Donald Trump would like paper checks to stop, please

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to do away with paper checks in favor of going fully electronic — it’s all part of an attempt to bring the federal government into the 21st century which is kind of surprising considering every other executive order signed by Trump has dragged America back to the 19th century.

The order, signed on Mar. 25, claimed that the paper payment system was not only “outdated,” but it also imposed “unnecessary costs, delays, and security risks.” Trump demanded that all federal payments between different government departments, as well as payments for benefits, vendors and tax returns, all make the switch to electronic by Sept. 30, 2025.

The drawbacks of using paper checks

The whitehouse.gov website lists all the issues that come with using paper checks with the biggest issues being mail theft and check fraud, which, according to the FBI, has been on the rise for the past few years. The unreliability of paper checks ends up being more costly for the government in the long run.

“Paper-based payments, such as checks and money orders, impose unnecessary costs, delays, and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies.”

Paymentsdive.com reports that there were over 8,000 reports of check-fraud to the Federal Trade Commission last year with losses totaling around $2.25 million.

Fraud and theft aside, the physical infrastructure needed to accommodate physical checks and the technology required to digitize them, reportedly cost around $657 million in the fiscal year of 2024. It’s hoped that switching to the electronic alternative will not only save the government some money, but it will also save the taxpayer a bit of cash too.

Who will this affect?

While it may sound as if this is just an order made for federal employees, it also covers any payments made to or from the government, for example, any fees, fines, or taxes, would have to be paid electronically after Sept. 30. On top of that, almost half a million Americans who receive social security checks will also no longer be getting their payments by paper check anymore.

The switch could risk disrupting payments to these people who really need it the most according to Axios.com. This comes at a time when social security services are being cut and this risks making things even harder for the people who rely on that money.

Whether Trump’s planned transition to electric will be successful or not is hard to tell. People are quite used to physical checks, especially the older generation, (his biggest demographic) in fact, many are quite wary of electronic payments with a majority of Amercians still preferring to use cash.