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ProBenefits.com Benefits Portal

Flex Card Q & A



Q: What are the benefits of using the Flex Card?     (Back to Top)
A: Top Five Benefits of Using the Flex Card:

  1. Cashless FSA Transactions: The Flex Card provides instant access to FSA funds, reducing out-of-pocket expenditures.
  2. Less Paperwork to Submit: Charges are automatically approved ("autoadjudicated") at many locations where the card is accepted, so in many cases you will only need to save your receipts instead of submitting them to ProBenefits.
  3. Online Account Access: See personal account information including your available balance and transaction history.
  4. Free Cards: There is no fee for cards for you and your spouse or dependent.
  5. Flexibility: You can still file reimbursement claims if you forget your card or choose not to use it.

Q: I swiped my Flex Card yesterday, and I'm logged in to my ProBenefits account online, but I don't see the swipe taken out of my Available Credit yet. Why not?     (Back to Top)
A: It typically takes a few days for a transaction to make its way from the provider through MasterCard and into our systems. Once the transaction is in our system, you will be able to see it as a pending transaction on your account online. The amount will not actually be subtracted from your Available Credit balance until the transaction is approved.>

Q: My provider charged me too much on my Flex Card - what do I do?     (Back to Top)
A: Your provider can credit the amount back to your Flex Card just as they would any other credit or debit card. Please note that it will take a few days for the credit to appear on your account. If the provider chooses to pay you back directly instead of applying a credit to your Flex Card, you may write a check to your employer for the overpayment, and they can let us know to credit the amount back to your account.

Q: I swiped my card for something ineligible. What do I need to do to resolve the transaction and get that money back into my account?     (Back to Top)
A: You can do one of three things at this point:

  1. Offset this charge by submitting documentation for another FSA-eligible expense that was not paid for with your Flex Card and has not otherwise been submitted for reimbursement. Please include a Reimbursement Claim Form with this documentation and note the transaction you'd like to offset in the comments section.
  2. Repay your employer by logging on to www.myRSC.com and making an online payment. In order to do this, the charge must be timed out and showing money due - please let us know if you would like to choose this option and we can manually time out the charge for you.
  3. Repay your employer by writing a personal check payable to your employer. If you repay this amount to your employer, please have your HR department contact your ProBenefits Plan Administrator to have this resolved on your account.


Q: I tried to use my Flex Card and it didn't work. What happened?     (Back to Top)
A: Although most swipes go through without a problem, there are several possible reasons your card might be declined.

  1. Do you have any overdue documentation requests or denied card claims? If so, your card may be blocked until these are cleared up. You can log on to your account here https://online.probenefits.com/common/Login.html to see if you have any Money Due card transactions.
  2. Are you out of funds for the plan year? Log on to your account here: https://online.probenefits.com/common/Login.html to see how much money you have left in your account for the year. Be sure to subtract any unresolved card transactions from the available credit amount.
  3. Did you try to swipe your card for more than $2,000.00 total in one day? For your protection, there is a $2,000.00 daily cap on purchases with your card. If you need to use your card for more than that, please call ProBenefits, and we can temporarily extend that limit to allow your purchase to be completed.
  4. Did you try to swipe your card for Dependent Care expenses? The Flex Card is only intended to be used for medical expenses, not dependent care, so the card will not work at dependent care providers.
  5. Did you try to swipe your card at a pharmacy or retail merchant? The Flex Card will only work at a pharmacy or retail merchant that has an IIAS (Inventory Information Approval System) in place, so if your pharmacy or retailer does not have this system, you will need to file a Reimbursement Claim Form with your out-of-pocket receipt to get reimbursed instead of using your card. However, with nearly 4,000 national, regional and local retailers participating in IIAS, you should be able to use your card successfully at most locations. See a list of participating retailers here: http://www.probenefits.com/Debit/IIAS.html
  6. If you were using your card at an IIAS-participating retailer, it's possible that the items you were attempting to purchase with your Flex Card are not actually eligible, which would prevent the card from being used to purchase them. For example, vitamins, supplements and personal hygiene items are often assumed to be eligible but in reality are not. For examples of eligible expenses, view a list here: http://www.probenefits.com/Participants/Reimbursable-Expenses.html

Please contact ProBenefits if you have any questions!

Q: I thought the Flex Card was paperless - why do I need to save my documentation?     (Back to Top)
A: Unfortunately, the Flex Card is not paperless. Due to IRS regulations, you will occasionally need to submit documentation to ProBenefits for review. In fact, in case of IRS audit, you should keep all documentation related to flexible spending account expenditures, whether we ask for it or not. The major benefit of the card is that it allows for a cashless transaction - that is, you don't have to pay for eligible expenses out of your own pocket and then wait to be reimbursed.

Q: My Flex Card was obviously swiped at a medical care provider - why am I being asked to submit documentation regarding this charge?     (Back to Top)
A: The only information we receive about the charge when you use your Flex Card is the information contained in the documentation request email - location, date and amount. While the charges must be from a valid provider of medical services (the card cannot be used at other locations), many medical, dental and vision service providers can also provide ineligible services. For example, dentists can provide teeth whitening, doctors can provide cosmetic services, and optometrists can sell colored non-prescription contacts. Even if charges are for eligible services, they may still not fulfill all the requirements for reimbursement by the flexible spending account. For example, many times the final billing for services provided by a hospital in December is not sent out until well into the next year. If you use your Flex Card to pay for these charges which have service dates in the prior plan year, it may be an ineligible expenditure if your election is depleted for the prior year, you did not have an election during the prior year, or it is after the deadline for filing claims on the prior year's account. This is why the IRS requires that we have documentation for each charge that does not exactly match the amount and location of your company's insurance copays which we have on file, or was not at a retail merchant with an IIAS in place (http://www.probenefits.com/Debit/IIAS.html).

Q: Do I need to send a Reimbursement Claim Form with my Flex Card documentation?     (Back to Top)
A: No, please do not send a Reimbursement Claim Form with your Flex Card documentation. Instead, please include a copy of the Documentation Request, or just write your name, company name, and transaction number on the documentation. There's a separate fax number just for Flex Card documentation: 800-722-8382.

Q: Why is there a deadline for me to submit documentation for a Flex Card transaction?     (Back to Top)
A: The reason for the deadline on the documentation requirement is that when you swipe the Flex Card, the money is actually being taken out of your employer's account and paid to the vendor at the time of purchase (the funds are not actually counted against your Flexible Spending Account until the transaction is approved as a valid claim). So if you should inadvertently use your card to pay for an ineligible item, it's like taking out a tax-free, interest-free loan from your employer and the IRS. On charges that do not exactly match your employer-sponsored insurance copay amounts and locations, or that were not at a retail merchant with an IIAS in place (http://www.probenefits.com/Debit/IIAS.html), we have no way of knowing for sure that the expense is FSA-eligible if you do not send us documentation. By contrast, when you send in a Reimbursement Claim Form for items you have paid for out-of-pocket, we only reimburse you for items that are FSA-eligible, so your FSA money is never spent on ineligible items. The Flex Card is a way to make using your FSA money easier because you never have to pay out of your own pocket and then wait for reimbursement, but we are still required to follow the IRS guidelines for use of that money.

Q: I filed a Reimbursement Claim Form while I had a Flex Card transaction in Money Due Status, and I didn't get all of my reimbursement. What happened?     (Back to Top)
A: If you submit a Reimbursement Claim while you have a Flex Card transaction in Money Due status, your reimbursement will automatically be used to offset the card transaction. This means that instead of paying out to you, your reimbursement will instead pay back your employer for the Money Due transaction. If you have valid documentation for the transaction, you may still submit it, which will release your reimbursement to be paid out to you on the next payment cycle. Or, if the Flex Card transaction was ineligible, you may leave the offset in place, as if you had written your employer a check to pay back the transaction.

Q: Part of my Dependent Care reimbursement was used to offset a Money Due Flex Card transaction that was for medical expenses. I thought Medical and Dependent Care were two separate buckets - how can this happen?     (Back to Top)
A: Your Medical FSA and your Dependent Care FSA are indeed two separate accounts, and you certainly could not file a claim for child care expenses and be reimbursed from your Medical FSA, or for prescription medication and get reimbursed from your Dependent Care FSA. However, when an offset occurs, it's like we reimbursed you for your claim and then you turned around and wrote a check to your employer from those funds - we just took out the middle step.

Q: I have a Dependent Care account, and I tried to use my Flex Card to pay my child's day care, but it didn't work. Why not?     (Back to Top)
A: The Flex Card is only intended to be used for medical expenses, not dependent care, so the card will not work at dependent care providers. This is due to the IRS regulations governing Flexible Spending Accounts, which indicate that prepayments are not eligible to be reimbursed under an FSA; since dependent care providers almost always require prepayment for the week or the month, the Flex Card cannot be used for these expenses.

Q: Do I have to use the Flex Card to access my Flexible Spending Account?     (Back to Top)
A: No, the card is just one option, not the only option. You may certainly pay for your medical expenses out-of-pocket, and then file a Reimbursement Claim Form with documentation and get reimbursed. You definitely are not required to use the card.

Q: I used my Flex Card, now where's my reimbursement?     (Back to Top)
A: When you use your Flex Card, funds are withdrawn from your account and paid directly to the provider, allowing for a "cashless" transaction. Reimbursement is only paid directly to you when you have paid for an expense out-of-pocket using a form of payment other than the Flex Card, and submitted the documentation with a Reimbursement Claim Form.