Starting May 1, everyone who applies for Social Security or other federal government benefits will be required to arrange for direct deposit of their payments. The government plans to phase out paper checks entirely by 2013.
Now, about 85% of Social Security beneficiaries get payments through direct deposit, says Treasury assistant secretary Richard Gregg. But the government issues more than 120 million checks a year, at a cost of about $1 each, vs. 10 cents for an electronic payment, Gregg says. Treasury estimates that eliminating paper checks will save the government about $1 billion over 10 years…
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