#2Author of original report
Mon, November 16, 2015
Direct Express debt card does not work for Expats! It seems like a good idea but beware. Two years ago I tried the Direct Express method of receiving Social Security benefits. It was a disaster! irect Express works with Comerica Bank. They changed my direct deposit four days after I opened the account. That meant that my money went into a bank account that I had no access to at all; no card had come in any way and Comerica account can not be accessed online. So I was left penniless for two months while we sorted out the mess.
As foolish as it sounds, I recently tried another go at Direct Express. The result was even worse. They agreed to send the new card via UPS. UPS got my card switched with another Expat living in Phenom Phen. It took two days to sort that out with UPS. Then I activated the new card by calling Direct Express. Then, curious about why my Social Sec payments were not being diverted from my stateside account, I visited the Direct Express website again, which by the way looks like it was put together by a ten year old! (the first thing you see after login is a banner for PayPerks a lottery) and there was two account numbers listed, not one! I called and the moron on the other end immediately CANCELLED the card that I was holding in my hand and ready to use, saying, "your new card has been mailed to you in regular US mail." I told her that I would never see that card and asked for a reason to cancel a perfectly good card that I held. She hung up on me.
Most of us know that Stateside mail to Cambodia is deplorable at best. There are many comments to that subject on this blog. So don't be fooled. Direct Express is not geared up to handle accounts for people living outside the US. Its website is childish and the only way to contact Direct Express is by phone and the people on the other end have zero training in customer service. I was told by one of them, "These Social Security accounts are too small to give much attention to."