In less than four months, the federal government plans to stop sending paper checks for all disbursements, including tax refunds and benefits like Social Security checks, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to transition almost all payments made and received by executive departments and agencies to electronic funds transfer methods.
Ceasing the “old-fashioned” approach to disbursements is likely a good idea from a security perspective, experts say, and the vast majority of Social Security recipients already get them via direct deposit. But any change of this magnitude could come with confusion and complications, especially as more than 485,000 people receive their monthly Social Security payments this way.
