How to Use Your Benefits MasterCard Debit Card
What's this card for, exactly?
This benefits MasterCard® debit card, provided to you by your employer, gives you easy access to the funds in your employee-benefits account. Depending on the benefits accounts offered by your employer, you may be able to use your card for:
- A Flexible Savings Account (FSA)
- A Health Reimbursement Arrangement (H RA)
- A Dependent Care Account
- A Transit Account
Now that you've opted to participate in such a plan, your employer is providing you with the enclosed benefits card.
In most ways, your card works just like any debit card. There are three important differences.
First, its use is limited to specific merchants based on the benefit account you have selected, and to expenses deemed eligible by your plan.
Second, you can't use it at an ATM terminal, or to obtain "cash back" when making a purchase.
Third, you are not given a PIN number with this card. Should a merchant or provider ask you for a PIN number, just explain that this particular card doesn't have one. When given the option between debit and credit at the terminal, choose "CREDIT".
TIP: Your benefits MasterCard' debit card is good for up to three years. So hang on to it! Even if you use up this year's funds, you'll be able to use the card again next year if you re-enroll in this plan.
What's an eligible expense?
That depends on your particular benefits plan. As an example, say you have a healthcare FSA. You may be able to use your card to pay for products and services such as these:
- Co-pays at pharmacies as well as the doctor's or dentist's office
- Prescription drugs and, if allowed by your plan, some over-the-counter medications
- Diabetic supplies
- Eye glasses, contact lenses, and contact solutions
- Orthotic devices such as braces
- Podiatry services
For a listing of the products and services that are eligible in your plan, please refer to your plan document.
What's not eligible?
Anything that's not listed in your plan document.
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for how the funds in your account are spent; these tax- exempt accounts are governed by the IRS and your plan documents. If you're ever in doubt about the eligibility of a particular product or service, check your plan document or ask your plan administrator. (If you do not know who your plan administrator is, contact your HR department.)
TIP: If you go to a drug store for a number of items- some eligible, some not - ask the clerk to ring them up separately. Then use your benefits debit card to pay only for eligible items.
What if I make a mistake?
Once in a while, a cardholder will accidentally use his or her card for a non-eligible item, and occasionally the transaction will go through. It may happen to you somewhere down the road.
If it does, don't be overly concerned, but do contact your plan administrator as soon as you become aware of the mistake. Your plan administrator will tell you how to reimburse your account for the ineligible item.
What if there's not enough money in my account? In most cases, the transaction will simply be denied. You'll have to pay for the product or service yourself and submit the receipt, along with a claim form, as described in your plan document. You'll then be reimbursed for any eligible expenses with whatever is left in your account.
TIP: You'll be able to view your account balances online. Check with your plan administrator for your cardholder web address.
Do I need the receipts?
Possibly - so please save all of your itemized receipts! For some expenses, your plan administrator may need additional information, including receipts, to verify eligibility of the expense and comply with IRS rules. That's why it's important for you to save all these receipts, and fax or mail them in promptly when your plan administrator asks for them.
If you don't comply, your plan administrator will be forced to declare those expenses ineligible...and you'll have to reimburse your account. If you fail to do so, you could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of your account and lose access to your benefits debit card.
TIP: To protect your account's tax-exempt status and comply with IRS rules, your plan administrator may sometimes have to see your receipts.