Social Security benefits update: SSA is making a major change this year that will impact many seniors

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will officially stop issuing paper checks. The transition, which aims “to improve efficiency, security, and ensure beneficiaries receive their monthly benefits promptly,” will come into effect starting September 30, 2025.

Beneficiaries should receive electronic funds transfers (EFTs) quicker than the time it takes for a check to arrive in the mail. Electronic payments should also be more secure, with the SSA claiming a paper check is 16 times more likely to be stolen or lost.

Meanwhile, the federal government will financially benefit from the change. It costs about 50 cents to mail a paper check, while the EFT should cost under 15 cents.

How many people will be impacted by this change?

The SSA claims that less than 1% of recipients still get paper checks.

As paper checks are phased out for Social Security benefits, individuals can either enroll in direct deposit through their bank or get a Direct Express card. The latter works as a prepaid debit card with just the federal benefits added to it, meaning you don’t need a bank account to use it.

A survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) last year found that about 5.6 million U.S. households were unbanked in 2023. Although the percentage of people without bank accounts is declining overall, certain populations are disproportionately impacted, according to the FDIC. Those include low-income households, Black and Hispanic households, and people who are disabled, have less formal education, or are in single-parent households.

The plan to “gradually” eliminate paper checks actually dates back to 2010, according to the Department of Treasury.

However, a lot of recipients may just be hearing about it after the SSA posted an alert on Monday. Comments on that page suggest many are unhappy with the change.

“What steps are being taken to assist the elderly and physically / visually handicapped paper check recipients?” one commenter stated.

“What will SSA do if, on 30 September, there are hundreds of thousands of benefit recipients who have not set up electronic payments? Just not send them their payments?” another commenter asked.

The SSA claims it is “proactively” sending notices to beneficiaries who receive paper checks and explaining how to make the change. Their technicians should also be able to help with the transition.