Ward Debit Card

Hello, I am in a YSA ward and I am the Ward Clerk, and a question came up during bishopric meeting about about having a ward debit card or prepaid card. The reason for this is the bishop and his counselors don't want ward members tying up a lot of their money while waiting for a reimbursement check. If a ward debit card is allowed then how would we go about obtaining one?

I wouldn't expect debit cards to become available. However, there is already a possible solution to the problem of young ward members using their own money and waiting to be reimbursed. You may cut a check in advance for an expense and then, after the transaction happens, the person will return any unused funds (a.k.a. bring back the change) and the appropriate receipts for the expense. This is an example of a time when you may deposit money back into the budget.

Alright thank you.

bodilybr3 wrote:about about having a ward debit card or prepaid card.

I'm pretty sure such things are not permitted. Remember, the bishop has to approve all expenses. That gets a lot harder if there's a card floating around.

Handbook 1 doesn't spell that out all that clearly. So, I'd check the audit questions, as I'd expect that to be an audit exception.

bodilybr3 wrote:. . . the bishop and his counselors don't want ward members tying up a lot of their money while waiting for a reimbursement check.

Normally, they would only have to wait until the next Sunday. And if they had and used a personal credit card, they would be reimbursed before they even saw their credit card bill.

lajackson wrote:And if they had and used a personal credit card,

True, but being YSA, I suspect many use debit cards. A completely different kettle of fish.

russellhltn wrote:I suspect many use debit cards. A completely different kettle of fish.

Agreed. No chips. (Pun intended.)

Still, buy on Thursday, check on Sunday, money back in the bank on Monday. Most can live with that.

As a YSA, I've needed to make purchases for the ward but haven't had enough money in my account. I frequently run under 50–100 dollars in my savings. At other times, I've paid my rent on a Friday and hoped they didn't cash the check until Monday because I wasn't going to get reimbursed for something until Sunday. Usually when I'm in that situation I take someone else in my committee or another ward council member with me and split the cost. Having a card would be nice, but I could see it being abused.