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BumRushDaShow

(158,185 posts) Thu Jul 17, 2025, 05:16 PM Jul 17

Social Security to end paper checks after Sept. 30 [View all]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 3:06 PM, Jul 17, 2025 and last updated 3:08 PM, Jul 17, 2025

The Social Security Administration will stop sending monthly paper checks after Sept. 30.

The agency says fewer than 1% of Social Security recipients currently receive paper checks. Those individuals will need to opt in to direct deposit or a prepaid debit card option to continue receiving their benefits.

"We’re proactively sending notices to people who currently receive paper checks, to explain the upcoming change and highlight the benefits of switching to electronic payments," the agency said in a statement. Each notice will include a flyer outlining how beneficiaries can sign up for electronic payment options.

The agency says moving away from paper checks improves efficiency and reduces the risk of theft or delays. Paper checks are 16 times more likely to be lost or stolen than electronic payments, according to SSA.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/social-security-to-end-paper-checks-after-sept-30

Now THAT will cause a riot - especially in rural areas and small towns - and even some urban areas that are "banking deserts" (which is what prompted the push years ago, to allow Post Offices to offer limited banking).

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Social Security to end paper checks after Sept. 30 [View all] BumRushDaShow Jul 17 OP

Yeah, and for the unbanked who used the USPS intrepidity Jul 17 #1

Direct deposit costs nothing synni Jul 17 #11

"Unbanked" nt intrepidity Jul 17 #19

So get banked Polybius Jul 18 #30

Or get the debit card n/t SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #31

.... intrepidity Jul 18 #33

The only fee... SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #35

... intrepidity Jul 18 #32

That's exactly how I feel about seniors who refuse to abide by modern technology Polybius Jul 18 #34

Wow....I thought those had ended 10-15 years ago Bengus81 Jul 17 #2

They tried but there is the same issue BumRushDaShow Jul 17 #5

I haven't received a paper paycheck since the early 1990's. Dr. T Jul 18 #22

fewer than 1%. and those people are getting the side eye stopdiggin Jul 17 #3

The government could provide help to those who find it difficult to make the change. twodogsbarking Jul 17 #4

With a call wait time of only 2 days!!!11!!!!1!! BumRushDaShow Jul 17 #6

I've been on hold since 1994. They said not to hang up or I would wait even longer. twodogsbarking Jul 17 #7

They did contract out under the table BumRushDaShow Jul 17 #8

"One ringy dingy..." n/t SickOfTheOnePct Jul 17 #13

It was a job. twodogsbarking Jul 17 #15

Yes because so many rural areas are without reliable internet and cellphone service FakeNoose Jul 17 #9

Help me understand why not having a local bank is a problem? I have lived 2000 sinkingfeeling Jul 17 #10

There are people in a number of blighted urban locales BumRushDaShow Jul 17 #12

Some elderly people don't know how to do online banking. NH Ethylene Jul 17 #14

Exactly. Thank you for pointing that out, NH. Not everyone FemDemERA Jul 18 #36

I wonder what financial corporation will benefit from all of those prepaid cards? Buddyzbuddy Jul 17 #16

Direct Express SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #26

Thank you for the information. (Comments not directed at you SOTOP) And that charge would "only" occur Buddyzbuddy Jul 18 #37

It isn't Direct Express, it's the owners of the ATMs n/t SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #38

Federal civil service paychecks were Deminpenn Jul 17 #17

My lab supervisor had a big safe in his office BumRushDaShow Jul 18 #20

Paper checks intelpug Jul 17 #18

A move away from GPO goverment printing office? LiberalArkie Jul 18 #21

I don't think they print the checks BumRushDaShow Jul 18 #23

I guess it has changed, it used to be way back when I would get actual IRS refund checks that they LiberalArkie Jul 18 #24

My dad used to work at the VA from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s BumRushDaShow Jul 18 #25

Paper checks came from the Treasury, just like your tax refund checks do Deminpenn Jul 18 #39

Social Security to end Paper Checks after Sep 30 CRB Jul 18 #27

What about people who can't have bank accounts due to old debts where accounts get attached? Liberty Belle Jul 18 #28

Debit card n/t SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #29

That only works if you have stores that will take them BumRushDaShow Jul 18 #40

I can't help but wonder... SickOfTheOnePct Jul 18 #41

To respond BumRushDaShow Jul 18 #43

I don't believe SS can be garnished by collection agencies MichMan Jul 19 #44

Thought Rebl2 Jul 18 #42