MasterCard is to implement the DirectExpress debit card for retirees, the disabled and others who receive Social Security and other benefits in Connecticut, 12 other states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 2.4 million Social Security recipients in this area are about to receive information on the new card with their monthly cheques in July.

The programme has already been adopted by 24,000 citizens in 10 southern and southeastern US states since April.

Nearly 18 percent of the 7.8 million Connecticut residents who receive such benefits are paid by cheque. This represents 119,000 cheques in Connecticut. Many of those people have no bank account, and many cheques are lost, or are cashed through cheque-cashing agencies that charge high fees. DirectExpress debit card can be used to access money deposited at Comerica Bank. Apart from Connecticut, the new card is to be made available in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.