A proposal to pay Americans $2,000 a month includes solutions for people without bank accounts: Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, and prepaid debit cards

• House Democrats unveiled a plan for monthly $2,000 stimulus payments to Americans this week.
• Those monthly stipends, which would be sent out until the economy recovers, could be sent electronically, through banks, or via tools like Venmo, they said.
• That could help the tens of millions of Americans who dont use banks avoid check-cashing services.
• The proposal would be required to pass a House vote before proceeding to the Senate and the White House to ever become law.
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Many Americans began receiving their $1,200 coronavirus stimulus payments from the US government this week, but the process has been anything but streamlined, especially for Americans who don't have access to a bank account.

Amid concerns that the one-time payments would not be enough to sufficiently support the record number of people who have lost their jobs since March - or stimulate demand enough to accelerate the lagging economy - two Democratic lawmakers have unveiled a plan for more direct payments.

Representatives Tim Ryan and Ro Khanna's Emergency Money for the People Act, introduced Tuesday, would authorize the government to send $2,000 every month for at least six months to all US citizens who are 16 or older and make less than $130,000 per year.

But there's another detail in the Democrats' plan that could ease the confusion that has arisen around the Treasury Department's first round of disbursements: electronic payments. Some users reported Wednesday, the first day of the IRS' website to check the status of payments was live, that the agency did not have their banking info for direct deposit, despite paying taxes in 2018 or 2019.

"The Emergency Money for the People Act additionally recognizes that not everyone has a bank or a home address to receive a check," Rep. Khanna said in a press release, "so it allows individuals to get this money through direct deposit, check, pre-paid debit card, or mobile money platforms such as Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal."

That could help ease the load on check-cashing services, many of which charge hefty fees, for the estimated quarter of all US households that are either unbanked or underbanked. It also helps people avoid yet another trip outside their home to risk contracting or further spreading the virus, which had infected more than 610,000 Americans as of Wednesday morning.

Ryan and Khanna's plan follows that of a similar plan by Senate Democrats to provide essential workers, including grocery store workers, nurses and other jobs, with a $25,000 pandemic pay increase. Both proposals would be required to pass a House vote before proceeding to the Senate and the White House to ever become law. The House is not scheduled to convene again until Monday, April 20.

"A one-time, $1,200 check isn't going to cut it," Khanna said. "Americans need sustained cash infusions for the duration of this crisis in order to come out on the other side alive, healthy, and ready to get back to work."

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