Donald Trump has mandated the US federal government to eliminate the use of paper cheques and consolidate payment processing to combat fraud effectively.
In an executive order, Trump stated that the reliance on paper cheques and money orders for transactions involving the United States Government Fund “imposes unnecessary costs, delays, and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies.”
Starting September 30, the Treasury will cease issuing paper cheques for all federal disbursements, which include intragovernmental payments, benefit payments, vendor payments, and tax refunds.
Instead, government departments and agencies are directed to adopt electronic payment methods such as direct deposit, prepaid card accounts, and other digital options. Payments to the Federal Government will be processed electronically “as soon as practicable.”
In justifying this shift, Trump pointed to a significant increase in mail theft complaints since the onset of Covid-19, noting that historically, Treasury checks are 16 times more likely to be reported lost, stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered compared to electronic funds transfers (EFTs).
Additionally, the costs associated with maintaining the infrastructure and technology for digitizing paper records amounted to over $657 million for taxpayers in 2024 alone.