Treasury says the procedures for getting a waiver from the electronic payment rule remain in place for now. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service wrote that existing electronic payment waiver procedures remain in effect until further notice. That matters to anyone who still gets a federal benefit check in the mail.
Since Sept. 30, 2025, most federal payments that used to arrive on paper, including Social Security and veterans benefits, are made electronically under Executive Order 14247, which was signed March 25, 2025. The Fiscal Service page was last updated March 3, 2026, and it is the newest word on waivers.
Who is covered, and who has to act
Treasury says the change covers most federal payments that used to be made by paper check. People already getting direct deposit or a prepaid debit card payment need to do nothing, according to the page. The people the waiver sentence speaks to are the ones still on paper.
The order reaches tax refunds too. The IRS has said it generally stopped issuing paper refund checks for individual taxpayers after Sept. 30, 2025, though it makes limited exceptions for hardships and for legal or procedural situations.
A Social Security or SSI recipient on paper checks is in that group. Social Security’s own deposit page says federal law requires benefit payments to be electronic and that current paper check recipients should switch to direct deposit or a Direct Express Debit Mastercard. It adds that new applicants must choose electronic payment when they enroll.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. The Retirement Money Brief keeps you ahead of the ones that matter, every weekday.
Get the Retirement Money Brief →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
What the waiver sentence does and does not say
The key line is short. Fiscal Service says its existing waiver procedures stay in effect and that it is reviewing the waiver guidance, with plans to coordinate with paying agencies before any new procedures take effect. So the rules for asking to keep a paper check have not been replaced, but they could be.
The page does not describe how to ask for a waiver. It tells readers to follow the payment instructions of the federal agency that owes the payment. It also names no deadline and does not say what happens to a paper check recipient who does nothing, which is why people with questions are sent to the paying agency.
No individual Treasury official is named on the page, so the statement comes from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service itself.
How a waiver request works at Social Security
The same Social Security page says that in extremely rare circumstances, Treasury may grant exceptions to the electronic payment mandate. Someone who wants to ask can call Treasury at 1-855-290-1545, or print, complete and mail a waiver form to the address on it.
The phrase extremely rare matters. A waiver is not a casual opt-out. The wording of the Treasury page and the Social Security page points the same direction: electronic payment is the rule, and the waiver procedure is the narrow exception that still exists.
Social Security questions can go to 1-800-772-1213, the agency’s number, with TTY users calling 1-800-325-0778. Anyone who gets a call, text or email claiming to arrange a switch should verify it by contacting the agency through a website or phone number already known to be real, as the Treasury page advises.
The switch options if a waiver is not the plan
The MyMoney.gov federal payments page lists the alternatives. A recipient can move to direct deposit at a bank or credit union, a prepaid card or mobile app, or the Direct Express Debit Mastercard. Sign-up methods include contacting the paying agency, calling Treasury or signing up online at GoDirect.gov.
For people without a bank account, the page suggests opening one at a bank or credit union. Veterans and caregivers can use the Veterans Benefits Banking Program, and veterans without internet or phone access can use VA Form SF-1199a or visit a VA regional office.
Treasury also reports how many people have already moved. Its Electronic Payment Solution Center had processed more than 184,000 new electronic enrollments since March, in addition to conversions handled by the agencies. Treasury had sent over 1.5 million updated check inserts to recipients and vendors.
What stays unsettled
Treasury has not said when it will finish reviewing waiver guidance or what new procedures could look like. Until it does, the existing procedures stand, and the waiver route stays open as written.
The government’s stated reason is safety and speed. The IRS says paper checks are over 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, altered or delayed than electronic payments, and Social Security says paper checks are more likely to be lost or stolen.
That leaves a planning question for older households. A person who keeps a paper check under a waiver still has to deal with mail timing, and a person who switches has to make sure the first electronic payment lands on the right date.
Still on a paper benefit check and deciding whether to switch?
For people whose benefit is a Social Security check, the waiver question leads straight to another one: when exactly does the money arrive, and what happens if it does not. A first deposit that lands late can leave a household short for the month.
The Social Security Check Protection Kit includes the 2026 payment calendar and a first-24-hours plan for a late or missing payment, so the date to expect is written down before any change is made. The kit has 75 pages, with a part on locking the check down and a part on late, short or wrong payments.
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Steps to Stop the Scams That Took $7.7 Billion From Seniors
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
