Debit cards

[SLuskin]

Are any of you currently using the debit cards for your flex administration? Recommendations for a particular company? What have you liked and disliked about them?

Also, are any of you administering Section 105 Plans outside of a Cafeteria Plan? Thank you!

[mroberts]

Check the archives. We had a thread several months ago about the pros and cons of these. I'm for them. Others are against them.

[SLuskin]

Thanks, mroberts. I remember the thread, and I had some concerns. However, valued clients are now really interested, and since things change so fast in the 125 world, I wanted to know specifically who you (all) were using, pitfalls, etc.

Still reading alot about the merps outside of section 125 and would like to know if any of you are doing that at this time.

[mroberts]

From what I understand, there only seems to be one company, MBI, that creates these debit cards. There are many administrators out there that can incorporate these into their plans, however, they all seem to use MBI. I suppose there could be other vendors of these debit cards, but I haven't heard of any.

[Guest CRobinson]

Hi,

Actually, MBI is not the only company offering a debit card. Fringe Benefits Management Company implemented the BenefitPass Mastercard card in January 2002. Overall, the program is going extremely well. We are getting exceptional support from our clients which makes the total administration so much easier, and this allows us to put more emphasis on the individual participant. Not to mention that we have a dedicated group that has put in an incredible amount of effort to insure the program runs smoothly. We're only 6 months into this thing, and we fully expect it to be HUGE!! Literally, the potential is unlimited. As long as participants are understand the ins-and-outs of the card usage, and we continue to be on the same page as the clients, BenefitPass can go as far as we want it to go.