内容摘要：They're guided through the process by chef Anth, and the finished products look delicious.

They're guided through the process by chef Anth, and the finished products look delicious.

As Wednesday morning unfolded, federal employees scrambled to find more information, slowly filling in the gaps left by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government's human resources agency and the body that sent the Tuesday evening missive.The message had been so unexpected, so tonally distinct from typical government communication, that some thought it was spam, and promptly deleted it.

"I want to confirm that this is a legitimate communication from OPM," a public affairs officer with the VA wrote in an email that was sent to employees and shared with the BBC.Employees said they volleyed questions back and forth to each other, realising their managers knew no more than they did. How would this affect retirement benefits? What about those who quit in the past several days, before the buyout offer?"Leadership absolutely has no idea what is happening," said an employee at the Department of Labour, a young mother of a baby daughter who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters.

"So when you ask your boss like, 'hey, what does this mean?' they're like 'I don't know. I got the same email, at the same time,'" she said. "Everybody is a little panicked, a little confused."And many wondered specifically what guarantees departing employees would have to actually be paid through September, especially beyond March when the budget currently funding the federal government will expire.

"People are concerned about, what if I take it and I don't get paychecks? Because we haven't actually seen a contract," said a counsellor with the VA Pacific District office, who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters. "The language in there [the email] is clear as mud."

The OPM itself issued follow-up guidance. No, employees who took the offer would not have to continue working through September. Yes, you can seek other employment during the resignation period. No, you are under no obligation to resign.The Financial Technology Association, an industry group that includes many payment apps as members, noted that Cash App and PayPal both offer separate high-yield, FDIC-insured savings products.

In select circumstances, deposit insurance does cover payment apps. With Cash App, funds are eligible for insurance if consumers link their account to a Cash App debit card. And with Venmo, funds added to an account via direct deposit or check cashing are covered.Still, the CFPB has found that funds stored in a payment app “may be at significantly higher risk of loss for a consumer than if it is deposited in an insured bank or credit union account.”

“Consumers should be aware of these risks if they choose to leave a balance on these nonbank payment apps,” the agency wrote in its report last year. To minimize risks, the CFPB said consumers should “transfer their balances back” to federally insured accounts.Some payment app companies are able to invest users’ funds in loans and bonds, earning money on the investments while generally paying no interest on users’ balances, the CFPB found. To maximize your own funds, immediately transfer any deposits to an account where you can collect interest.