Commuters returning to Metro for the first time might be surprised to have a lot more money on their SmarTrip card than they should — and even more surprised when that dollar amount drops suddenly.

A technical issue with SmartBenefits — the system used by employers to deposit money onto their employees’ SmarTrip accounts — is causing higher amounts of money to be displayed for some riders when they swipe into the system. Once the rider uses up the actual amount on the card, it will display zero dollars, despite the prior swipes showing much more.

The problem comes from a lot of people stopping SmartBenefits during the pandemic. People who haven’t ridden the system for a year and a half likely don’t remember how much money they had on their card when they last traveled.

It appears that in some cases, monthly SmartBenefits appeared like they were still added to accounts after they were stopped or paused during the pandemic, leading to the unexpectedly high balances shown at the faregates. In reality, the money was never added to the accounts.

Metro didn’t answer questions about how widespread the issue is, but several Twitter users — and even this reporter — have experienced the problem. The transit agency did say they were working on fixing the issue, but didn’t have a timeline for it to be resolved.

“WMATA stole $90 from me (unloaded smartbenefits from my card and insists that they didn’t). what is the opposite of fare evasion? because that is what they are doing to me and it is a CRIME,” Twitter user @HeyMandoKay wrote in May.

She told WAMU/DCist that Metro customer service told her, “At some point, I was given $100 I shouldn’t have gotten, and this was them taking it back.”

In my case, my card had $49.45 on it when I last used it on March 11, 2020, as the pandemic shut down the region. When I first returned to the system in Sept. 2020 to try out the new mobile fare payment, my account had $197.20, even though I had paused SmartBenefits. Not remembering what I previously had, I assumed that’s how much was on my card. Then I started occasionally riding the system again in early 2021. At the end of May, my card had a balance of $148.30. By the next time I swiped in on June 12, my card showed a 20-cent balance. It listed “Smart Benefits Unload” on my transaction log.

I called Metro, and a representative said my money may have been accidentally unloaded. They said they would reattach the money, after which I’d need to tap my card on a faregate to reload it. I did that — but it didn’t work. I called again and then started combing through my SmartTrip use history log (which can be found on registered cards at smartrip.wmata.com). As I did the accounting, once my $49.45 was used up, the rest of the money went away.

Metro recently posted a FAQ on the issue.

Scenario: Your rollover benefit balance suddenly dropped months after your current or former employer changed your benefit status from Enrolled to Removed.

Solution: This may happen if you did not use your card within 30-days after the benefit status change. To see if your card’s benefit status is Removed: 1) Log in to your SmarTrip account; 2) Click on the card that you use for SmartBenefits; 3) If the SmartBenefits link on the right side displays “Join SmartBenefits”, then your benefit status was changed to Removed. If your card was not updated before the remove transaction expired, then the flag on your card was not set to prevent your benefits from increasing in subsequent months. However, once your true SmartBenefits rollover balance reached $0.00 per our central system, the card’s excess benefits were removed and the card’s flag was set to prevent future benefits from being added unless and until the card is enrolled again.

Scenario: Your benefits stopped working or your virtual card’s SmarTrip app SmartBenefits balance is lower than your Apple Wallet or Google Pay balance.

Solution: Your employer may have retrieved some or all of your benefits. If you did not tap your card within 30-days of this change, then the benefit balance on the virtual card is overstated. To confirm this: 1) Log in to your SmarTrip account; 2) Click on the card number that you use for SmartBenefits; 3) Scroll down to the SmartBenefits section; 4) If the benefit status is Deactivate-Pending, then contact customer service and request a ‘SmartBenefits refresh’.

If you’re having the issue, Metro is asking customers to call 1-888-762-7874 Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m or email SmarTrip@wmata.com with your SmarTrip card number to address the issue.