1-800 Contacts Signs on to Accept Benny Debit Card

Evolution Benefits Inc. and 1-800 Contacts Inc. have reached an agreement under which the retailer of replacement contact lenses will accept Evolution Benefits' Benny debit card. The card, cobranded with MasterCard and Visa, will tap flexible-spending and health-reimbursement accounts set up by corporate employees, which the employees have funded with pre-tax dollars. Sandy, Utah-based 1-800 Contacts sells more than 150,000 replacement contact lenses a day by phone, fax, and the Internet, and says it has the world's largest inventory of lenses. Evolution Benefits says contact-lense transactions average $165. As a result, vision as a category represents 5% of FSA transactions but 15% of FSA dollars, the 4-year-old, Avon, Conn.-based processor says. By using the Benny card, cardholders tap benefits programs like FSAs electronically to pay for qualified products and services, eliminating the need to pay by other means and then file paperwork for reimbursement. Evolution Benefits claims it can produce electronic substantiation of claims to meet Internal Revenue Service requirements in more than 80% of transactions, a rate it says is the highest in the industry. The company says all transactions for 1-800 Contacts will be electronically substantiated. The card can be linked to pre- and post-tax dollars funding flexible spending, health reimbursement, qualified transportation, and health savings accounts.