NY unemployment deposits missing from keycard I just received - why is it empty?

There's usually a 1-2 business day delay after activation before funds appear on a new keycard. Have you checked your payment history in your online NY.gov account? If it shows 'paid' status but no money on the card, give it until tomorrow. If your online status shows 'pending' then the payments haven't actually been released yet.

When did u certify for those weeks? Sometimes it says paid online but takes 3-4 business days to hit the card. Also check if they sent the money to a different payment method maybe? Like direct deposit if u had that set up before?

omg same thing happened to me last month! turned out they were depositing to my old bank account from like 2 years ago that I completely forgot about. check your payment method in your account settings.

This is actually a common issue with new keycards. Here are some things to check: 1. Make sure you're checking the balance through the official KeyBank portal or phone number on the back of the card, not a third-party ATM 2. Verify in your NY.gov account under 'Payment Method' that 'Debit Card' is selected (sounds like you already did this) 3. Check under 'Payment History' that the payments show 'Direct Deposit/Debit Card' as the payment method and not 'Check' 4. Call the KeyBank customer service number on the back of your card to confirm the card is properly activated and linked to your claim If everything checks out, the most likely scenario is just a processing delay. April 2025 is month-end processing time for NYSDOL which sometimes causes 1-2 day delays.

The NYSDOL system is ALWAYS messing up something!! I had the opposite problem - got approved for benefits last month but didnt get my card for 3 WEEKS while my money just sat there! Had to borrow from family to pay bills. The system is designed to make everything as difficult as possible!!

If you need to speak with someone at NYSDOL directly about this, I'd recommend using Claimyr. I was having a similar issue with my payments and spent days trying to get through on the phone with no luck. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes. The agent was able to see exactly what was happening with my payments and fixed the issue while I was on the call. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE - definitely worth it when you're dealing with rent deadlines.

have you tried calling keybank directly? sometimes they put a hold on the card for security reasons especially if its a new card

Another possibility is that your funds were sent to a closed account if you previously had unemployment benefits on a different card. When was the last time you received unemployment benefits in NY?

I just wanted to follow up - were you able to resolve this issue? Based on your situation, it sounds like either: 1. A standard processing delay (most likely) 2. A hold on the new card by KeyBank 3. A payment method discrepancy in the system If calling KeyBank didn't resolve it, you should definitely contact NYSDOL directly as they can verify exactly where the payments were sent. This situation is fairly common with new cards.

Glad to hear you got it resolved! This is exactly why I always recommend calling KeyBank first when there are issues with new unemployment cards. They put security holds on probably 50% of new activations, especially for larger amounts like yours. For anyone else reading this thread with similar issues - the KeyBank number is usually much easier to get through to than NYSDOL, and they can resolve card-specific problems immediately. Thanks for updating us with the solution!