The Social Security Administration is transitioning away from paper checks this year, only allowing electronic payments for beneficiaries.

Thanks to Executive Order 14247, signed in March 2025, the Treasury Department has been directed to halt all paper check disbursements — not just for Social Security, but across virtually all federal payments — by the end of September 2025. So why the final push now?

Many Americans are ditching their checkbooks these days, with only 61 percent reportedly having written one in 2024. Now, the federal government is following suit, with paper checks being discontinued as a form of payment.