| VA Seeking Assistance of Nation’s Banks in Cashing Emergency Education Payments for Veteran-Students The Department of Veterans Affairs is issuing advance educational benefit payments to Veteran-students in the form of US Bank business checks. These emergency checks are issued in amounts not to exceed $3,000 for Veteran-students who have applied for educational benefits and who have not yet received their VA payment. VA’s 57 regional offices began issuing these checks to eligible Veteran-students across the country on Friday, October 2, 2009. VA is soliciting the support of local and national banks to honor and cash these emergency checks written to our Nation’s Veteran-students. In many cases these checks are handwritten and could pose concerns of fraud from banks. Therefore, VA has established the following special customer service call-in number for banks to verify the validity of any US Bank check brought to them by a Veteran. 1-800-827-2166 Banks calling this number will be connected directly to a VA employee who can access all necessary information to verify who the check was issued to, the check number and dollar amount of the check, and whether the check was previously cashed or not. MilitaryConnection.com is pleased that the VA is going above and beyond to pay out emergency funds to Student Veterans. We hope that our nation’s banks will support these efforts. They need to make cashing and/or clearing these checks into the Veteran Student’s bank account a top priority. Student Veterans are eligible for $3000 in emergency funds. Over 200,000 Veterans have signed up for Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits. There will be some hick-ups along the way until the process works and is seamless. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is rich in educational benefits. It includes full tuition to a state college or university. If a Veteran is attending a Yellow Ribbon School, it covers these private colleges and universities too. Additionally, student veterans will receive tax-free living expenses, $1000 for books and more. Check out these benefits and more on MilitaryConnection.com, the Go To Site. |