Benefits Of A Paycard Program

3/25/2026

Employers can reap benefits by implementing a paycard program. Some of these include:

• Cost savings of paycards, direct deposit, and plain paper paystubs as opposed to processing paper check stock
• Combined with a direct deposit program, the payment of wages becomes virtually paperless
• Can reduce check fraud
• Can reduce escheat issues
• Reduces the need of employees to take time from work to cash checks
• Reduces lost checks
• Benefit for Human Resources to use in recruitment
• Can help get immediate payment to terminating employees in locations other than where payroll resides

Of these benefits, let’s focus in on cost savings. It is estimated that employers using paycards have saved approximately $114.4 million in payroll costs. The cost to an employer to process a payroll check is between $1.00 and $2.00 per check. The cost to the same employer for a direct deposit transaction is approximately $.20 cents. Issuing paycards cost somewhere between the $.20 cents to $1.00 per card.

The savings come not only from the reduced costs that are associated with handing and distributing payroll checks but also the cost of reprocessing lost or stolen checks. These can cost employers from $10.00 to $12.00 to replace. But with paycards, this replacement cost is almost completely eliminated. (For more detailed information regarding electronic paycard costs and benefits refer to the APA’s "The Guide to Successful Direct Deposit").

There are employee benefits as well. These include:

• Ease of use
• 24/7 access to funds via ATM system
• Automatic bill pay options may be available
• No longer required to retain large amounts of cash on their person or their premises
• May be able to regain credit worthy status if currently unbanked