LANSING -- Thousands of Michigan families who rely on food assistance from the state got a New Years surprise this week when they tried to swipe their Bridge card at the checkout. The money for January hadn't come in for some 85,000 recipients. The Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) said a human error prevent account numbers ending in '0' from being properly loaded.
Bridge cards work like debit cards. They’re loaded with money - about $540 for the average family - each month.
"It didn't happen to me, but I can see other people in dire need of food and stuff, and they come up here and try to use their card and it don't work, it's not right,” Bridge card user Don Saunders said.
DTMB officials said more than half of the affected accounts were correctly loaded as of Friday afternoon, and that they expect all accounts to be fixed by day's end.
In a statement issued Thursday...a spokesman said, "DTMB regrets that this problem occurred, and will be working to ensure that safeguards are put in place to prevent a similar error in the future."
If you're having trouble with your card you can call 888-678-8914 for updates.
