Skip to main content

Newsroom

July 1, 2025

Eliminating Paper Check Payments To and From America’s Bank Account Has Benefits, But Could Severely Harm Vulnerable Families

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Shayna Olesiuk, Director of Banking Policy, issued the following statement about a comment letter filed in connection with the U.S. Treasury’s implementation of the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, “Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account:

“Most payments flowing to and from America’s bank account are made electronically, including about 96% of Treasury-disbursed payments and 80% of tax refunds. The U.S. Treasury has rightly recognized that, relative to electronic payments, paper checks are more expensive to process, slower, and more prone to fraud. We applaud the Treasury’s dedication to harnessing the benefits of innovation for better, faster payments, which benefits all Americans.

“Dangerously, however, the Trump Administration has announced that all paper checks for payments to and from the federal government will stop in a few short months, on September 30, 2025. This means that all checks for social security payments, veterans’ payments, and tax refunds will change to electronic payments, unless individual consumers are approved for an exception. There are many valid reasons that some Americans—including some of the most vulnerable in our society who do not have reliable internet access, who live in rural areas, and who do not have a bank account—cannot make or receive, or do not feel comfortable using, electronic payments. Forcing an abrupt transition away from paper checks would be a grave, careless, and cruel decision.

“Instead, the Treasury should provide all Americans with detailed information on the exception process and extend the implementation date to allow appropriate time for all to understand how this change will affect the payments on which families rely for food, housing, healthcare, and other necessities of daily life. The Treasury should also explore and implement the best ways to limit fraud on electronic payments, especially debit card transactions, which are particularly vulnerable.

“Finally, the Treasury should reject any long-term plans to use cryptocurrency—which is riddled with fraud and abuse—for government payments.”

The Comment Letter is available here.

###

Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.

Press Releases
Share

MEDIA REQUESTS

For media inquiries, please contact us at
[email protected] or 202-618-6433.

Contact Us

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected] or 202-618-6433.

To sign up for our email newsletter, please visit this page.

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign Up — Stay Informed With Our Monthly Newsletter

"* (Required)" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

For media inquiries,

please contact [email protected] or 202-618-6433.

Donate

Help us fight for the public interest in our financial markets, protecting Main Street from Wall Street and avoiding another costly financial collapse and economic crisis, by making a donation today.

Donate Today