Social Security Is Switching Debit Cards for 3.6 Million Recipients
If you receive Social Security or SSI benefits through a Direct Express debit card, a change is coming. The Treasury Department is replacing Comerica Bank with Fifth Third Bank as the financial agent for the program. New enrollees are already receiving Fifth Third Bank cards. Current cardholders — roughly 3.6 million people — will begin receiving new cards later this year or early next year.
Your current card keeps working until the transition happens. Benefits arrive on the same schedule. The new card functions identically — same program, same access, different bank. You'll be notified before anything changes.
The One Thing to Do Right Now
If you've moved recently, update your address with the Social Security Administration before your new card ships. If SSA has an old address on file, your card could end up somewhere you no longer live. Update your contact information at ssa.gov or by calling 1-800-772-1213.
Paper Checks Are Going Away Too
This card transition is happening alongside a bigger shift — SSA plans to move all beneficiaries to electronic payments by the end of 2026. The roughly 1% of recipients still getting paper checks need to switch to direct deposit or a Direct Express card before that deadline. Paper checks cost the government roughly $1.22 each to issue. An electronic payment costs about a penny. For a program sending tens of millions of payments monthly, that math drives the change — along with the fact that paper checks are far more vulnerable to theft and mail fraud than electronic transfers.
Why Comerica Is Actually Out
This is the part of the story that most coverage skips over — and it matters.
Comerica has managed the Direct Express program since 2008. Over the years the program became a source of serious, documented complaints from some of the most vulnerable Americans — elderly recipients, people with disabilities, veterans, and others who depend on federal benefits as their primary income and have no traditional bank account.
In December 2024 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Comerica, accusing the bank of systematically failing its 3.4 million cardholders. The CFPB's complaint alleged Comerica and its vendors intentionally disconnected nearly 25 million customer service calls while people were on hold — leaving cardholders unable to report fraud, dispute charges, or get replacement cards for what were often hours-long wait times. The agency also alleged Comerica charged illegal ATM fees to more than one million cardholders who were legally entitled to free withdrawals, and failed to properly investigate fraud complaints.
"The CFPB is suing Comerica Bank for illegally harming disabled and older Americans who count on Social Security and other federal benefits," then-CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said at the time.
The case had a complicated ending. The CFPB dismissed the lawsuit in April 2025, with a spokesperson saying the agency was "doing its due diligence to work with the bank" — a dismissal that came amid the Trump administration's broader rollback of CFPB enforcement activity. The case was dropped without any penalty or settlement.
But Comerica was already out. The Treasury Department had informed the bank in July 2024 that it would not be renewing its contract, which expired January 2, 2025. The transition to Fifth Third Bank was already in motion before the lawsuit was even filed.
Whether Fifth Third Bank handles the program better than Comerica did is the question 3.6 million cardholders are now waiting to find out.
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