Implementing Paycards

Before launching a paycard program within your organization, there are a number of considerations that need to be addressed, including which paycard vendor you will use, the type of paycard that you will roll out to your employees, and how to set up the banking relationship necessary to guarantee consistent and timely access to wages. Below are some tips that will help you begin to organize your thoughts about how to address these and other issues on your way to developing a successful paycard program.

Choosing Global Cash Card

Global Cash Card's core business is the development, deployment, and servicing of paycard programs for various types of organizations. We are the Proven Specialist in Customized Paycard Solutions that are simple to implement and easy to use.

Branded vs. Unbranded Paycards

One of the first decisions that you will need to make is what type of paycard you will issue your employees. Today, there are two common types of cards that an employer can choose from. They are branded paycards and unbranded paycards.

Branded paycards are essentially debit cards that display a MasterCard, Visa or similar logo on them. They are also frequently called "signature based" or "personalized cards" because employees have the option of signing for goods and services that they purchase with the cards in addition to using them with a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Those purchases that are signed for, similar to transactions completed with a credit card, are then settled against the cash balance of the employee's paycard account. At this time, paycards are not linked to any type of line-of-credit. If you elect to use this type of paycard for your program, expect it to take 7-10 days to issue the card to an employee. This is because the name of each employee must be embossed on their specific branded card.

Unbranded paycards, also called "PIN-based" cards, are debit cards that function only at ATMs or point-of-sale terminals through the use of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) when the user wishes to withdraw cash and/or purchase products and services. Although these cards do not display a Visa or MasterCard logo, they are linked to the Star, Pulse, NYCE, Cirrus, and/or Plus point-of-sale debit networks. These paycards can be issued with or without the employee's name embossed on them. Paycards issued without an employee's name are commonly called "instant issue" cards and can be quickly assigned to a specific employee for immediate use.

Paycard Program Responsibilities, Roles, and Rules

Once you have engaged your paycard program and decided on the type of paycard that you will be using to pay your unbanked workforce, the next step is to establish the responsibilities, roles, and rules associated with your program for all parties involved. At this stage of implementing your paycard program, you and Global Cash Card need to answer all of the following questions:

• How will employees enroll in the paycard program?
• What enrollment documents must employees review and sign to participate in the paycard program, and who will design them?
• Are paycard enrollment documents universal for all states?
• How long will it take for an employee to receive and activate his or her paycard?
• Can the employee request additional paycards for family members? If so, who pays for them?
• How will employees establish their paycard PIN?
• How and where can employees access their pay?
• Are wages deposited by the employer into a paycard account(s) FDIC insured?
• Are there consumer protections associated with the use of paycards by employees?
• What exactly are the fees associated with the paycard program and who pays them?
• Are there any requirements to provide monthly paycard account statements to employees? Or will a typical pay statement suffice?
• Will pay statements be provided electronically?
• When an employee has a problem with using their paycard, who do they call for resolution and what is the expected response time?
• If an employee's paycard is lost or stolen, what is the re-issuance procedure?
• Who is liable for any paycard program system failures?
• What is the procedure for an employee who wishes to cancel his or her paycard program enrollment?
• What polices and procedures for ex-employee use of paycards to access previous account balances and final pays?

Once you have determined each party's roles and responsibilities, they then should be formally outlined in a service contract and/or service level agreement. This step will help solidify your program's success. And, by formally establishing such an agreement, it will then create a framework to compose the actual paycard enrollment document that you will have your employees review and sign to participate in your program.

When an employee elects to participate in a paycard program, the enrollment document that they review will serve as an affirmative confirmation that they understand everyone's roles and responsibilities associated with the paycard program. This is an important part of the enrollment process, as the document will validate that they read and understand that there may be potential ATM and/or POS fees that may be assessed when using their card and, it will notify employees how to specifically address any unforeseen problems that may arise concerning their use of the card.