Donald Trump has ordered the US federal government to phase out the use of paper cheques and to centralise payment processing in an effort to crack down on fraud, according to Finextra.
In an executive order, Trump says the use of paper cheques and money orders into and out of the United States Government Fund „imposes unnecessary costs; delays; and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies”.
From 30 September, the Treasury will stop issuing paper cheques for all Federal disbursements inclusive of intragovernmental payments, benefits payments, vendor payments, and tax refunds.
Instead, government departments and agencies are being told to move to EFT methods such as direct deposit, prepaid card accounts, and other digital payment options.
Payments to the Federal Government will be processed electronically „as soon as practicable”.
Explaining the decision, Trump claims that mail theft complaints have increased substantially since Covid-19 and that, historically, Treasury checks are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an EFT.
Meanwhile, maintaining the physical infrastructure and technology for digitising paper records cost the American taxpayer over $657 million in 2024 alone.
For more details download the executive order: Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
