. 
• If the successful respondent misses a day of claimant payments, agency will consider this a catastrophic event subject to the liquidated damages specified.
- Debit card program requirements: services any resulting contract must be performed in accordance with the terms of this RFP, any resulting contract, and the standards of performance considered generally acceptable to the banking and electronic payment industry for similar tasks and projects. in the absence of a detailed specification for the performance of any portion of this RFP and any resulting contract, the parties agree that the applicable specification must be the generally accepted industry standard.
• Card format and design:
o The debit card must be a branded, re-loadable, and stored-value debit card which does not operate as a line of credit
o The debit card must not allow claimants, or any other entities not authorized by agency, to make deposits or otherwise replenish funds except merchants making refunds.
o Claimants must not have the capability to obtain advances on funds that have not been deposited or negotiate checks against the debit card.
o The debit card must be fully compliant with all federal and state laws and regulations and meet all industry standards including, but not limited to, american national standards institute (ansi) “american national standard for financial services - financial transaction cards,” “american national standard for financial services – financial transaction card formsets – location of imprinted information,” and “american national standard for financial services - financial transaction cards - magnetic stripe encoding,” for use in automated teller machine (atm) and pos terminals so that the claimant can have broad access to their benefits.
o Agency reserves the right to approve the name, design, content, and graphics of the debit card and/or checks used by the successful respondent for this contract.
oThe debit card design shall be the property of the state if agency selects a custom design created by the successful respondent or agency.
o The debit card and any provided materials must not contain any advertisements.
o The materials that accompany activation of the debit card, such as activation stickers or other information on the debit card or enclosed in the mailer, must indicate that receipt of the debit card does not guarantee that the claimant meets Ui eligibility criteria established by agency, or that the claimant will receive payment.
o Agency must approve the activation and informational materials verbiage prior to issuance of the first debit card.
o The activation and informational materials must be in english and spanish.
- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Pre-Proposal Conference Date: January 27, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 28, 2025