Americans have begun receiving their $1,200 pandemic relief payments, and while this will be a balm to many, there remain concerns about both whether they will be sufficient and whether they will be intercepted by debt companies and banks.

MarketWatch noted that because the payments were classified as a tax credit, rather than a federal benefit, debt collectors are capable of intercepting the payments of millions of Americans outstanding balances. While the Treasury Department has regulatory authority to specifically prevent this, the American Prospect said that it has instead effectively blessed such activities, despite calls from members of Congress and 25 state attorneys general. Further, it notes that the banks themselves could theoretically seize the payments if the account holder owes them fees, even (or especially) in the case of an account that the recipient still has open but no longer really uses or regularly monitors. It will be up to the individual bank to decide whether it will do that. The only bank to respond to a question about using the payments to offset delinquent debts—out of five major ones that American Prospect reached out to—was JPMorgan Chase. It said that while it ordinarily would offset payments for a charged-off account, it will instead return such funds to the government so that it can issue the recipient a paper check instead.

The government's plan is to first directly deposit payments for those whose tax and bank information is already known by the IRS, and then mail paper checks to those who are not in the system, a process that will take months. MarketWatch is reporting that these checks will be delayed by at least a few more days due to a last-minute decision from the White House to ensure each of those checks has the president's signature on them.

The size of the payments is also a concern, as a poll last week found that one in three Americans said that the payments won't even cover their monthly expenses, making it effectively a band-aid on a bullet wound.

Among those who have received payments so far, CNBC is reporting that most are spending the money on essentials such as food and gas, as well as on money transfers that are likely due to people borrowing money from friends prior to the payments coming in. It is likely that, given the circumstances, many people will be buying goods online. Recent data charted out by VisualCapitalist indicates that the fastest growing e-commerce items are protective gloves, with orders growing by 670 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019, followed by bread machines, up 652 percent; cough medicine, up 535 percent; canned soups, up 397 percent; and rice and other dried grains, up 386 percent. Items whose sales have plunged include luggage and briefcases, both down 77 percent; cameras and men's swimwear, both down 64 percent; bridal wear, down 63 percent; men's formal wear, down 62 percent; and women's swimwear, down 59 percent.