Paper checks for Social Security and other federal benefits are ending

What's changing

The federal government is ending paper checks for benefits. In August 2025 the Treasury announced that it would stop issuing paper checks for most federal payments on September 30, 2025, and asked anyone still getting a benefit check to switch to an electronic payment.

Social Security plans to finish the move by the end of 2026.The Spokesman-Review reported in September 2026 that the agency plans to complete the transition to electronic payments by the end of 2026, and the National Council on Aging also says Social Security expects to finish switching over by the end of 2026. That is the agency's plan, not a fixed date.

Tax refunds are changing too. The IRS began phasing out paper refund checks for individuals on September 30, 2025. In the 2025 filing season, only 7 percent of people getting refunds received them as a paper check.

How to tell if this affects you

If a Social Security, SSI, veterans or other federal benefit arrives as a check in your mailbox, it affects you. If your benefit already goes into a bank account or onto a Direct Express card, the National Council on Aging puts it simply: nothing changes, and your benefits continue as usual.

Your choices

1. Direct deposit into a bank or credit union account

This is what most people use. Your benefit goes straight into your account on payment day. You can sign up in any of these ways:

• Online, in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, for Social Security benefits.
• At your bank or credit union: the National Council on Aging says your bank or credit union may be able to send your direct deposit details to Social Security for you.
• Through the Treasury's own sign-up site, GoDirect.gov, or by contacting the agency that pays your benefit.

2. No bank account? Two routes

You can open one. The FDIC's Get Banked page explains what a bank account offers and how to open one, and MyCreditUnion.gov, from the National Credit Union Administration, explains how credit union accounts work.

Or you can use a Direct Express card. It's a Treasury-sponsored debit card that your benefit is paid onto each month, with no bank account needed. The Treasury says you can sign up by contacting the agency that pays your benefit.

3. A waiver, in rare cases

The Treasury says it grants exceptions only in rare circumstances. Its rules allow a waiver if managing an account would be a hardship because of a mental impairment, or because you live somewhere remote without the means to bank electronically. The request goes to the U.S. Treasury in writing, and is normally signed in front of a notary. The Treasury's GoDirect.gov site, typed in yourself, explains how to ask, and has a waiver form you can print.

If you already use Direct Express: the card is changing banks

The Direct Express site says Fifth Third Bank is replacing Comerica Bank as the bank behind the card. If you have a Comerica card, keep using it until your new Fifth Third card arrives. When it does, you set it up with a new 4-digit PIN. Expect scammers to copy this change, so keep reading.

Step by step

1. Find your latest benefit letter or check stub. It shows which agency pays you.
2. Choose: direct deposit to an account you already have, a new account, or a Direct Express card.
3. For direct deposit, have your bank's routing number and your account number ready. They're often printed along the bottom of the checks in your own checkbook (not on your benefit check), or your bank can give them to you.
4. Sign up in one of the ways above. Write down the date and who you dealt with.
5. Watch your next payment day. Check that the money arrives where you expect. If a paper check still comes, deposit it as usual.
6. Tell a trusted person what you changed, so someone else knows where your benefit now goes.

What happens to someone who is still getting paper checks once the switch is finished? The sources we checked don't say. That's a good reason to switch as soon as you can.

What it costs

Signing up for direct deposit is free. Social Security will never ask you to pay a fee for it. Before you choose an account or card, ask about any monthly fee and the cost of using other banks' cash machines.

Scams that ride along with this change

• Anyone who asks for a fee to "switch you over." The National Council on Aging is clear: Social Security will never ask you to pay a fee to enroll in direct deposit.
• Calls asking you to "verify" your Social Security or bank details. Callers pretend to be from Social Security or your bank. The Treasury's advice is to check any request by contacting the agency through a website or phone number you know is real, and to ask your bank, a friend or family member if you're unsure.
• Messages about your "new Direct Express card." Direct Express says it will never ask for your card number, password, PIN or security code, and neither will its partner banks or Mastercard.
• Links in texts or emails. Type ssa.gov or godirect.gov yourself rather than following a link.

Checks in the mailbox were a target in their own right. The IRS says paper checks are over 16 times more likely than electronic payments to be lost, stolen, altered or delayed. Moving to direct deposit closes that door.