From CBS News:
The Social Security Administration said it will continue issuing paper checks to the retirement program's beneficiaries, backing away from a previously announced plan to switch all payments to electronic deposits after Sept. 30.
On Wednesday, the Social Security Administration told CBS MoneyWatch it would continue issuing paper checks for beneficiaries, including recipients of retirement and disability benefits, who have no other means of getting payments. But the program will also emphasize the advantages of electronic transfers to its roughly 70 million beneficiaries in an effort to encourage check recipients to switch, a Social Security spokesperson added. ...
I've seen this same scenario play out at least a couple of times before.
11 comments:
I think I have seen this movie. 🌮
It’s because managers (in this case, Frank) come in and think they are going to reinvent the wheel and “change things up” unlike the “previous guy/gal.” And then, much like the “previous guy/gal”, they realize change isn’t as easy as they think and that there are reasons why certain things, like paper check issuance, is still a thing in 2025.
It would have been nice if the agency told it’s employees this.
Frank knows that paper checks are still a good portion of how payments are handled. Fiserv processes paper checks all the time. 20% of their remittance/lockbox processing is paper checks. They handle Check21(substitute checks).
The agency has been operating by press release since Dudek. We hear about things through SSA tweets and press releases before we actually hear about it through official channels.
Man we suck. SSA that is. Deep in the toilet we are.
Well when you set someone up for direct express, it takes 2-3 weeks to update acct info to records. Would we hold checks until then? What about payees? Banks won't let payees open accounts until they have a selection notice from SSA. Would we hold checks until then? ERPA forces paper or dd to select payee. These scenarios utilize paper checks until dd can be set up. That's just two of about 1000 reason we issue paper checks.
That's because they essentially decimated the office of communications. They have no one left to actually do the job. So we're stuck with terrible and fabricated press releases.
This isn’t news. The EO mandating electronic payments by September 30 provides for some exceptions. SSA is still transitioning everyone it can by September 30. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/modernizing-payments-to-and-from-americas-bank-account/
SSA chickens out just like our fearless leader, Trump.
Partial roll-back instructions had already been issued to POMS before this reversal happened. The instructions allowed SSA to continue to issue paper checks until a payee account was established.
SSA as an agency has NEVER had the legal authority to deny receipt of a paper check to any recipient. That legal authority has ALWAYS been solely vested in the Department of the Treasury.
All SSA employees were ever legally allowed to do was to tell the person that a Treasury Department waiver was required to continue to receive a paper check. The partial roll-back instructions issued the other day had a telephone number for the public to call at the Treasury Department to request the waiver. SSA was required to explain that, if they didn't do this, then Treasury would eventually suspend their paper check benefit payments.
I suspect Bessent (or more likely, one of his minions with more than 3 active brain cells) suddenly realized that Treasury no longer has enough employees to deal with the public and convinced them to back off to avoid the opportunity for any more bad PR backlash.
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