Middle Class Tax Refund: What is Money Network and why did California hire them for debit cards?

>> DEBIT CARDS DRAINED OF CASH. >> SHE CHECKS HER BALANCE ONLINE AND THAT IS TOTALLY DEPLETED. >> ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT HAS ZERO BALANCE. I KNOW I HAD MONEY ON THERE. REPORTER: CALIFORNIANS BEING TAXED ON MONEY THEY HAVE YET TO RECEIVE. >> I SAID TO MYSELF, YOU KNOW, THIS IS CRAZY. I’M NOT GOING TO CLAIM THAT I GOT $700 WHEN I DIDN’T, AND HAVE TO PAY TAXES ON IT. REPORTER: AND CUSTOMER SERVICE STALLED. >> I WAS JUST HITTING ROADBLOCKS. REPORTER: DEBIT CARDS FOR GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM’S MIDDLE CLASS TAX REFUND STARTED GOING OUT BACK IN OCTOBER QUICKLY FOLLOWED BY PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS TO KCRA 3 FROM CALIFORNIANS TRYING TO GET ANSWERS. THE FRANCHISE TAX BOARD HANDLES THE MIDDLE CLASS TAX REFUND. BUT WHEN PEOPLE CALL THE FTB FOR HELP. >> THANK YOU FOR CALLING. REPORTER: THE BOARD REFERS THEM TO MONEY NETWORK FINANCIAL, LLC, THE CONTRACTORS HANDLING THE PAYMENTS. >> MONEY NETWORK? WHAT THE HECK IS MONEY NETWORK? IT JUST DIDN’T LOOK RIGHT. REPORTER: SO, WHO IS MONEY NETWORK, AND WHY IS THIS OUT OF STATE COMPANY IN CHARGE OF PROCESSING AND MAILING CALIFORNIA’S TAX REFUNDS? WE CALLED MONEY NETWORK TO FIND OUT MORE, BUT FACED THE SAME ROADBLOCKS FOR ANSWERS, SO WE DID SOME DIGGING, AND FOUND A LOT OF THREADS TO FOLLOW. MONEY NETWORK IS OWNED BY A COMPANY CALLED FISERV, INC. FISERV IS NOT A BANK. THIS MEANS FISERV AND MONEY NETWORK ARE NOT REGULATED BY ANY OF THE FEDERAL BANKING REGULATORS, ACCORDING TO OUR GOVERNMENT SOURCES. THIS IS WHY THEY USE MY BANKING DIRECT, A SERVICE OF NEW YORK COMMUNITY BANK, WHICH IS OVERSEEN BY FEDERAL BANKING REGULATORS. BUT, WE FOUND, NEW YORK COMMUNITY BANK IS INACTIVE. THEY MERGED WITH FLAGSTAR BANK, N.A., WHICH IS A REGULATED INSTITUTION. ACCORDING TO THE FRANCHISE TAX BOARD, THE BIDDING PROCESS WAS DONE AS AN INVITATION TO NEGOTIATE, DUE TO THE TIMEFRAME REQUIRED TO ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM. 21 ENTITIES EXPRESSED INTEREST AND ULTIMATELY FIVE SUBMITTED BIDS. ACCORDING TO STATE OFFICIALS, MONEY NETWORK WAS THE ONLY BIDDER THAT COMMITTED TO THE PUTTING SECURITY CHIPS ON THE DEBIT CARDS. BUT BECAUSE OF SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, MONEY NETWORK COULDN’T FULFILL THAT PORTION OF THE CONTRACT, SO IT WAS LIFTED FOR SOME OF THE CARDS THOUGH NO ONE COULD TELL US JUST HOW MANY. MOST OF THE VIEWERS WE’VE HEARD FROM WITH ISSUES ARE ONES WITH THOSE CHIPLESS CARDS. ASSEMBLYMAN PATTERSON SITS ON THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE AUDIT COMMITTEE, WHICH IS CALLING FOR A REVIEW OF THE INFLATION RELIEF PROGRAM. >> WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AS SIMPLE AS A TAX REBATE TURNED INTO REALLY SOMETHING THAT IS MORE TROUBLE THAN IT’S WORTH FOR AN AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE. >> I’M JUST WONDERING WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION IS DOING. REPORTER: A SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GOVERNOR TOLD US, IN PART, WE’RE TAKING ANY ISSUES PEOPLE ARE HAVING ACCESSING THEIR REFUNDS SERIOUSLY AND WORKING WITH FTB AND THEIR VENDOR TO QUICKLY RESOLVE THOSE ISSUES. >> WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OUR MONEY? REPORTER: BRITTANY JOHNSON KCRA 3 INVESTIGATES. GULSTAN: THIS IS THE FIRST WE CAN FIND RECORD OF THAT MONEY NETWORK HAS BEEN USED BY THE FRANCHISE TAX BOARD. AS FOR FISERV, THE STATE TREASURER’S OFFICE HAS USED THE COMPANY NUMEROUS TIMES, DATING BACK TO AT LEAST 2015. KCRA DID REACH OUT TO FISERV. THE COMPANY DECLINED TO COMMENT FOR THIS STORY AND TURNED DOWN

California’s Middle Class Tax Refund was supposed to bring some relief to families trying to fill up their gas tank and put food on the table. Still, for many, the refund money has been more of a headache, and trying to get help from the company issuing the funds has been a luck of the draw. The Middle Class Tax Refund (MCTR) is a multi-billion-dollar program approved by state lawmakers and the governor, which was meant to provide payments to taxpayers based on family size and income in response to rising gas prices and inflation.The first round of payments were issued to Californians last October.Shortly after payments went out, KCRA 3 Investigates started receiving countless phone calls and emails from Californians up and down the state who reported various issues, including debit cards being drained of funds and not receiving payments.California’s Franchise Tax Board hired Money Network Financial, LLC to distribute the payments.Many people who contacted Investigative Reporter Brittany Johnson said that when they reach out to the FTB for help, they’re told to call Money Network.”What the heck is Money Network? It just didn’t look right,” said one of them, Kathleen O’Rourke.O’Rourke said when she received her MCTR she “thought it was a scam” because she had never heard of the company and had never done any business with them.Vinesh Maharaj also turned to KCRA 3 Investigates after he “hit roadblocks” with Money Network and couldn’t get answers on his claim.”Do you know what Money Network is?” Johnson asked.”Not really,” Maharaj replied. “They’re just a debit card company, I guess.” What is Money Network?What is Money Network and why was this out-of-state company chosen to process and mail California’s tax refunds?Stick with us. There’s a lot to untangle.Money Network Financial, LLC, is owned by Fiserv, Inc.Money Network was acquired by First Data Resources, which is a payment service company originally based in Omaha, Nebraska.Does Omaha, Nebraska ring a bell? If so, that’s because it is listed as the mailing address on the envelope your refund debit card came in.In 2019, First Data Resources was acquired by — you guessed it — Fiserv.So, the lead, over-arching company in charge of your MCTR is Fiserv. Fiserv is not a bank, which means that Fiserv and Money Network are not regulated by any of the federal banking regulators, according to our government sources.This is why they use My Banking Direct, a service of New York Community Bank to issue the debit cards.We found that New York Community Bank is inactive and it merged with Flagstar Bank, which is a regulated institution. How and why was Money Network hired by the state?We reached out to the Franchise Tax Board and asked for copies of the Request for Proposals and Request for Qualifications that were used to elicit a response from potential vendors in relation to the Middle Class Tax Refund.A spokesperson for the FTB said there were “no Request for Proposals or Request for Qualifications for this bidding process. The solicitation was done as an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) due to the timeframe required to administer the program.”According to the FTB, 21 entities expressed interest in the Middle Class Tax Refund program, and five ended up submitting a bid.The following companies participated in the bidding process:FIS GlobalUSIOMoney NetworkGroup OConduent Government SolutionsAlso of note from the FTB, the state distributed previous refunds by direct deposit and checks. “However, for MCTR if we had relied on issuing direct deposits and checks, we would have completed the MCTR program in late summer this year due to limitations of the state financial systems,” a spokesperson told KCRA 3 via email. “Many felt this was unacceptable and we agreed. The State pivoted to considering the use of debit cards.”According to the FTB, Money Network was chosen because it was the only bidder that stated it could put security chips on all of the debit cards.KCRA 3 has previously reported that some Californians received debit cards without security chips. Most of the viewers we heard from with issues have been ones who have a debit card with no security chip.The FTB told us that “due to supply chain issues” it was impossible to issue chipped cards to all recipients. KCRA 3 reached out to Fiserv, the company that owns Money Network, for comment on this report and to get questions answered for our viewers. Fiserv declined our interview request, didn’t provide a statement and referred us back to the Franchise Tax Board.We also reached out to the governor for comment. A spokesperson emailed the following statement: “The Governor is proud of the more than $9 billion that has been refunded to Californians so far, helping millions of families across the state with the ongoing impacts of high inflation. We’re taking any issues people are having accessing their refunds seriously and working with FTB and their vendor to quickly resolve those issues.”Assemblyman David Alvarez, the Democratic chairman of the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee, has said he will pursue a state audit of the FTB’s handling of the payments. Alvarez said he and other lawmakers are concerned about issues reported by their constituents and a lack of responsiveness from FTB.ResourcesAccording to the Franchise Tax Board, if you are experiencing issues with your MCTR, you are to call Money Network customer service at 800-542-9332. Learn more on this help page of the FTB’s website. Related Coverage of the Middle Class Tax RefundRep. 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