H-E-B Offers Free Stimulus Check Cashing

In the spirit of Texans helping Texans, H-E-B is offering easy, affordable ways for people who lack traditional bank accounts to obtain funds from their federal government stimulus checks. The San Antonio-based retailer is providing free check cashing of stimulus checks in all of its in-store business centers and is also waiving select fees for the H-E-B Prepaid Mastercard.

The free service only applies to U.S. Treasury-issued paper checks specific to economic impact payments. Additional checks may also be cashed via H-E-B’s everyday low price check-cashing services.

David Rogers, president of Northbrook, Ill.-based DSR Marketing Systems Inc., commended the move by H-E-B as being savvy and beneficial for its customers, many of whom reflect a reality that he said is seldom discussed in the media—“that many, if not most Americans, live paycheck to paycheck.” That reality will only intensify “as we head into a recession that I believe will continue throughout 2021,” Rogers predicted.

“This is a very well-timed strike against the dollar stores and Walmart,” both of which blanket Texas’s retail landscape, said Rogers. The free stimulus check-cashing service is a “very smart move that will also enable H-E-B to attract traffic to stores” with a ready-made way “to help them really build their business when people have immediate access to their stimulus funds.”

For customers wishing to manage finances electronically, H-E-B has also waived the card purchase fee and 60 days of monthly plan fees for its prepaid cards that are purchased between April 1 and May 31. H-E-B’s prepaid cards allow customers to set up direct deposit with a routing and account number in order to provide faster access to economic stimulus funds, income tax returns, unemployment benefits, Social Security benefits and wages.

The H-E-B prepaid card also offers fee-free reloads. Customers receiving paper checks can use the H-E-B prepaid mobile app to add funds remotely using their mobile device.