Title II and Title XVI debtors have the option of using their MasterCard, Discover,
Visa, American Express, and Diners Club (brand) credit cards as a method of repaying
an overpayment. SSA cannot accept credit card payments to pay Medicare premiums or
CMS lockbox payments.
SSA informs overpaid Title II and Title XVI beneficiaries or recipients of their overpayment
by a variety of overpayment notices, which provide the credit card payment option:
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•
Initial overpayment notices, which contain a payment coupon with the credit card payment
option;
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•
Treasury Offset Program (TOP) pre-offset notices and mandatory cross-program recovery
notices, each bearing a payment coupon with the credit card payment option, and
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•
Monthly bill (if applicable), which contains a payment coupon bearing the credit card
payment option.
In addition, employers to whom we send notification under the AWG program receive
in their package of materials a payment coupon, which offers the credit card payment
option. If the employer opts to pay in person in the FO by credit card, he or she
must enter the credit card number of the card they are using and sign the coupon (or
SSA-4588-OP (You Can Make Your Payment by Credit Card) if they do not have the coupon
with them). Follow the procedures in GN 02403.006E in this section.
NOTE: We accept the Diners Club Card only if it processes as a MasterCard or Discover transaction.
Acceptable Diners Club Cards should have the MasterCard or Discover Card logo present
on the card and meet the numerical requirements (See chart in GN 02210.205B.1).
While we designed the credit card process for debtor or Program Service Center (PSC)
handling, debtors may bring the Form SSA-4588-OP into the FO. When FOs enter the credit
card payment amount into DMS, the system will produce a receipt along with a payment
coupon. The debtor should complete the credit authorization information on the coupon;
the FO will forward it to the MATPSC. You may return the SSA-4588-OP to the remitter
or destroy it if the remitter does not want it.
FOs may also provide the toll-free phone number of the PSC of jurisdiction so the
Debtor Contact Unit (DCU) can complete the transaction by phone. For a list of PSC
phone numbers and SSN jurisdiction, see GN 02403.006G in this section. FOs will not process the credit card transactions because only MATPSC
has the software to accept and transmit this information to the vendor bank.