Before You Begin Enrollment

Before you begin…

You will need the following information for each payment you wish to enroll. You will need to complete a separate enrollment for each payment you are signing up.

Benefit Recipient's Social Security Number

The benefit recipient's own personal SSN should always be used on the enrollment. The recipient's own SSN may or may not be the SSN on which the benefits are drawn. However, the individual recipient's SSN will always be included on the enrollment record. In cases such as minor children, the SSN will always be the CHILD's SSN and not that of the adult account holder (representative payee) who is also named on the benefit check and the financial institution's records.

In no case is the representative payee's SSN ever used on the enrollment.

Some documents indicate that the recipient's claim number may be used in place of the SSN on an enrollment. This is not correct. The enrollment should always use the benefit recipient's SSN - Agency claim number formats do not fit into the Go Direct® online enrollment record.

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Claim Number or Check Number

Notice: You must have one of these two numbers for each payment you are intending to enroll. Without this information, you will not be able to complete the enrollment. If you do not have this information, we recommend that you wait until you receive your next payment in the mail, obtain that check number and then complete the enrollment.

Check Number

The check number is found in the upper right hand corner of your Federal benefit check.It is 12-digits long. It will be 4 numbers a space and then 8 numbers.

Claim Number

A claim number or payee-id is the number assigned by the paying agency to track the benefit recipient. A claim number generally consists of 8-10 numbers, and may include one or more letters. The claim number is not on the recipient's check, but can be found on correspondence or other documentation issued from the paying agency to the recipient.

Sample Claim Number formats: 123456789A, 123456789D, 123456789C3

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Names and Address Information

In all cases, the enrollment is for the benefit recipient and not a representative payee. The benefit recipient's name will always be included on the enrollment. If applicable, the representative's name will be entered for administrative tracking purposes, but it should never be used as the benefit recipient name. There are separate entry forms for a single benefit recipient (no representative payee) and a payee who has a representative.

The name(s) must match the federal paying agency's records. Therefore, the name should be entered on the enrollment record exactly as it appears on the benefit payment check.

First name is the recipient's first name spelled exactly as it appears on the federal benefit check being enrolled.

Middle initial or name is the recipient's middle name or initial if one appears on the federal benefit check.

Last name is the recipient's last name excluding any suffixes such as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc. If the last name is hyphenated, the fully hyphenated name is submitted. If the last name is comprised of two or more parts, generally, the first and second part is sent as the last name (i.e. Maryanne S Public Doe). The last name would be submitted as 'PUBLIC DOE'.

The Recipient's name should always be submitted exactly as the Recipient's name appears on the check. Therefore, incorrectly spelled or spaced items should be submitted EXACTLY as it appears on the check, and not as it is legally spelled or as it appears on a financial institution's internal records.

Example: Janie Ann Dough is trying to enroll; however, while her driver's license and banking accounts read Janie Ann Dough as her legal name, her benefit check is printed Jane E A Doe. Even though this is totally incorrect, the enrollment must be submitted as first name JANE and last name DOE.

All address line information must be entered exactly - in order - as it appears on the federal benefit checks.

In Care Of (C/O) Designations

An in care of designator does not mean the person the check is 'in care of' is the representative payee. In care of is only used for US Postal mailing purposes. In this instance, the benefit recipient is the person whose name appears first on the check and they must be the customer who enrolls their payment.

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Payment Amount

You will need to provide the exact dollar amount of your most recent monthly benefit payment. If you are just beginning to receive benefits, or have received a lump-sum payment, you may need to enter that amount, or the amount of your monthly award. If you have not yet received a monthly check, you will not be able to enroll at this time.

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Bank Account and Routing Number

You will need your financial institution's routing number to setup direct deposit. The Routing Number electronically identifies your bank. You can obtain this information from different places depending on the type of account you'd like to use for direct deposit.

Checking Account You can find your bank's routing number and your account number on your checks.

Savings Account You can usually find your account number on your statement or passbook.

If you have a checking account at the same bank where your saving account is held, you may use the routing number from the bottom of your personal check. The routing number will be the same for both a checking and savings account. Or you may have to call your bank or credit union and ask for the routing number.

Investment Account Call your investment company. Ask for the routing number and account number for direct deposit.

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