Events Detail

Government Benefit Checks Bite the Dust:

The Move to Digital Payment

Wednesday, April 27

12:00 - 2:00 PM

On May 1, new beneficiaries of government benefits such as social security will be required to receive payments digitally, and by 2013 all current beneficiaries will have made the switch. The paper check is well on its way to becoming an obsolete technology for moving money from government to citizens.  

While many have already abandoned paper checks, opting for direct deposit or the newer technology of prepaid debit, nine million Americans still receive a monthly benefit check.

This transition creates new opportunities for financial service arrangements but comes at a time when the future of those services is uncertain. A new paper by Hudson Visiting Fellow Hanns Kuttner provides an overview of the issues and lays out features of potential scenarios for how the transition will unfold. 

      Kuttner, Reiners, and Koide

Joining Kuttner for a discussion of these issues were Troy Reiners, Director of the Child Support Payment Center in the Nebraska Treasurer’s office, who discussed the experiences of a state which has already taken its payments digital; and Melissa Koide, Vice President of Policy at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, who has been at the center of efforts to bring financial services to underbanked consumers. 

Click here to view Mr. Kuttner's presentation

Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center

Hudson Institute

1015 15th Street, NW

Sixth Floor

Washington, DC 20005