Social Security checks go paperless Sept. 30, in move designed to save money, avoid scams

For thousands of Americans, the check will no longer be in the mail. 

In a move expected to affect more than half a million Americans, the Social Security Administration will stop issuing paper checks to beneficiaries starting on Sept. 30, agency officials said.

Instead, benefit payments will be delivered electronically by direct deposit. Individuals without a bank account will receive their payments on a prepaid debit card known as Direct Express.

The move, designed to reduce costs and improve security and delivery efficiencies, will serve as a dramatic change for the roughly 590,000 Social Security recipients — about 0.8% of all beneficiaries — who still receive paper checks, officials said. 

“Less than 1% of Social Security Administration beneficiaries currently receive paper checks,” the department said in a statement. “SSA is proactively contacting those beneficiaries to alert them about the change and the process to enroll in direct deposit or receive Direct Express cards.”

As of December, only 28,995 of 3.83 million New Yorkers — or .075% — receiving Social Security benefits were not using direct deposit, according to the SSA.

And it’s not just Social Security.

All federal payments issued by the Treasury Department, including tax refunds and payments to vendors, will be delivered electronically by the end of next month, according to a March executive order from President Donald Trump.

“Department of the Treasury checks are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer,” the order states. “Maintaining the physical infrastructure and specialized technology for digitizing paper records cost the American taxpayer over $657 million in Fiscal Year 2024 alone.”

According to the Treasury Department, issuing a paper check costs about 50 cents, while an electronic funds transfer runs the government less than 15 cents. 

The Social Security Administration, which has been alerting beneficiaries about the change for several months, said it will begin sending out final warning letters in mid-August to those who still haven’t converted to electronic payments. In some cases, the administration may automatically enroll recipients in the Direct Express program.

Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who sits on the Special Committee on Aging, said Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano promised her that waivers would be provided to beneficiaries who cannot practically use electronic payments.

“Their plan is to start with people who do have checking accounts, but he made a commitment that no one will be left behind, and the people who still need access to paper checks will have that access to paper checks,” Warren told reporters on July 23.

Among those eligible to receive waivers, officials said, are those in which transitioning to an electronic payment would represent a hardship due to a mental impairment; those living in a remote location lacking the infrastructure to support electronic financial transactions or recipients age 90 or older.

As of April, 73.9 million Americans — or more than a fifth of the entire population — received benefits from at least one Social Security programs, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Those figures include 52.6 million retired workers; 7.4 million receiving Supplemental Security Income; 7.2 million disabled workers; 5.8 million survivors of deceased workers; 2.7 million spouses and children of retired workers and 1.1 million spouses and children of disabled workers. 

Long Island seniors interviewed by Newsday on Tuesday said they receive their Social Security benefits via direct deposit — and prefer it that way.

“First … you have to get the check, if someone doesn’t intercept it somehow,” said Walter Klausner, 90, a retired court reporter who has lived for about four years at the Encore Luxury Living, a senior living community in Jericho. “And then you have to go to the bank and deposit it. It doesn’t make sense.”

Bernice Schmid, another Encore Luxury Living resident, said she prefers the reliability of knowing that her Social Security check will be deposited into her bank account on the third day of every month.

And Schmid said electronic deposits make it more difficult for scam artists and criminals to get ahold of her money.

“You read about people erasing names on [paper] checks,” she said. “You are much safer to have it deposited directly into your account.”

Marsha Warshaw, 83, who lives at The Bristal in Jericho, an assisted living facility, said the Social Security Administration’s policy change is just a reflection of the times.

“I personally think paper checks are gonna be a thing of the past entirely,” Warshaw said.