Use the Gusto Benefits Card Manager

To register for the GBCM for the first time, follow the steps below.

1. Sign in to your Gusto account.
2. Click the Benefits tab.
3. Depending on which benefit(s) you have, click on the FSA, HSA, DSCFSA, or Commuter Benefits tile.
   • If you have more than one of the above benefits, click any one of them to obtain the required information.
4. The next page includes your employee and employer IDs — you'll need these to register.
5. Click Sign in or register. 
6. Click Register.
7. Fill out the required information.
   • Next to "Registration ID," select Employer ID (instead of Card Number). Enter the number you found in step 4.
8. Complete the rest of the registration steps. 

Once you're registered, you can access your Gusto Benefits Card Manager at this link or from the Benefits tab of your account.

If you've left your company and didn’t register for your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account during your employment, please reach out to [email protected] for your sign-in credentials.

Gusto Benefits Cards are mailed prior to the effective date. It'll arrive in a blank white envelope and we'll send an email notification once it's been sent. 

Sign in to your benefits card manager to report it lost or stolen.

To submit a claim, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account.
2. Click on the menu bar in the top left corner and click the Claims dropdown.
3. Click Add claim for immediate reimbursement.
   • This option will only appear if the policy is still active and if you're in the runout period. If you don't see the option to add a claim for immediate reimbursement, it means your policy is no longer active and you're not in an eligible runout period.
4. Enter the required information and upload your receipt. The receipt must be a PDF without special characters in the title.
5. When you’ve finished, click Submit.

We’ll let you know once your claim has been approved or denied. To avoid a denied claim, make sure you’re using your Health FSA for eligible expenses only. Learn more from the IRS.

Note: This is relevant for customers who have their benefits managed by Gusto. If your benefit is managed externally, please reach out to your account administrator for guidance.

Need to submit claims after leaving your company? 

If your benefit has a runout period, you may have extra time to submit claims for qualifying expenses incurred during your employment. Check out the FSA, DCFSA, HSA, or commuter benefits article for more info.

If you didn’t register for your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account during your employment, please reach out to [email protected] for your sign-in credentials.

If approved, you'll receive an email with reimbursement information so you can choose how you'd like to be reimbursed. Click here if you haven't submitted the claim yet.

• If you chose to be reimbursed via check, it'll arrive between 7-10 days.
• If you chose to be reimbursed via direct deposit, it will appear in the bank account listed under “Reimbursement Details” in your Gusto Benefits Card Manager as a “MBI or Med-I-Bank” credit within 3-5 business days.

If you find a transaction that you did not complete yourself and you believe it to be fraudulent, here's how to dispute it. 

Note: If you recognize the transaction but the service provider charged the wrong amount, contact your provider directly to discuss the transaction. 

1. Sign in to your Gusto benefits card manager account.
2. Scroll to the transaction section and click See all.
3. Find the transaction in question and click Dispute Charge.
4. Fill out and sign the dispute form.

If the dispute is approved, you should see a refund on your account within 55 days. 

Your Gusto Benefits Card should be used as a credit card, although we recognize that certain vendors do require a PIN.

To find your Gusto Benefits Card PIN, you will first need to register for your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account.

Once registered and logged in, hover over your name on the icon bar and click Debit Card(s). Click into your card and choose View PIN to access the PIN for your card.

If your Gusto Benefits Card has been misplaced or stolen, please report it as soon as possible with these steps:

1. Sign in to your Gusto Benefits Card Manager.
2. Hover over your name on the icon bar and click Debit Card(s).
3. Click Report Lost/Stolen.

If you don’t have the option to issue another card to yourself, reach out to [email protected] and we can re-issue your Gusto Benefits Card.

If your company offers multiple benefits savings accounts through Gusto and you enroll in more than one, you will use the same Gusto Benefits Card for all transactions.

For example, if you enroll in commuter benefits and an FSA, you will use one Gusto Benefits Card for commuting expenses and eligible medical expenses.

If you have a recurring Health FSA expense, you don’t have to submit documentation every time. As long as the expense is an approved card transaction for the same amount each time, our Benefits Team can set up a recurring expense for you after documentation has been submitted and the transaction approved at least once.

Once you’ve successfully submitted documentation for the recurring expense that’s been approved, reach out to our team [email protected] and we can set up the recurring expense.
Keep in mind that if the amount of the transaction is anything other than the approved amount, you will be required to submit documentation.

If your FSA is managed by Gusto and we need more info to process a transaction, we will email you a request to provide documentation. 

Employees who use their Gusto Benefits Card at a vendor who has not implemented an inventory information approval system (IIAS)—a system that contains known IRS approved medical and pharmacy expenses—will receive an email notification from [email protected] that requests substantiation to validate the transaction's eligibility as an FSA expense.

In order to validate the expense, follow the instructions in the email to provide documentation for your FSA transaction in your Gusto Benefits Card Manager.

Once uploaded, it will be reviewed by our claims team within 3-5 business days, at which point you will be notified via email.

If this is the second time you're uploading documentation or the transaction has already been deemed ineligible, please notify [email protected] that documentation has been provided.

How to provide documentation for an FSA transaction

1. Sign in to your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account.
2. Navigate to the Benefits Accounts dropdown menu at the top of the dashboard.
3. Select Transactions.
4. Locate the pending transaction under Pending/Processing, and select +Add Receipt.
5. Upload the receipt or drag and drop it directly in the window.
6. Once the receipt is attached, select Submit.

For a Health FSA please include the following info in your documentation:

1. Patient name.
2. Provider name.
3. Date of service.
4. Description of services received.
5. Cost of service.

For a Dependent Care FSA please include the following info in your documentation:

1. Dependent name.
2. Provider name.
3. Provider address.
4. Provider SSN or tax ID. 
5. Date of service.
6. Description of services received. 
7. Cost of service.

Note: If you are unable to provide documentation online you can provide it via fax. Please print the email that we sent to you requesting the missing documentation. Fax this email, along with your documentation, to (844) 791-8320.

If you used your Gusto Benefits Card on an ineligible Health FSA or Dependent Care FSA expense, we’ll email you with next steps. This can result in a temporary card suspension until the ineligible expense is resolved. 

To resolve an ineligible expense, you can either offset the balance with an eligible expense, or you can pay it back from your bank account. 

Option 1: Offset the balance with an eligible expense

1. Pay for an eligible expense out-of-pocket and save the receipt.
2. Submit the expense as a claim in your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account.
3. The claim will be reviewed within 3-5 business days and applied to your balance due. 
   • If the eligible expense you submitted is more than the balance you owed, you'll be reimbursed for the remainder. For example, if you owe $10 for an ineligible expense and submit an eligible $15 expense to offset it, your balance owed will be $0 and you'll be reimbursed $5 from your account. 

Your card is reactivated once the offset is processed and you no longer owe a balance for an ineligible expense.

Option 2: Pay the expense back from your personal bank account 

1. Sign in to your Gusto Benefits Card Manager account.
2. If you have a balance due caused by an ineligible expense, you'll see a “Balance Due” tile on your home page. Click Pay Now.
3. Choose Pay Now again, or add a receipt if you haven’t done so already.
4. Pay the entire balance or a portion of the balance.
5. Click Authorize.
6. Click Submit.

The repayment will be processed within 7 business days. When you submit a repayment the "Balance Due" is removed from your home page, but the expense is still listed as "ineligible." If approved, the expense will be updated. 

If your card is temporarily suspended and you want to pay for eligible expenses in the meantime, you can pay out of pocket and submit a claim with your receipt. 

Note: This is relevant for customers who have their benefits managed by Gusto. If your FSA is managed externally, please reach out to your account administrator for guidance.

You can submit a Dependent Care FSA claim over the balance that you have available, but you'll only be reimbursed up to the amount you have in the account (if approved). The remaining balance will be put "on hold" until your account is funded and then you'll be reimbursed in increments. 

That means that each time deposits are made after you’re deducted via payroll, a reimbursement will be immediately initiated until the full amount of your claim has been satisfied or you've reached your annual election.

Your Dependent Care FSA funds can be used on care for qualified dependents that assist an employee in working or looking for work. For a comprehensive list of eligible expenses in addition to what makes a dependent “qualified,” see IRS Publication 503.

Commuter benefit funds can be used on either transit or parking expenses. 

Transit:

• Card transaction: you can use your Gusto Benefits Card at any authorized transit vendor, which is a vendor that exclusively sells transit passes.
• Submit a Gusto Benefits card claim: If you had to pay out of pocket for a qualified transit expense, as long as you have an attempted transaction on your Gusto Benefits Card, you can submit a claim.

Parking:

• Card transaction: You can use your Gusto Benefits Card at any authorized parking lot garage, or meter.
• Submit a Gusto Benefits card claim: If you had to pay out of pocket for a qualified parking expense you can submit a claim (no attempted transaction needed like with transit expenses). 

Commuter benefits are regulated by the IRS to ensure that the pre-tax dollars are being used on qualified transit expenses.* Some transit vendors—while conveniently located at public transit stations—may sell other miscellaneous items like newspapers, coffee, parking passes, etc. As a result, if your team uses their commuter benefits cards at one of these vendors, they may be spending pre-tax dollars on unqualified expenses.  

There are two settings for how to manage these expenses, which will default to Self-Managed upon setup. If you'd like to change this setting to Managed, contact our team.

Option 1: Self-managed

Your team will be able to use their cards at unapproved transit vendors, which could be non-compliant. If the company is audited by the IRS and found in violation, the company and employee(s) may be responsible for paying tax penalties. If an IRS audit does occur, receipts will be required as proof of eligible transit expenses—make sure you or your team keep them if needed down the line. Ultimately, if your team uses their cards compliantly, this is the more convenient option.

Option 2: Managed

We’ll validate the vendors to make sure they’re compliant and approve or deny your team’s transactions when they use their cards. Any kiosks or vendors that sell unqualified products as defined by the IRS will be rejected (this is very common at local commuter stations). This means that your team may be denied expenses and will need to submit claims for reimbursements to use their commuter benefits. While this option is less convenient, it’s more compliant and reduces the risk of penalties.

If you'd like to change your settings, sign in to your account and reach out to our team.

*Specifically reference question 16

The IRS requires that you purchase transit passes with your pre-tax commuter card only at authorized transit vendors, which are vendors, kiosks, or machines that sell transit passes only. If you try to purchase your transit pass at Walgreens, Whole Foods, or any merchant that sells anything other than transit passes, it will be denied. For more on the IRS regulation, check out these resources: IRS Publication 15-B and Section 132(f) of Internal Revenue Code.  

San Francisco Bay Area

CalTrain and BART station machines are unauthorized vendors because you can also buy parking passes at these kiosks.

For BART, CalTrain, Muni and many other transportation resources in the Bay Area, we recommend that you autoload a Clipper Card online.

Washington D.C. and Maryland Area

Washington D.C.‘s WMATA SmarTrip and Baltimore’s Charm Card are unauthorized vendors because the funds loaded into those accounts can be used to pay for ineligible expenses, such as parking. If you need to use your commuter card in the D.C. or Maryland areas, follow the steps in the dropdown below to submit a claim for an unauthorized vendor.

If you need to spend your commuter benefits card at an unauthorized transit vendor, follow these steps to get reimbursed:

1. Swipe your Gusto Benefits Card to purchase the pass.
2. Receive a denial response.
3. Pay out of pocket for the pass. Keep your receipt for proof of purchase.
4. Submit a Gusto Benefits Card Claim. In the notes section explain which denied transaction this is associated with.

Commuter cards must be added as payment methods to Uber and Lyft account(s). Uber and Lyft will only know to send an IRS-approved commuter car if your card is set up as a commuter payment method.

Uber

1. Open the Uber app.
2. Choose Payments under the menu.
3. Select Add Payment Method.
4. Select Commuter Benefits add your Gusto benefits card information.
5. Save.

When ordering a car, make sure you’re ordering an Uber pool, and the payment method is toggled to your commuter card and not your regular form of payment.

Lyft

1. Open the Lyft App.
2. Choose Payment under the menu
3. Choose Add credit card.
4. Add your Gusto benefits card information.
5. Save.

When ordering a car, make sure you’re ordering a Lyft line, and the payment method is toggled to your commuter card and not your regular form of payment.

The post-COVID services UberX Shared and Lyft Shared differ from the Uber Pool and Lyft Line services. While the eligible UberPool and Lyft Line services may still be available in select cities, UberX Shared and Lyft Shared are not eligible Commuter expenses—the number of allowed commuters is capped at 2-3 riders. To be considered an eligible Commuter transit expense, the mode of transit must have the capacity for at least 6 riders.