The California Employment Development Department (EDD) recently announced a significant change in its payment disbursement policy. Following extensive fraud cases estimated to a loss of nearly $20 billion since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EDD has decided to cease its collaboration with Bank of America. In place of the banking giant, the department will now be teaming up with Money Network for delivering payments.

This new partnership expects to present a more secure transaction process, as Money Network will be issuing new prepaid debit cards equipped with microchips. The aim of this initiative is to reduce the chances of fraudulent activities. It introduces an additional security measure, making it harder for fraudulent individuals to access these payments.

In relation to this development, there are also resources like eddcaller.com that assist people in directly getting through to a representative for unemployment, paid family leave, and disability departments by phone. This type of service can be beneficial for individuals seeking guidance or experiencing issues in the new payment system transition.