Reed gave me a long explanation of why it makes sense to California to outsource the direct-deposit function to BofA, and I'm pretty much convinced on that front. I do believe it's cheaper and more efficient for California to outsource these things than to try to do them itself. But I also believe that if California wants to do right by its claimants, it should ask them to provide their bank account details when they sign up for benefits, and tell BofA to sign them up for direct deposit as the default option.