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In February 2014, D.C. purchased a subscription to The Fraud Navigator. The Fraud Navigator is a service, established by FIS tm Government solutions to specifically address the requirements of Section 4004 of the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. It allows the D.C.’s EBT provider to block transaction(s) at specific establishments based on the Merchant Category code, as well as specific ATM terminals. The contract modification was executed on April 15, 2014 and D.C. began blocking all merchant codes associated with businesses subject to this legislation on May 30, 2014. D.C. worked with FIS to identify applicable businesses and block the transactions. The methodology was tested by FIS and is also being utilized in several other states. D.C. is using the Fraud Navigator to block transactions at liquor stores, casinos and places for adult entertainment. It also allows D.C. to track activity and patterns, which should further reduce public assistance fraud. FIS provides a report of all blocked transactions to D.C. on a monthly basis.
D.C. has implemented the following policies to ensure access to benefits for all TANF customers:
• D.C. uses the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system in place of the paper-based welfare benefits issuance system. EBT allows TANF customers to access their benefits through automatic teller machines (ATM) and point-of-sale devices to electronically deliver cash assistance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits throughout each Ward of D.C. There are eight (8) Wards in D.C. The entire city is linked by public transportation and each Ward has commercial banking establishments where funds can be accessed. DHS is able to review both the blocked transactions as well as the executed transactions. Should the blocked transactions become proportionally high (over 5% of the total transactions) D.C. will review access.
• D.C. covers the cost of any access charges and fees, thus making benefits easily accessible with no transactional costs. TANF customers are notified of the