The Check Is No Longer in the Mail From the US Government

It’s deadline day. On Sept. 30, 2025 —today —federal agencies face the full force of President Trump’s executive order, “Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account.”

Issued in March, the order requires the Treasury and other agencies to eliminate paper check issuance and receipt “to the extent authorized by law” and to rely instead on modern rails such as direct deposit, prepaid cards, real-time payments and digital wallets.

The mandate is explicit: paper checks must no longer serve as the default method for government disbursements and collections. The White House has stressed that the order is not simply a convenience upgrade but a systemic overhaul to reduce costs, close fraud vulnerabilities and accelerate the speed with which money moves between government and the public.

America’s Bank Account

The concept of “America’s bank account” refers to the U.S. General Fund and the constant inflows and outflows tied to tax collections, vendor contracts, refunds, benefits and grants. Although the vast majority of these payments already flow electronically, the residual check volumes remain material. As noted by PYMNTS, central bank data show that in 2024, the system still cleared about 36 million government-issued checks worth $175 billion, while the Treasury reported that it spent over $657 million maintaining physical check infrastructure.

The order spells out multiple requirements. Treasury was directed to end check disbursements by today’s deadline. Agencies must transition to electronic methods not only for sending out money but also for receiving it, phasing out lockbox services that have long processed fines, fees and loan repayments.

Waivers are permitted for recipients who lack bank access or in mission-critical circumstances, but the presumption is that all disbursements and receipts should now be digital. Agencies were also required to launch education campaigns to ensure individuals and businesses could adopt electronic payment options quickly and seamlessly.

The ambition goes far beyond eliminating checks. The order is meant to address persistent weaknesses. Paper instruments, according to Treasury and the White House, are 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen or tampered with than electronic funds transfers. PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Payments data underscore the scope of the problem. A 2024 tracker found that the federal government’s remaining check disbursements carried a $175 billion price tag and were disproportionately tied to fraud incidents. PYMNTS research has documented that checks still account for 65 percent of fraud losses in payments, even as their use continues to decline.

The Data Challenge

Ingo Payments CEO Drew Edwards has highlighted another critical challenge: data. As he told PYMNTS earlier this year, “They’ve chosen one faster payment rail; checked the box; said, ‘OK, we did it’; and they’ve moved on to other initiatives.” He has argued that the greater difficulty lies in the “data gap,” as agencies like the IRS still lack modern identifiers — accurate routing and account numbers or digital wallet addresses — needed to shift millions of check recipients into fully electronic channels.

Even with the mandate in force, the government’s work is far from finished. Agencies must expand beyond basic ACH disbursements to support real-time rails such as RTP and FedNow, as well as card-based push payments and wallets, to meet recipient expectations. They need to upgrade legacy accounting systems still designed around check issuance, and they must address inclusion gaps to ensure unbanked and underbanked recipients are not left behind. Agencies will also have to intensify outreach to update recipient data and educate those who until now relied on paper.

The private sector is playing a central role. Providers such as Ingo and ACI have announced solutions tailored for government clients. ACI and Ingo launched Speedpay Digital Disbursements, which allows agencies to deliver funds via real-time, ACH or wallet rails with integrated reconciliation, while Ingo’s own public-sector platform positions itself as a turnkey stack encompassing ledger, fraud prevention, orchestration and multiple payout options. In August, the Department of Labor formally announced that beginning Sept. 30 it would cease issuing or accepting checks, a sign that some agencies are racing to meet the deadline head-on. The IRS has likewise begun publishing draft plans to phase out refund checks.

Tomorrow, Treasury intends to operate almost entirely through electronic channels, with check capacity retained only for narrow exceptions. Compliance hubs at Treasury are now collecting agency reports on implementation, highlighting both successes and obstacles. For banks, processors, wallet providers and FinTech partners, this represents a unique moment to embed their services into the backbone of federal disbursements.

Ultimately, the Sept. 30 deadline marks the beginning rather than the end of the journey. The executive order has set a clear direction: America’s bank account is going digital. How effectively agencies, FinTechs and incumbents execute in the months ahead will determine whether payments modernization becomes a durable foundation of government finance.