What is a payment card?
A payment card is like a bank or debit card. East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership or East Lothian Councl will put the amount agreed for your four-weekly Direct Payment on to it every four weeks. Other sources can also put money into this account.
It works like a debit card and has an online user-account - just like an online bank account. You can use the card:
- for bank transfers
- for BACS transfers
- for Direct Debits
- for Standing Orders
- online
- over the phone.
Each card is protected by a Personal Identity Number (PIN) like your debit or credit card. It's not a credit cared - you can only spend what's on the card. You cannot withdraw cash with it. You can't pay by cheque with it. There is no contactless facility on it.
Who are these cards for?
They are for anyone using Direct Payments from East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership or East Lothian Council. The person who is responsible for the Direct Payment signs an Agreement From so that they can receive a Direct Payment.
The Agreement sets out what they are responsible for when they choose Direct Payments and agree to manage them. This includes being issued with a Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) payment card.
We will send the responsible person's name, address and date of birth to PFS. PFS will then send the card back to them with clear and simple instructions about what to do next. Find out more about PFS.
Why change to a payment card?
With more people using Direct Payment, we need to put better, more efficient monitoring in place. The payment care will mean that no one will have to make quarterly submissions any more and you will be able to check your balance online at any time. There will no longer be any need for people to open special bank accounts for Direct Payments, so it will be much quicker to set Direct Payments up.
Further information
You might find these publications useful:
- A Helpful Guide to Direct Payments
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about payment cards
- New Agreement Form
You can also phone our Contact Centre on 01875 824309 and the Contact Centre staff will put you in touch with the Direct Payments Team.
Privacy notice
Your personal information will not be transferred outside of the EU, with the exception of those customers using prepaid cards to manage self-directed support option 1 (direct payments). The supplier of this service uses third party processors based in the USA. East Lothian Council has inserted a clause into its contract that obligates the supplier to bind the sub-processor to maintain GDPR-level data protection practices.
Data protection
East Lothian Council uses the personal data you provide for purposes associated with the delivery of our services.Personal data will be retained in line with East Lothian Council retention policies. In case of any enquiries please contact:
Data Protection Officer, East Lothian Council, John Muir House, Brewery Park, Haddington, East Lothian EH41 3HA.
Email: dpo@eastlothian.gov.uk