SSI benefits are paid either by:
Direct Deposit – Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Through an electronic debit card known as Direct Express
By check mailed directly to the recipient or the representative payee, OR BY
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card when:
SSI recipient is not in direct deposit.
There is no representative payee. AND
SSI recipient is a payment name on a SNAP or cash budget.
Recipients who have a designated representative payee will have their SSP paid to the representative payee. Refer to the chart below for SSP payment methods.
SSP Payment Methods |
|
SSI/SSP |
SSP-Only |
Direct Deposit/EFT To an individual checking or savings account. Must have direct deposit of SSI. |
Direct Deposit/EFT Must elect direct deposit by signing Treasury form or was SSI/SSP recipient with direct deposit and became SSP Only. DD Bank field must be 111111. |
Direct Express Direct Express is available to SSI recipients as of June 2008. Direct Express is an electronic debit card managed by Comerica Bank. Direct Express information is transmitted to DHS through SDX as banking information. Payments are handled like any other EFT transaction and will be visible in the OnBase database as an EFT payment to a checking account. |
Direct Express DD Bank field must be 111111. |
EBT SSI is not in direct deposit. No representative payee. SSI recipient is payment name on a SNAP or cash budget. DD Bank field is 111111. |
EBT DD Bank field must be 555555. |
Check All others will receive check by U.S. Mail |
Check DD Bank field must be 000000. |
Individuals who receive SSI through direct deposit will automatically have their SSP payment deposited directly to the same bank account. Individuals who receive SSI via direct deposit must contact the SSA with any changes to the direct deposit deliver method. Beginning June 2008, individuals receiving SSI/SSP through direct deposit may elect to receive benefits via an electronic debit card, Direct Express, managed by Comerica Bank. Clients who chose to receive their SSI benefits through Direct Express will also get SSP payments through this method. Additional information on Direct Express is available at www.directexpress.org.
As long as the bank information on the SDX is direct deposit any attempted changes on eCIS will be overridden when eCIS is updated through the SDX.
Individuals who receive a check for SSI may receive their SSP through EBT or check. EBT is the preferred method. A paper check is issued if one of the following conditions is met:
There is a representative payee for the SSI/SSP recipient.
SSI is not in direct deposit and the SSI recipient is not a cash or SNAP payment name and DD Bank field is not 555555..
DD Bank field is 111111.
Individuals who receive their SSI via EBT may elect payment by check. The CAO must change the DD Bank field in eCIS to all 1’s to ensure check issuance.
Individuals who receive their SSI via check may not elect to get SSP through direct deposit. The only way this can be accomplished is for the recipient to change his/her SSI payment delivery method to direct deposit by contacting the SSA.
SSP-Only recipients have the option to select direct deposit for their SSP payment. They can do this by completing a Treasury form available at the CAO authorizing direct deposit of the SSP. A copy of the form and authorization statements are shown in Appendix H, however this form should not be copied. An original Authorization for Direct Deposit of the State Supplementary Payment (SSP) must be used, as these forms are scanned at Treasury. This form should be completed by the recipient or representative payee and mailed to Treasury in the self addressed envelopes provided.
For SSP-Only recipients there is no automatic selection of EBT as the method of benefit delivery. If an SSP-Only recipient desires to receive their payment by EBT, the DD Bank field must be 555555.
NOTE: Unlike the SSI/SSP recipient where direct deposit cannot be overridden if the SSI payment is delivered by direct deposit, entry of 555555 in the DD Bank field will override direct deposit for SSP-Only recipients.
If the SSP-Only recipient has not selected to receive SSP payment via EBT and has not enrolled in direct deposit, a paper check will be mailed by the Treasury Department. The CAO will ensure that updated address information is sent to Treasury.
An SSP-Only recipient may also elect to receive their SSP payment by check if it is a hardship to receive it through EBT. The SSP recipient determines what constitutes hardship and does not have to verify it. The CAO must change the DD field in eCIS to all 1’s to ensure check issuance.
SSP will follow the SSI payment schedule. Payments are made on the first day of the month, unless the first is a weekend or a holiday. In that case, payment is made on the first banking day prior to the Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. Refer to the current Disbursement And Corresponding Dates For Cash/SNAP Benefits (PA 1635) found in Cash Assistance Handbook Chapter 180, Issuing Benefits, Appendix A, Payment Day Schedules.
Example: The January 2005 payment was due on January 1, 2005. Since the first of the month was a Saturday, payment would normally be made on December 31, 2004. However, that date is a legal holiday, so the actual benefit payment date for January was December 30, 2004.
The CAO should inform recipients of these dates. The CAO should also inform recipients getting payment delivery through EBT that the SSP payment schedule is different than the bi-weekly cash payment schedule.
Those SSI/SSP recipients who also receive RSDI will get their SSI and RSDI on their regularly scheduled RSDI date. The SSP payment schedule may be viewed on table TTRE in CIS.
Reissued December 21, 2012, replacing September 11, 2012