in effect
This is Executive Order 14247, signed March 25, 2025, a directive from the President to federal agencies. It orders the government to stop using paper checks and money orders and switch to electronic payments for money the federal government pays out and money it takes in.
Starting September 30, 2025, the Treasury Department is to stop issuing paper checks for federal payments — including payments between agencies, benefit payments, payments to vendors, and tax refunds — and instead use electronic methods like direct deposit, prepaid/debit cards, and digital wallets. Payments made to the government (fees, fines, loans, taxes) are to move to electronic processing “as soon as practicable,” and Treasury’s physical “lockbox” mail-processing services are to be phased out. The order cites that Treasury checks are 16 times more likely than electronic transfers to be lost, stolen, returned, or altered, and that maintaining paper-check infrastructure cost over $657 million in Fiscal Year 2024. Agencies must submit compliance plans to the Office of Management and Budget within 90 days, and Treasury must report progress to the President within 180 days. The order states it does not create a Central Bank Digital Currency.
Anyone who currently receives a federal payment by paper check — such as benefit recipients, vendors, and people getting tax refunds — as well as anyone who pays the government, would need to use electronic payment methods. The order directs Treasury to create limited exceptions and alternative payment options for people without bank accounts or access to electronic payments, for certain emergency hardship cases, and for national-security or law-enforcement situations, and to run a public awareness campaign and support for unbanked and underbanked people. Federal agencies — including the Departments of State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security — must carry out the transition.