Social Security recipients should prepare for a change that can overhaul the way they get their checks.
Come Sept. 30, all federal government agencies will cease mailing out paper checks to Americans due to President Donald Trump’s executive order on the matter.
That means Americans who receive paper checks from places like the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Education, the IRS, or the Social Security Administration will have to shift to electronic payments.
Scott Bessent, the secretary of the Treasury, said this in a statement: “Reducing paper checks has been a longstanding bipartisan goal that our administration is finally putting into action. Thanks to President Trump, this will help reduce fraud and theft. It will also remove delays that prevent hardworking Americans from receiving their vital payments.”
The theory behind the transition is that it is more cost effective to send a check electronically rather than through the paper mail.
According to reporting from AL.com, an Advance/SILive.com sister site, the difference is about 35 cents — 50 cents for paper versus 15 cents for electronic.
Already receive your checks electronically? Then you don’t have to worry! There are no steps to take.
However, if you do receive payments via mailing (which is about 500,000 people, AL.com said), you’ll have to shift to electronic delivery.
As listed by AL.com, you can take these steps to make the transition: