Both the paper check and the EIP card will arrive in a white envelope from the U.S. Treasury Department. The IRS and the Treasury Department announced Monday the mailing of a second round of $1,400 stimulus payments beginning Wednesday, March 24.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in full swing to send the third stimulus check to eligible Americans. The first round began one day after President Joe Biden signed the American Recovery Plan Act into law.
The IRS will send out weekly batches of payments and the second round is scheduled to hit bank accounts this Wednesday, March 24. The agency will continue to send payments throughout 2021.
To expedite the payments the IRS will try to send most of the money by direct deposit. But to expedite payments that cannot be sent directly to bank accounts, the IRS will also send paper checks and prepaid debit cards by mail.
The IRS is requesting that if you do not receive a direct deposit by March 24 you should watch the mail for your stimulus check or your preloaded debit card, known as an economic impact payment card, or EIP card.
What should you look for in the mail?
The IRS warned that you may receive your stimulus check in a different way than in previous rounds. Here’s why you should be on the lookout for mail.
The IRS has released what the paper checks and prepaid EIP debit cards containing the $1,400 payments will look like. In both cases, they will arrive in a white envelope from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The fastest way to track your payment is to use the IRS’s Get My Payment tool, where you can track your payment.
If your payment arrives in the mail, you’ll need to keep an eye on your mailbox. You can also use the free USPS Informed Delivery service that lets you know when your mail will arrive.
What does the $1,400 check look like?
This time around, the paper check will look similar, but it will only be labeled “economic impact payment.” President Joe Biden decided not to put his name on the stimulus checks to ensure that the $1,400 checks would not be delayed any longer than necessary.
What does the Economic Impact Payment card look like?
The Economic Impact Payment Card, called an EIP Card, is a prepaid debit card that the U.S. Treasury used as an alternative to direct deposits and paper checks to distribute some stimulus payments in the previous two rounds under the CARES Act and the pandemic relief bill in December.
MetaBank will mail your EIP Card if you meet the eligibility requirements. The envelope includes instructions on how to activate and use your card, or you can visit the EIP card website for activation and questions.
EIP debit cards carry the Visa name on the front and MetaBank N.A., which issues the cards, on the back.
The EIP card works like any other Visa debit card and you will need to activate it when you receive it. You can use it to make purchases wherever debit cards are accepted, get cash at ATMs in the network and transfer funds to your personal bank account without any fees.