Liberty Tax Deep Blue Debit Card Refund Delays - Anyone Received Theirs?

Those third-party debit cards are notorious for delays. According to the Liberty Tax website (just checked), they claim 21 days for processing but that's just the IRS side. The Deep Blue card has an additional processing time that isn't clearly disclosed. IRS.gov shows that direct deposit to your own bank account is still the fastest option by 5-7 days on average compared to prepaid cards. The Liberty Tax arrangement with Meta Bank (who issues the Deep Blue card) creates an extra processing layer.

I used Liberty last year with their card. Absolute nightmare. Called their customer service 14 times and got nowhere. Finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to reach an actual IRS agent who confirmed my refund was already sent to Liberty's processing partner five days earlier. The card company was holding it. Once I had proof from the IRS agent, Liberty suddenly "found" my refund and loaded it the next day. Worth the fee to skip their useless hold music.

I've used the Deep Blue card twice now. Think of it like a funnel with a filter - your money has to pass through extra steps. First the IRS processes your return, then they send it to Liberty, then Liberty routes it to Meta Bank, then Meta Bank loads it to your card. It's like ordering something online that has to go through three different shipping companies before it reaches you. My refund this year took exactly 9 days longer than my wife's, and she just used direct deposit to our regular checking account.

OMG dealing w/ same issue rn. Been waiting 4 weeks since acceptance! Finally found taxr.ai online (https://www.taxr.ai) & uploaded my transcript - turns out my refund was sent to Liberty 6 days ago but hasn't been loaded to my card yet! The tool showed exactly which code meant the $ was already sent. Now I know it's not the IRS but Liberty/Deep Blue holding things up. Gonna call them tmrw with this info.

WARNING: Check the fee schedule on that Deep Blue card! They charged me $4.95 for EACH ATM withdrawal last year, plus there's a monthly fee if you don't use it regularly. I thought I was getting my full refund but ended up losing almost $30 to fees before I transferred everything off the card. The "convenience" wasn't worth it. And their customer service is absolutely useless when there are problems.

I got mine yesterday. Filed March 15. Accepted same day. Refund hit Deep Blue card April 11. Exactly 27 days total. No issues with the card. Used it at Target already. ATM withdrawal worked fine too. Just had to pay the fee. Your timeline might be similar. Check your IRS transcript for code 846. That's the release date.

The Deep Blue card is consistently 5-7 business days slower than direct deposit in my experience. Have you checked your tax transcript on the IRS website? That will tell you if the refund has been issued yet. If it shows code 846, your money has left the IRS and is in Liberty's processing system. What date did you file? What's your current WMR status? Have you received any emails from Liberty about your refund?

I'm in the same boat waiting on my Deep Blue card to be funded. Filed March 21st and still nothing. WMR shows approved but no deposit. Why do we put ourselves through this every year? The Liberty Tax rep told me "it's still within normal timeframes" but couldn't give me any specific date. Does anyone know if calling the card's customer service is any more helpful than calling Liberty?

Next year skip the middleman and just file yourself! 😂 I used to go to Liberty but now I just use FreeTaxUSA and have my refund direct deposited to my regular checking account. Saved the $300+ preparation fee AND got my refund a week faster. The software walks you through everything just like a tax preparer would, and you don't have to deal with these prepaid card headaches.